Bacteria Testing Gains Momentum

Derek Speelman and Susan Redden, The Joplin Globe, revisit bacteria testing in Southwest Missouri streams. The article quotes Jasper County Health Director, Tony Moore, as saying that Jasper County is now testing twenty sites on Spring river, Center Creek and Turkey Creek. Recently several Newton and Jasper County stream were added to Missouri's 303 (d) list. The following are E. coli counts (in colonies per 100 milliliters of water).

Jasper County (tested May 20, 2007 by Carthage Stream Team)
Spring River-Bowers Mill(Lawrence County line), 133.4
Spring River-Highway 37, 77.1
Spring River-Forest mills (east of Carthage), 78.0
Spring River-Kellogg Lake, 86.0
Spring River-County Road 180, 113.7
Spring River-Quaker Mill (near Alba), 95.9
Spring River-Highway 43, 124.6
Spring River-Maple Road, 55.6
Spring River-Kafir Road, 75.4

Lawrence County (tested May 15-21, by Lawrence Co. Health Dept.)
Dry Hollow-Farm Rd. 2110, 686.7
Goose Creek-Camp Wakonda Farm Rd. 2080, 435.2
Honey Creek-Farm Rd. 2150 bridge, 238.2
Honey Creek-Farm Rd. 2170, 613.1
Spring River-Marionville City Park, 517.2
Spring River-Hwy 97 (north of Stotts City), 235.9
Spring River-Farm Rd. 2137 (east of Hoberg), 579.4
Spring River-Farm Rd. 1040 bridge, 435.2
Stahl Creek-Farm Rd. 1100, 410.6
Truitt Creek-Hwy 39 (north of Mt. Vernon), 1,732.9
White Oak Creek-Farm Rd. 1025, 248.1
Willias Creek-Mt. Vernon City Park, 920.8
Big Spring-Baptist Hill, 10.9
Center Creek-Farm Rd. 1060 bridge, 8.4
Center Creek-Farm Rd. 1010 bridge, 108.1
Chesapeake Creek-Farm Rd. 1217 bridge, 185.0
Clear Creek-Pierce City Park, 20.9
Dry Fork Creek-Farm Rd. 2075, 93.4
Honey Creek-Farm Rd. 1210 bridge, 218.7
Honey Creek-Marionville Park, 198.9
Johnson Creek-Rounte N bridge, 65.0
Spring River-Farm Rd. 2110, 43.1
Spring River-Verona, 20.1
Turnback Creek-Farm Rd. 2025 bridge, 156.5
Williams Creek-Baptist Hill boat launch area, 38.4

Newton County (samples taken May 22-23 by Newton Co. Health Dept.)
Big Spring-Above Hickory Creek, 488.4
Big Spring Cave-Big Spring Park, 12.1
Capps Creek-Barry Co. Rd., 920.8
Capps Creek-Jolly Mill Lane (private Rd)., 214.2
Capps Creek-Jolly Mill Park, 488.4
Cedar Branch-Ols Scenic Drive, 68.3
Clear Creek-Wallaby Rd., 816.4
Edmonson Hollow-North of Stella, 13.4
Hickory Creek-Hwy 60 at Marble Ln., 88.0
Hickory Creek-Hwy 86 (Neosho), 88.2
Hickory Creek-Business Hwy 60, 145.5
Indian Creek-Rt. D, 172.3
Indian Creek-West of Stella, 1,986.3
Little Lost Creek-Seneca, 98.3
Lost Creek-Seneca, 131.7
Lost Creek-Route K, 93.4
Lost Creek-Route CC (Racine), 156.5
Lost Creek-Hwy 86 (Racine), 613.1
Middle Indian Creek-Rt. O, 770.1
North indian Creek-Rt. O, 1,046.2
Shoal Creek-Walleye Bridge, 648.8
Shoal Creek-old Route E (Granby), 68.3
Shoal Creek-Lime Kiln Conservation Area, 52.0
Shoal Creek-Allen Bridge Conservation, 33.2
Shoal Creek-Undercliff Campground, 45
Shoal Creek-Tipton Ford Conservation Area, 39.7
Shoal Creek-near bridge on Coyote Drive, 22.1
Shoal Creek-Schermerhorn Park (Kansas), 30.1
South Indian Creek-Future Stella City park, 1,413.6
Tributary to S. Indian Creek-Ozark Street/Route D, 2,419.6
Unidentified tributary-E. of Racine, 11.9
Unidentified tributary-E. of Racine, 14.6
Unidentified tributary-Eagle Drive (Racine), 66.3
Unidentified tributary-Rt. CC (Racine), 104.3
Willow Branch-Jasmine Dr. (Racine), 59.2
Willow Branch-Iris and Falcon Rds., 17.3

Shoal Creek Advisory for E. coli Contamination

Bob Kulp, Director of the Newton County Health Department, is quoted in The Joplin Globe, May 16, 2007, issuing a Health Advisory for Shoal Creek, due to elevated E. coli bacteria levels. The following E. coli colony readings were observed the week of May 7, 2007:
Walleye Bridge (at Barry County Line) 1,413 colonies per 100 milliliters
Route E Bridge (at Grandby) 173
Lime Kiln Bridge 980
Allen Bridge 238
Undercliff Campground 168
Tipton Ford Conservation Area 184
Redings Mill 139
Schermerhorn Park (south of Galena, KS) 20
[The State of Missouri uses a benchmark of 126 colonies per 100 milliliters of water to evaluate contamination in a body of water. In contrast, the Newton County and Lawrence County Health Departments use a standard of 235 E. coli colonies per 100 milliliters, when evaluating contamination.]

Jasper County to Monitor Spring River, Center Creek and Turkey Creek

The Joplin Globe reported, May 11, 2007, that the Jasper County Health Department will begin water quality testing on parts of Spring River, Center Creek and Turkey Creek, for bacterial levels. The article credits the Carthage High School Stream team with publicizing the elevated levels of E. coli bacteria. The Jasper County health Department will expand on the Stream Team's efforts. Tony Mohr, Director of Jasper County Health Department said that the county will begin weekly sampling on 20 sites.