Post by Sharon Faulkner on Sept 26, 2006 15:14:53 GMT -5
Agencies work to protect Ozarks fish, water
JOANNE BRATTON
September 25, 2006
As north central Arkansas continues to develop, the more imperative it is for landowners to keep water quality a high priority, environmental experts say.
During a Thursday seminar about watersheds organized by the Friends of the North Fork and White Rivers and North Arkansas Fly Fishers groups, experts from national and state agencies explained how underground contaminants and erosion affect those living in the Ozarks.
About 22 percent of the nation is karst, a term used to describe the underground landscape. About 10,000 caves, which are karst features, are found throughout the Ozarks, said David Kampwerth, a karst biologist in the Arkansas field office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
As a biologist, Kampwerth works to protect endangered species in Ozark caves with help from landowners. He also spends much of his time working with cities and other developers to prevent contaminants from going into the groundwater. "The surface groundwater is what we need to be concerned about," Kampwerth said. "We're not doing a very good job of it in the Ozarks and the U.S."
In some Ozark caves, he has found metals in crayfish that showed levels of lead, zinc and cadmium, materials which do not come from limestone, he said.
The highest pollution-causing material in the Ozarks is sediment, with sinkhole dumps, fertilizer, cattle and poultry waste, and septic systems also contributing to polluted water, he said.
Sediment can cover fish eggs and macroinvertabrates — or small insects — that the fish eat, explained Steve Filipek, assistant chief of fisheries with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. Even if just one species of insect is lost in the food chain, it will affect fish, he said. "We need diversity and complexity to keep it going," he said. "It's a food web."
The best way to keep sediment away from the water is to have a natural area with grass and vegetation, he said. When rain falls, most of the water will be absorbed through the roots of the plants instead of washing into a river or lake.
A vegetative zone also will help farmers keep their property intact so they will not lose their land through erosion, Filipek added. "You'll have better water quality, will have to filter your water less and will get more fish," he said.
Filipek and Kampwerth encouraged those who attended the seminar to be aware of their actions, which ultimately affect the water everyone uses.
www.baxterbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060925/NEWS01/609250311/1002
JOANNE BRATTON
September 25, 2006
As north central Arkansas continues to develop, the more imperative it is for landowners to keep water quality a high priority, environmental experts say.
During a Thursday seminar about watersheds organized by the Friends of the North Fork and White Rivers and North Arkansas Fly Fishers groups, experts from national and state agencies explained how underground contaminants and erosion affect those living in the Ozarks.
About 22 percent of the nation is karst, a term used to describe the underground landscape. About 10,000 caves, which are karst features, are found throughout the Ozarks, said David Kampwerth, a karst biologist in the Arkansas field office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
As a biologist, Kampwerth works to protect endangered species in Ozark caves with help from landowners. He also spends much of his time working with cities and other developers to prevent contaminants from going into the groundwater. "The surface groundwater is what we need to be concerned about," Kampwerth said. "We're not doing a very good job of it in the Ozarks and the U.S."
In some Ozark caves, he has found metals in crayfish that showed levels of lead, zinc and cadmium, materials which do not come from limestone, he said.
The highest pollution-causing material in the Ozarks is sediment, with sinkhole dumps, fertilizer, cattle and poultry waste, and septic systems also contributing to polluted water, he said.
Sediment can cover fish eggs and macroinvertabrates — or small insects — that the fish eat, explained Steve Filipek, assistant chief of fisheries with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. Even if just one species of insect is lost in the food chain, it will affect fish, he said. "We need diversity and complexity to keep it going," he said. "It's a food web."
The best way to keep sediment away from the water is to have a natural area with grass and vegetation, he said. When rain falls, most of the water will be absorbed through the roots of the plants instead of washing into a river or lake.
A vegetative zone also will help farmers keep their property intact so they will not lose their land through erosion, Filipek added. "You'll have better water quality, will have to filter your water less and will get more fish," he said.
Filipek and Kampwerth encouraged those who attended the seminar to be aware of their actions, which ultimately affect the water everyone uses.
www.baxterbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060925/NEWS01/609250311/1002