The Site is located north of Neosho, Missouri
The Confluence Site
Priority Geographies
Priority Geographies
Priority Geographies
Priority Geographies
Priority Geographies
Image above Courtesy of Zach Morris-Conceptual Outline Only
Restoration Design/Engineering & Water Quality Monitoring at Confluence Site Starts Spring 2022
Consortium partners will work with stream morphology engineers and aquatic ecosystem biologists in 2022 to prepare a restoration design that integrates natural elements where possible. We will plant native grasses and trees to stabilize the streambank and reestablish habitat. We will also restore natural hydrology and reestablish wetland areas. The plan will be presented to the Little Rock District of the US Army Corps of Engineers for approval under the Clean Water Act so that in-stream work can begin in 2023.
As restoration planning proceeds, research platforms and passive educational features will be integrated at the site to facilitate future research and public inquiry. The Consortium will work with volunteers from local Missouri Stream Teams and the teachers and students of Neosho High School to help design educational elements, plant native trees, and help to monitor and manage the site.
Regular water quality monitoring for ecological parameters* will be done with experts working alongside local community members using established volunteer water quality monitoring protocols through an initiative supported by the Missouri Stream Team Program, which is is a partnership among the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Missouri Department of Conservation, and the Conservation Federation of Missouri.
- * Note that this type of ecological monitoring is different from water quality monitoring for safe drinking water. Improving and protecting stream ecology and surface water quality is key to providing safe drinking water, and reduces the cost of treatment for municipal supplies and well water, but monitoring public drinking water supplies is focused on human pathogens and contaminants regulated by US EPA under the Safe Drinking Water Act. More details can be found in an article by the Chief of the Office of Water Quality at the U.S. Geological Survey here.
- The USGS website provides detailed information about water quality, including the water quality of rivers and streams - which is a critical aspect of healthy aquatic ecosystems, and is the focus of the water quality monitoring at the Hickory/Shoal Confluence Site.