Water quality will determine grotto sculpin's status

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- When federal officials review the status of the grotto sculpin five years from now, the biggest factor in whether it remains on the endangered species list will be water quality, not how many fish live in the caves under Perry County, a biologist said Wednesday night.

Landowners and community leaders worked with multiple agencies to develop the Perry County Community Conservation Plan, which is designed to protect both the fish -- believed to exist exclusively in Perry County -- and the local economy.

Had the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service carried out a 2012 proposal to designate several parts of the county as critical habitat for the fish, it could have hampered efforts to attract businesses to the area, county officials have said.

The service will monitor implementation of the conservation plan and review its data in five years to determine how the plan is working and whether the grotto sculpin should remain on the endangered species list, said Shauna Marquardt, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist.

The number of fish in the caves will not be the basis for that determination, she said.

"We're going to base recovery on water-quality parameters. ... Counting fish can be tricky," Marquardt said Wednesday night, responding to a question from an audience member at a public meeting about the plan.

While the Missouri Department of Conservation will monitor the fish population, baseline data are limited, and "we can't always count those fish with 100 percent confidence," Marquardt said.

Instead, biologists will focus on water quality, which can be tested more frequently, providing a more accurate picture of how the plan is working, she said.

In the past, Perry County's water quality has fallen below the standards necessary to maintain aquatic life, as evidenced by the occasional "fish kills" that raised concerns about the grotto sculpin's survival, Marquardt said.

While the status of the grotto sculpin prompted the county to create its conservation plan, it is a symptom of a larger problem, said Frank Wideman of the University of Missouri Extension.

"The plan is not really going to be about the fish," Wideman said. "The fish is going to be an indicator to ... help us figure out if we're making the right kind of improvements or not."

Wideman showed the audience a series of maps illustrating the county's geology, which includes sinkholes that allow surface water -- frequently laden with sediments containing sewage, chemicals and other contaminants -- to run into the caves, compromising groundwater quality and endangering the fish.

"If we keep the soil out of the caves, we've got a major part of the problem fixed," he said.

By reducing erosion around the sinkholes through the use of buffer zones, no-till farming techniques, cover crops and other methods, landowners can keep the water clean, Wideman said.

Had Perry County been designated as critical habitat for the fish, such improvements could have become mandatory, officials have said.

Under the community plan, those steps are voluntary, and representatives of state and federal agencies said Wednesday that matching funds and technical assistance are available to help reduce the cost to landowners.

By protecting the grotto sculpin, landowners may be protecting themselves, Wideman said.

"Our concern is to have clean water, because we've got a fractured geology that lets water move vertically in the system," he said. " ... I don't like to think about that a lot, but my house sits over one of the caves, too, so I'm worried about my well."

epriddy@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

Perry County, Mo.