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Executive Summary of Lake of the Ozarks Watershed Management Plan
The full watershed for the Lake of the Ozarks (LOZ) extends into Kansas and takes in 8,960,000 acres or 14,000 square miles of land, which is far too large for any one watershed management plan (see figure I-1). Even when one considers simply the 886,900 acre watershed for Lake of the Ozarks from Bagnell Dam to Truman Dam, there are simply too many variables and influences to take into account in one single watershed management plan. Because of the many different influences on LOZ and the sheer size of its watershed, Lake of the Ozarks Watershed Alliance (LOWA) decided to narrow the focus of this watershed management plan (WMP) to some of the most densely populated and fastest growing areas of the lake. The 2 12-digit HUCs (Hydrologic Unit Codes) of focus are the Buck Creek, HUC #102901090406 (former #102901090501), and the Lick Branch, HUC #102901090407 (former #102901090506) subwatersheds, and they will be referred to as the WMP focus area (see figure I-2). This part of the LOZ watershed was chosen because this area is home to some of the first shoreline to be developed, and the water quality of this area has been, and has the potential to be, affected by the waste and pollution of dense populations and largely unregulated development. This area can be stressed by under functioning septic tanks, land disturbance sites with unconfined soil along the shoreline, and other nonpoint source pollution storm water issues.
In the spring of 2006, citizens around the Lake of the Ozarks met in a series of meetings held at different locations around the entire lake shoreline to discuss issues concerning LOZ. Survey after survey showed the same results: citizens were concerned about safety and the water quality of the lake. That same spring, Lake of the Ozarks Watershed Alliance was born and quickly adopted the following mission statement:
Citizens will protect, preserve, and improve the Lake of the Ozarks, its watershed and natural resources while maintaining our economic, social, and environmental health.
Since then, stakeholders from all around the Lake have come together to volunteer their time, energy, skills, and ideas to work together to keep the Lake of the Ozarks healthy and safe. In fact, safety issues are also health issues, and these were some of the very first issues LOWA tackled. Boats being driven by intoxicated individuals led LOWA to address two problems at once. A Designated Captain Program was established by LOWA to allow the driver of the boat to receive a non-alcoholic beverage at participating bars and restaurants. This successful program was later turned over to another citizen group at LOZ, the Lake Safety Council. In addition, dock slip sizes became an issue as AmerenUE was writing its Shoreline Management Plan (SMP). LOWA provided citizens with a forum in which to express their opinions and this survey of opinions did sway the results of the SMP. Safety issues at the lake also include the water quality of the lake which can affect the health of the public; and the stakeholders of the WMP focus area are dedicated to maintaining and improving the health of the Lake of the Ozarks.
The full watershed for the Lake of the Ozarks (LOZ) extends into Kansas and takes in 8,960,000 acres or 14,000 square miles of land, which is far too large for any one watershed management plan (see figure I-1). Even when one considers simply the 886,900 acre watershed for Lake of the Ozarks from Bagnell Dam to Truman Dam, there are simply too many variables and influences to take into account in one single watershed management plan. Because of the many different influences on LOZ and the sheer size of its watershed, Lake of the Ozarks Watershed Alliance (LOWA) decided to narrow the focus of this watershed management plan (WMP) to some of the most densely populated and fastest growing areas of the lake. The 2 12-digit HUCs (Hydrologic Unit Codes) of focus are the Buck Creek, HUC #102901090406 (former #102901090501), and the Lick Branch, HUC #102901090407 (former #102901090506) subwatersheds, and they will be referred to as the WMP focus area (see figure I-2). This part of the LOZ watershed was chosen because this area is home to some of the first shoreline to be developed, and the water quality of this area has been, and has the potential to be, affected by the waste and pollution of dense populations and largely unregulated development. This area can be stressed by under functioning septic tanks, land disturbance sites with unconfined soil along the shoreline, and other nonpoint source pollution storm water issues.
The Buck Creek and Lick Branch subwatersheds of the Lake of the Ozarks larger watershed begin at Bagnell Dam and encompass the first 18 miles of the main channel of the Lake of the Ozarks, as well as its many side coves. These 2 areas also include parts of Osage Beach and Lake Ozark in the eastern part of the watershed focus area, and extend to the municipalities of Laurie and Sunrise Beach to the west. This is a very densely populated part of the LOZ watershed and includes many marinas, businesses, and condominiums, in addition to single residence homes. Part of this population is hooked to one larger waste water treatment plant in the area, and part is on smaller scaled waste water permitted plants (mostly associated with condominium projects and small subdivisions); however, most of the population is still on private, aging septic tanks around the shoreline in an area largely unsuited to septic tanks. This lack of adequate waste water treatment impacts the Lake of the Ozark and its watershed and is another reason for LOWA to choose this area for the WMP focus, while realizing the issue of septic tanks on the shoreline is not limited to the WMP focus area, but also is a lake-wide issue.
The overall goal of this watershed management plan centers on maintaining and improving the water quality of the Lake of the Ozarks. The Strategies (descriptions of the approaches being taken to address the impairments to the watershed) for the WMP focus area take this general goal and address it with details and specificity appropriate to the needs of the WMP focus area. To begin addressing the needs of the LOZ watershed, LOWA is focusing on, but realizes the issues are not limited to, the Buck Creek HUC #102901090406 and Lick Branch HUC #102901090407 subwatersheds (see figure 3) because this part of the Lake of the Ozarks has some of the highest population, marina, and business densities; and this area is one of the fastest growing parts of LOZ. In addition, future growth at LOZ is projected to occur mostly around and in these two subwatersheds. An unexpected benefit to selecting these two areas for focus is that the nutrient load criteria for lakes and reservoirs are based at the dam end of the water body, which is where the WMP focus area is located. LOWA’s Strategy goals for the WMP focus area are to reduce the bacteria load, the nutrient load, and the amount of sediment reaching the lake.
Nutrient criteria have been proposed for the Lake of the Ozarks and the Strategies address nutrients largely through a long-term approach. By reducing nutrient loading small amounts per year over a long period of time, large reductions can be accomplished. For example, if the 2008 phosphorus load of 0.041 milligrams per liter were to be reduced by 2% per year, after 22 years, the phosphorus content would be at the nutrient criterion level for phosphorus proposed for LOZ of 0.026 milligrams per liter. If each suggested Strategy reduces the phosphorus level by a small percentage per year, the effect of all the Strategies taken together could reach a total goal of a 2% per year reduction. Likewise, to reach the nutrient criterion level proposed for nitrogen at the Lake of the Ozarks would take about 18 years to go from the 2008 load of 0.679 milligrams per liter to the criterion level of 0.520 milligrams per liter, with a reduction rate of 1.5% per year from all implemented Strategies together. This percent reduction was simply used as an example of how incremental decreases over time can bring about large changes. This WMP will not be using percent reductions to measure load reductions. Instead, a long term goal of the WMP for the focus area is to reduce the phosphorus and nitrogen levels to the nutrient criteria levels established for the Lake of the Ozarks by implementing a variety of Strategies which, together, will reduce nutrient levels incrementally each year until the nutrient criteria levels are reached. However, LOWA would like to point out that the nutrient criteria levels set for the Lake of the Ozarks at this time are rather controversial. Since Bagnell Dam is located in the Ozarks ecoregion (an ecoregion is an area of the Earth that has similar climate, soil characteristics, and life), the entire lake is classified based on characteristics of lakes for that ecoregion. Some feel that the nutrient criteria levels for LOZ are set unreasonably low because most of LOZ’s watershed is in the Osage Plains ecoregion, whose lakes have much higher nutrient criteria levels. This watershed management plan is designed to be amendable and adaptable as new information arises and new technologies and ideas are developed.
The amount of sediment reaching the lake and the amount of bacteria in the lake will also be addressed by the combined action of several specific Strategies. Unlike the amount of nutrients in the water at present, the amount of sediment and bacteria in the water can be reduced significantly within a relatively shorter period of time compared to that for reducing the amount of nutrients. The amount of E. coli in the lake’s water is being studied through a partnership between MO Department of Natural Resources (MDNR), AmerenUE (utility company that owns the land under the Lake of the Ozarks and manages Bagnell Dam and the Lake of the Ozarks as a hydroelectric power generating facility), MO Department of Conservation (MDC), and LOWA. AmerenUE is providing the funding for a 5-year study of E. coli in the coves of LOZ, MDNR has designed the study, analyzes the samples, and reports the results, MDC coordinates the volunteers for sampling, and LOWA trained volunteers collect the water samples and either deliver the samples to an MDNR courier or to the MDNR lab for the analysis. The amount of bacteria is recorded as a measure of the number of bacteria colonies per 100 milliliters of water (most probable number or mpn) and the MDNR standard for E. coli in this study is to have a measurement of less than 126 mpn per 100 mL of water (126 mpn/100 mL). The standard of 126 mpn/100 mL is generally used to refer a geometric mean of at least 5 samples taken regularly spaced out over one month’s time and a standard of 235 mpn/100 mL water is used as the allowable limit for swimming for a single, one-time, sample. For this WMP, the determination of exceedances (an “exceedance” is a measurement over the state standard) will be based on the single sample state standard for E. coli of 235 mpn/100 mL water. Since the amount of bacteria also is affected by sources not addressed in this WMP for the focus area (such as wildlife and runoff from undeveloped watershed), a reduction of the number of samples measuring over the single sample standard for E. coli will not be expected to reach zero. The goal for bacteria for this WMP is to reach no more than one sample over standard per year (an exceedance). Several of the Strategies, working in unison, should be able to accomplish this goal.
The amount of sediment reaching the Lake of the Ozarks has not been studied as extensively as the nutrients or bacteria and some of the technical assistance needed for this WMP is to establish some baseline loading data for the amount of sediments entering LOZ during a rain event at various locations and site conditions. Baseline data will need to be gathered in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the specific Best Management Practices (BMPs) implemented to address sediment loading. The goal of this WMP for the focus area is to reduce the total amount of sediments entering LOZ in the WMP focus area by a significant amount over a 4-year period through a combination of Strategies addressing unconfined soil on land disturbance sites and the establishment of watershed yards with LOWA LILs (LILs stands for Low Impact Landscapes and is a set of watershed friendly runoff management practices, including rain gardens and rain barrels) in the WMP focus area. Controlling the amount of sediment is important to accomplishing all the goals of the watershed management plan because of sediment’s connections to the amount of bacteria and nutrients. Decreasing the amount of sediment reaching the waters of LOZ will also help decrease the amount of bacteria and nutrients.
To accomplish these goals of reducing the amount of sediment, bacteria, and nutrients loading to the Lake of the Ozarks, LOWA will need to establish programs reducing the amount of waste water dumped by boats and leaking from inefficient septic tanks, monitoring BMPs at land disturbance sites, establishing green awards and other incentives for businesses to go beyond their legal requirements, and a cost-share incentive program to help citizens create and install rain gardens, rain barrels, and LOWA LIL watershed lawns. In addition, LOWA believes a plan to establish a regionalized waste water management system to protect this lake from nutrient and bacteria loading is imperative in order to ensure the future health of this priceless resource largely because of the projected impact of the baby boomers retiring to the lake which will represent a significant population increase moving full-time into homes with aging, private septic systems, many of which may be inadequate to treat the waste generated.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has identified nine elements of a watershed management plan that should be addressed in order to ensure a successful watershed management plan. These nine elements are identified in the Table of Contents as Elements A-I. These nine elements have been incorporated into the different sections of this watershed management plan and are identified at the beginning of the Sections in which they are found.
For successful implementation of this watershed management plan, LOWA is looking forward to continuing a strong partnership with AmerenUE, Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR), the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Missouri State Water Patrol, U. S. Coast Guard, Lake Area Chamber of Commerce, Camdenton Chamber of Commerce, Lake West Chamber of Commerce, Tri-County Lodging Association, Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Camden County Shoreline District Planning and Zoning Commission, Lakes of Missouri Volunteer Program, MO Stream Team, and local area governments and businesses.
Figure I-1 shows the entire watershed for the Lake of the Ozarks, which is part of the Osage River. This watershed stretches well into the neighboring state of Kansas and encompasses a significant portion of SW Missouri, as well. This watershed has Bagnell Dam in the far eastern portion of the area as part of its boundary. Bagnell Dam also forms part of the boundary of the WMP focus area. Figure I-2 shows the 2 subwatersheds that form the WMP focus area.
The Buck Creek and Lick Branch subwatersheds of the Lake of the Ozarks larger watershed begin at Bagnell Dam and encompass the first 18 miles of the main channel of the Lake of the Ozarks, as well as its many side coves. These 2 areas also include parts of Osage Beach and Lake Ozark in the eastern part of the watershed focus area, and extend to the municipalities of Laurie and Sunrise Beach to the west. This is a very densely populated part of the LOZ watershed and includes many marinas, businesses, and condominiums, in addition to single residence homes. Part of this population is hooked to one larger waste water treatment plant in the area, and part is on smaller scaled waste water permitted plants (mostly associated with condominium projects and small subdivisions); however, most of the population is still on private, aging septic tanks around the shoreline in an area largely unsuited to septic tanks. This lack of adequate waste water treatment impacts the Lake of the Ozark and its watershed and is another reason for LOWA to choose this area for the WMP focus, while realizing the issue of septic tanks on the shoreline is not limited to the WMP focus area, but also is a lake-wide issue.
The overall goal of this watershed management plan centers on maintaining and improving the water quality of the Lake of the Ozarks. The Strategies (descriptions of the approaches being taken to address the impairments to the watershed) for the WMP focus area take this general goal and address it with details and specificity appropriate to the needs of the WMP focus area. To begin addressing the needs of the LOZ watershed, LOWA is focusing on, but realizes the issues are not limited to, the Buck Creek HUC #102901090406 and Lick Branch HUC #102901090407 subwatersheds (see figure 3) because this part of the Lake of the Ozarks has some of the highest population, marina, and business densities; and this area is one of the fastest growing parts of LOZ. In addition, future growth at LOZ is projected to occur mostly around and in these two subwatersheds. An unexpected benefit to selecting these two areas for focus is that the nutrient load criteria for lakes and reservoirs are based at the dam end of the water body, which is where the WMP focus area is located. LOWA’s Strategy goals for the WMP focus area are to reduce the bacteria load, the nutrient load, and the amount of sediment reaching the lake.
Nutrient criteria have been proposed for the Lake of the Ozarks and the Strategies address nutrients largely through a long-term approach. By reducing nutrient loading small amounts per year over a long period of time, large reductions can be accomplished. For example, if the 2008 phosphorus load of 0.041 milligrams per liter were to be reduced by 2% per year, after 22 years, the phosphorus content would be at the nutrient criterion level for phosphorus proposed for LOZ of 0.026 milligrams per liter. If each suggested Strategy reduces the phosphorus level by a small percentage per year, the effect of all the Strategies taken together could reach a total goal of a 2% per year reduction. Likewise, to reach the nutrient criterion level proposed for nitrogen at the Lake of the Ozarks would take about 18 years to go from the 2008 load of 0.679 milligrams per liter to the criterion level of 0.520 milligrams per liter, with a reduction rate of 1.5% per year from all implemented Strategies together. This percent reduction was simply used as an example of how incremental decreases over time can bring about large changes. This WMP will not be using percent reductions to measure load reductions. Instead, a long term goal of the WMP for the focus area is to reduce the phosphorus and nitrogen levels to the nutrient criteria levels established for the Lake of the Ozarks by implementing a variety of Strategies which, together, will reduce nutrient levels incrementally each year until the nutrient criteria levels are reached. However, LOWA would like to point out that the nutrient criteria levels set for the Lake of the Ozarks at this time are rather controversial. Since Bagnell Dam is located in the Ozarks ecoregion (an ecoregion is an area of the Earth that has similar climate, soil characteristics, and life), the entire lake is classified based on characteristics of lakes for that ecoregion. Some feel that the nutrient criteria levels for LOZ are set unreasonably low because most of LOZ’s watershed is in the Osage Plains ecoregion, whose lakes have much higher nutrient criteria levels. This watershed management plan is designed to be amendable and adaptable as new information arises and new technologies and ideas are developed.
The amount of sediment reaching the lake and the amount of bacteria in the lake will also be addressed by the combined action of several specific Strategies. Unlike the amount of nutrients in the water at present, the amount of sediment and bacteria in the water can be reduced significantly within a relatively shorter period of time compared to that for reducing the amount of nutrients. The amount of E. coli in the lake’s water is being studied through a partnership between MO Department of Natural Resources (MDNR), AmerenUE (utility company that owns the land under the Lake of the Ozarks and manages Bagnell Dam and the Lake of the Ozarks as a hydroelectric power generating facility), MO Department of Conservation (MDC), and LOWA. AmerenUE is providing the funding for a 5-year study of E. coli in the coves of LOZ, MDNR has designed the study, analyzes the samples, and reports the results, MDC coordinates the volunteers for sampling, and LOWA trained volunteers collect the water samples and either deliver the samples to an MDNR courier or to the MDNR lab for the analysis. The amount of bacteria is recorded as a measure of the number of bacteria colonies per 100 milliliters of water (most probable number or mpn) and the MDNR standard for E. coli in this study is to have a measurement of less than 126 mpn per 100 mL of water (126 mpn/100 mL). The standard of 126 mpn/100 mL is generally used to refer a geometric mean of at least 5 samples taken regularly spaced out over one month’s time and a standard of 235 mpn/100 mL water is used as the allowable limit for swimming for a single, one-time, sample. For this WMP, the determination of exceedances (an “exceedance” is a measurement over the state standard) will be based on the single sample state standard for E. coli of 235 mpn/100 mL water. Since the amount of bacteria also is affected by sources not addressed in this WMP for the focus area (such as wildlife and runoff from undeveloped watershed), a reduction of the number of samples measuring over the single sample standard for E. coli will not be expected to reach zero. The goal for bacteria for this WMP is to reach no more than one sample over standard per year (an exceedance). Several of the Strategies, working in unison, should be able to accomplish this goal.
The amount of sediment reaching the Lake of the Ozarks has not been studied as extensively as the nutrients or bacteria and some of the technical assistance needed for this WMP is to establish some baseline loading data for the amount of sediments entering LOZ during a rain event at various locations and site conditions. Baseline data will need to be gathered in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the specific Best Management Practices (BMPs) implemented to address sediment loading. The goal of this WMP for the focus area is to reduce the total amount of sediments entering LOZ in the WMP focus area by a significant amount over a 4-year period through a combination of Strategies addressing unconfined soil on land disturbance sites and the establishment of watershed yards with LOWA LILs (LILs stands for Low Impact Landscapes and is a set of watershed friendly runoff management practices, including rain gardens and rain barrels) in the WMP focus area. Controlling the amount of sediment is important to accomplishing all the goals of the watershed management plan because of sediment’s connections to the amount of bacteria and nutrients. Decreasing the amount of sediment reaching the waters of LOZ will also help decrease the amount of bacteria and nutrients.
To accomplish these goals of reducing the amount of sediment, bacteria, and nutrients loading to the Lake of the Ozarks, LOWA will need to establish programs reducing the amount of waste water dumped by boats and leaking from inefficient septic tanks, monitoring BMPs at land disturbance sites, establishing green awards and other incentives for businesses to go beyond their legal requirements, and a cost-share incentive program to help citizens create and install rain gardens, rain barrels, and LOWA LIL watershed lawns. In addition, LOWA believes a plan to establish a regionalized waste water management system to protect this lake from nutrient and bacteria loading is imperative in order to ensure the future health of this priceless resource largely because of the projected impact of the baby boomers retiring to the lake which will represent a significant population increase moving full-time into homes with aging, private septic systems, many of which may be inadequate to treat the waste generated.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has identified nine elements of a watershed management plan that should be addressed in order to ensure a successful watershed management plan. These nine elements are identified in the Table of Contents as Elements A-I. These nine elements have been incorporated into the different sections of this watershed management plan and are identified at the beginning of the Sections in which they are found.
For successful implementation of this watershed management plan, LOWA is looking forward to continuing a strong partnership with AmerenUE, Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR), the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Missouri State Water Patrol, U. S. Coast Guard, Lake Area Chamber of Commerce, Camdenton Chamber of Commerce, Lake West Chamber of Commerce, Tri-County Lodging Association, Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Camden County Shoreline District Planning and Zoning Commission, Lakes of Missouri Volunteer Program, MO Stream Team, and local area governments and businesses.
Figure I-1 shows the entire watershed for the Lake of the Ozarks, which is part of the Osage River. This watershed stretches well into the neighboring state of Kansas and encompasses a significant portion of SW Missouri, as well. This watershed has Bagnell Dam in the far eastern portion of the area as part of its boundary. Bagnell Dam also forms part of the boundary of the WMP focus area. Figure I-2 shows the 2 subwatersheds that form the WMP focus area.
Photograph showing Bagnell Dam to the left, the protective barrier net diagonal across the picture, and Bagnell Strip in Lake Ozark, MO in the background.
Figure I-1. Lake of the Ozarks and its entire watershed1.
Figure 1-2. The two subwatersheds of the WMP focus area, Buck Creek HUC #102901090406 (map is labeled #102901090501) and Lick Branch HUC #102901090407 (map is labeled #102901090506).
