Practices in Perry County to protect endangered fish going well

Focusing on the improvement of water quality remains a top priority in Perry County, Missouri -- not only for the protection of the grotto sculpin, but for the health of its residents.

The process began a few years ago when a team of local, state and federal stakeholders began working on a plan to protect the 2 1/2-inch-long fish that was placed on the endangered species list in 2013 and is believed to be found exclusively in caves below Perry County.

The county's topography is characterized by thousands of sinkholes and more than 700 caves. The sinkholes funnel water into the underground caves. The city of Perryville, Missouri, alone maintains more than 360 sinkholes.

Problems occur when the water runs into the caves and the groundwater where the grotto sculpin live without first encountering some type of buffer to filter trash and contaminants. By implementing the Perry County Community Conservation Plan, the goal is not only to create more effective buffers but encourage best management practices that would prevent contaminant runoff in the first place.

Successes, setbacks

Frank Wideman, natural resource engineer for the University of Missouri Extension Center in Perry County, said overall, best management practice efforts are going well.

"Things are proceeding, and I think the agencies involved are pretty happy with the progress that we're making," he said.

Still, some areas of the plan have experienced setbacks. Chief among those concerns are implementing certain farming techniques, such as good cropping and nutrient-management practices.

Data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's 2012 Census of Agriculture, the most recent data available, list 951 farms in Perry County, representing 226,441 acres. Many of those farmers found themselves struggling against particularly wet weather this year.

"We had lots of questions and issues that came up this spring with the wet weather that the guys that are spreading the ag chemicals got in a pretty big rush and in some cases maybe didn't practice all the care that we needed to, but I think we're making inroads on that issue as well," Wideman said.

Wideman said he recognizes farmers "were under a pretty big time crunch" and is hopeful more improvements will be seen in future crop years. Part of that progress is ensuring farmers have the resources available to answer any questions. From agriculture department officials, to the university extension and even experts at some farm-supply stores, Wideman said a number of people could be sought out for assistance.

Practices also are in place for landowners to do their part to contribute to better water quality. Many lawn and garden chemicals and fertilizers can cause as much harm as the chemicals farmers use on crops. But small landowners do often benefit from sod placed around the openings of any sinkholes, acting as a filter.

Perryville

Perryville city administrator Brent Buerck said with permission from the landowner, the city offers to take over the responsibility and maintenance of sinkholes. With access to the property, crews can come in and dig down to the bedrock around the hole, clean it out and insert a concrete pipe with a coarse filter on top. That's the process it's followed with the hundreds of other sinkholes.

"We're trying to clean them up," Buerck said. "And what we do is essentially put a manhole on them and build them up so we can keep them clean and secure, but they can also still take the water that they need to for the system to work."

The city has stepped up to do its part in improving water quality through actions approved by the board of aldermen. Buerck said one of the biggest actions taken was creating a new account in the budget for sinkholes, to fund improvements and maintenance. The account holds about $50,000 at the moment.

City crews initially were in charge of efforts to improve sinkholes and their vegetative barriers, but Buerck said they were unable to keep up with the growing number of requests. Whether it was because of difficulties caused by weather or improved public awareness of sinkholes, he said the requests continued to pour in until the waiting list grew to about 40 holes. The city's board of aldermen last year decided to subcontract the work, which Buerck said has helped speed up the improvement of the city's sinkholes.

Progress

Perryville still has a few sinkhole-related ordinances it hopes to pass, but Buerck said he's seen the benefits of efforts already in place. The city recently rekindled a relationship with representatives from the Cave Research Foundation, and Buerck said he ventured down into a few caves with them earlier this year.

No one had entered some of those caves in about 30 years, he said, and those who went on the trip in May noticed conditions seemed to have improved since that time.

"It was much better," Buerck said. "The water wasn't bubbling anymore as it was 30 years ago. There were no foul odors, it wasn't full of garbage, and life had returned. We counted lots of salamanders and little cave fish -- not necessarily the sculpin -- but it was a good indicator the water quality has improved."

Wideman said it's been several years since the county's water has been officially tested. It's something he hopes to do soon, because the testing would be a major factor for a water-quality plan in the works by the Missouri Department of Conservation, meant to supplement the community plan. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also will use water-quality parameters to determine, five years after the community plan's implementation, whether the grotto sculpin should be removed from the endangered-species list. Accurately counting the small fish in its dark, underground habitat would be difficult, officials have said.

Wideman said efforts are underway to garner funds from the Environmental Protection Agency for the testing, but that process is developing. He said he's hopeful movement could happen on the testing in 2016, but it's an expensive process that can't proceed without more funding first.

"The kinds of things that we test for, it's a couple thousand dollars per sample to do the testing, and that doesn't count the personnel costs it takes to go out there and collect the samples," he said. "So it's no small deal to do an extensive water-testing project across the territory as big as this karst watershed."

Progress so far has been monitored through random spot checks of projects across the county that receive state and federal funding. Farmers and landowners sign contracts agreeing to multiyear projects that can range from simple maintenance of sinkhole buffers to adjusting farming practices to prevent soil erosion. Wideman said 5 percent of the projects are checked each year to determine whether they are being adequately maintained.

The practices suggested with the community plan are voluntary, but Buerck and Wideman said most people have been willing to participate. Buerck said the conversation has grown beyond making the changes for the sake of the grotto sculpin, to recognizing how the improved water quality provides benefits for public health.

"It was something that we felt was kind of dropped on us, but we're better for having gone through it," he said of the sculpin issue. "We've developed relationships with folks that are really helping us make a difference and at the end of the day, we understand we're going to drink this water. It might not be in the city of Perryville, but one of our friends or neighbors down the way is going to see that water come up and we want it to be clean for them."

srinehart@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641

Pertinent address:

Perryville, Mo.