What's in the
water?
Sampling
the
By TRACI ANGEL Special to
the Tribune
Published Sunday, November
23, 2008
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Courtesy of the Department of Natural
Resources |
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On Sept.
11, 2007, Troy Potteiger, a DNR environmental
specialist, photographed sewage overflowing from a city of |
At the same
time, she and her two children suffered from diarrhea, which she believed was
caused by drinking water from a well on her property. She associated these
conditions with the fact that a nearby sewage main operated by the city of
The Byers
family lived on Surdyke’s Waverunner
Cove off Route KK 14. Their home sat at the bottom of a steep gravel road that
extended from a newer subdivision.
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Top, Tribune file photo. Below, Courtesy of the
Department of Natural Resources |
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Above, concerns over water quality
at |
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Byers complained to the city of
"I was
pretty enraged at the time," said Byers, who has since moved away and now
lives in the
Although the
lake has lured visitors and residents seeking water recreation and a wooded
getaway, there have been problems with population growth and development. There
are examples of how water quality has been diminished as a result.
Samples of E. coli contamination have been discovered in some of the
lake’s coves, including the place where Byers had lived. When sewage disposal
systems have failed, cities that provide waste services around the lake have
been cited for violating state clean water laws.
But the latest
round of testing of lake water samples conducted last month found none with E. coli bacteria in excess of the federal suggested maximum
level for water used for swimming, DNR said.
"Overall,
the lake is in very good health, bacteria-wise," said Scott Robinett, a specialist with DNR’s
water-quality monitoring section.
The region’s
expanding population and years of lax regulation have forced some landowners
and concerned residents to take action to deal with water-quality issues. They
formed a watershed alliance to draw attention to water quality and
conservation.
Donna Swall, president of the Lake of the Ozarks Watershed
Alliance, said the alliance is tackling the water-quality problems with a
program that pumps out residents’ septic tanks and educates homeowners about
septic tank maintenance.
In addition,
the alliance’s volunteers have participated for the past two years in the water
sampling program designed to identify pollution.
"Yes,
there have been problems, but they have been fixed," Swall
said. "That’s the positive piece that’s taken place from the
testing."
In June, a
sample taken from the cove where Byers had lived exceeded the water-quality
standard for whole-body contact recreation. When the area near the 26-mile
marker was retested Oct. 6, it was within a safe specification for the presence
of E. coli.
E. coli is a bacteria found in the intestinal tract of
warm-blooded animals, including humans. Some strains can cause gastrointestinal
illness.
"We did
test that area this year, and it did come up high," Swall
said. She said the high readings might have been caused by heavy rains that had
diminished by October or because "folks became aware of our testing and
cleaned up their act."
TOURIST
The lake was
created more than 75 years ago when Union Electric, now AmerenUE,
was looking for another source of power and constructed a dam on the
By the early
1940s, roadside restaurants and novelty stands greeted motorists passing
through. Then came the resorts and lodges, followed by
homemade food and candy stores and carnival attractions.
Today, 1,150
miles of shoreline beckon visitors and lake dwellers. The population has swelled
in towns such as
Dwight Weaver,
a lake historian who first started coming here with his dad to fish in the
1950s, said a watershed protection group should have been formed 20 years ago.
"Development
is going wild, whether it’s for the construction of condos or other kinds of
buildings," Weaver said. "There’s a lot of
mixed feelings with regard to the influx of people. Everybody who moves to the
lake wants to be the last person to move here."
Six years ago,
the lake lured Madeline Hutton Harrell from
"Things
down here need to be addressed - the clear-cutting of trees was a big issue,
protecting the wetland habitat and looking out for endangered species,"
Harrell said. She found that her daily swims were interrupted by clumps of
algae.
So Harrell
joined the Lake of the Ozarks Watershed Alliance to help collect water samples.
The alliance formed in 2006 with the goal of preserving the water quality and
environment for the future.
"We saw a
lot of water that was not clear, and I think that people that are out just
racing around on jet skis or boating aren’t paying attention to what the water
looks like," Harrell said. "The challenge is that people need to be
educated about the development and the damage that is being done and how that
can be reversed."
Among the
challenges the alliance faces are the lake’s geography, lack of regulating
jurisdiction, exploding development and a second-home population.
Swall, the organization’s president, is a scuba diver who moved to the
lake in March 2006. She had helped set up a watershed alliance in
"The lake
is huge, and there are so many governing bodies," Swall
said. "We need a central coordinator for all these bodies."
Multiple city
and county jurisdictions are responsible for dealing with some of the lake’s
pollution issues. The state DNR is supposed to enforce clean-water regulations.
Municipalities
around the lake operate their own sewer systems, but many homes fall outside
the organized infrastructure and are forced to operate septic tanks. Upkeep on
septic tanks is at an owner’s expense, and a local or state investigator must
track one that might be leaking.
The
jurisdiction can lie within the bounds of DNR, the Army Corps of Engineers, the
Water Patrol, AmerenUE or the U.S. Coast Guard,
depending on the situation.
Compounding the
problem is the nature of the land itself. The karst topography
contains sinkholes, streams and springs that cause the surface water and
groundwater to interchange freely. Groundwater can travel a long distance
without the natural filter of soil and organic material. This means if water is
polluted, it can run right into another water source.
James Vandike, chief of groundwater geology for DNR, said
groundwater has to be protected from wastewater.
"Whenever
you have as much development as around the lake, the septic systems can affect
water quality," Vandike said.
Another
obstacle is the fact that there are often questions about who is in charge of
these septic systems and who wants to take responsibility for better practices.
At an alliance meeting earlier this year, people participating asked how
homeowners with leaky sewage systems might be reprimanded.
DNR’s Robinett said it could be the
municipality’s responsibility if it fell in its jurisdiction, or it could be DNR’s problem, depending on where the leakage was discovered.
Finally,
another component of the water-quality issue is the fact that it’s hard to
enlist public support because so many lake residents are part-timers.
"The
majority of our population is weekenders," Swall
said. "If they are on a sewer system" in
E. COLI SAMPLES
There are
documented cases of how municipal sewages systems have failed here. On Aug. 25,
the city of
The city was
assessed a $50,000 fine. John Wood,
Notices of
violations were filed by DNR in June and July of 2005 saying that the sewer
main operated by the city of
In 2007, AmerenUE agreed to provide $15,000 a year for five years to
monitor for the presence of E. coli in the lake. A
year ago, volunteers collected 396 water samples in 28 coves at 119 sites.
Eight samples exceeded the state’s standard.
Earlier this
year, volunteer groups found a handful of examples in which E. coli contamination exceeded state standards. By September,
the higher readings had dropped to only one after the sampling of hundreds of
sites. The department tested 53 samples drawn from the
Robinett said the state takes seriously every sample found to exceed
standards. But he added that detection of E. coli has
to be taken in context. One E. coli in someone’s well
used for drinking water is a big deal, but one E. coli
in a lake cove is nothing to cause alarm. E. coli is
naturally occurring and could be linked to an animal or group of birds.
Swall believes the
"I’m
interested in making sure the water I swim in is healthy," Swall said.
Traci Angel is a former graduate student at the