Five more Streams IMPAIRED

The Joplin Globe, Thursday, March 8, 2007 reported that five more streams have been added to the Missouri list of Impaired Waterways. They are: Hickory Creek, Capps Creek, Lost Creek and Indian Creek (in Newton County), and Spring River (in Jasper County). The Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) had recommended that the five waterways be placed on the impaired list based on data showing levels of E. coli bacteria in excess of state standards. The Carthage High School Stream Team has been gathering samples on Spring River since 2004. The Newton County Stream Team had collected more than 195 samples from the Newton County streams last year. John Ford, MDNR's Chief of Water Quality Assessment, said that the State will now study how frequently the E. coli levels exceed state standards, in order to establish the stream's Total Maximum Daily Loan ( TMDL), or the maximum amount of a pollutant that may enter the water without breaching water quality standards.