Cattle already grazing on city watershed land
Whitney McFerron
Issue date: 3/3/05 Section: News
Many Kirksville residents are upset about the sale of land at Hazel Creek to cattle farmer Gail Novinger, but other private landowners have been raising livestock in the watershed for years.
The Hazel Creek watershed, which includes more than 1,800 acres of land surrounding the Hazel Creek Lake, is owned by 58 private individuals and companies. More than 650 cows, horses, goats and buffalo resided on 28 livestock farms within the watershed as of August 2003, according to the city's Hazel Creek Watershed Management Plan.
Mark Spitzer, assistant professor of English, said he thinks the livestock already present in the watershed could pose a threat to both the lake's natural ecosystems and the city's drinking water. Spitzer, who fishes on Hazel Creek Lake, said he is working on a petition for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources Clean Water Commission, asking them to enforce the Missouri Clean Water Law. Spitzer said the law prohibits several types of water pollution and includes animal waste as a potential water contaminant.
"Basically cattle are not being fenced back from streams and ravines, and they're directly discharging waste into streams that are going right into Hazel Creek," Spitzer said. "This is killing plants, and if it hasn't killed fish yet, it's going to kill fish soon."
Spitzer said he hopes to gather 100 signatures of Missouri educators to send to the commission. He said he began circulating the petition in the Language and Literature Division on Friday, and as of Monday, he had about 12 signatures.
Spitzer said he is focusing primarily on University professors, but would be willing to help students with other efforts. He said the Hazel Creek Concerned Citizens Committee is not involved with his petition drive.
"I proposed it to the Concerned Citizens Committee, but they're concentrating on one effort, so they really didn't want to support another effort," Spitzer said. "And it's important, I think, to actually have many different efforts going on regarding this."
Everett Baker, chief of drinking water and an environmental engineer with the Northeast Regional Office of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, said the DNR generally only has the authority to regulate private farms in cases of large-scale pollution. Baker said the cattle farms in the watershed probably do not pose a threat extreme enough for the DNR to intervene even if Spitzer submits the petition.
"There are numbers that have to be gone by and the specific area [of land] as well," Baker said. "We're talking about maybe 5,000 head of hogs. The number of cattle probably is not quite that large, but still in the same range. We're not talking about a couple hundred but much more than that."
Baker said one reason he advised the City Council not to vote to sell the Hazel Creek property last December was because the DNR cannot strictly regulate private land.
"Once it's sold, we can't directly say 'We want you to move this cattle,' because they don't have to," Baker said. "It's voluntary after that, and people who own that land have a right to use that land for agricultural purposes."
Baker said the only thing the DNR can do in most cases is focus on educating cattle farmers about good land-management practices. Rotating the locations where cattle feed and fencing off ditches and ravines to keep livestock from going directly into the water are some ways farmers can prevent runoff and soil erosion, Baker said.
Farmers can receive money through a government cost-sharing program to help offset some of the costs of building fences and changing operation practices. Baker said the DNR also has "grazing schools," where cattle farmers can receive training in land management.
Baker said the city's planned watershed advisory committee also could help ensure the safety of the water supply and natural environment by educating farmers.
"I'm encouraged that the city seems to be moving toward making this watershed management committee and is starting to look at the watersheds of both lakes and trying to identify problems and address those," Baker said. "I think regardless of anybody's opinion of the land sale that it's a good move."
Local landowner Sam Neff said his family has owned land in the Hazel Creek area since before the lake was built, and he has about 30 cows on 300 acres of land within the watershed. Neff said he does some things to inhibit runoff, such as moving the cattle around to prevent overgrazing.
"I drink the water too, so I don't want it to be contaminated either," Neff said.
Scott Ellis, science division head, who owns and raises horses on land in the watershed, said he does not think livestock should be eliminated from the area. However, he said too many cattle in the watershed could threaten the safety of the water supply.
"Some cows are not going to be a problem," Ellis said. "I don't think we have to have cows down to zero. But I don't know what that threshold is. And in my mind, the more you concentrate the cows, as could be done on this land now, the greater the risk that cow poop will get into the water and the treatment process will miss killing some of the E. coli or cryptosporidium."
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Related links:
Letter from Jeff Newton, Candidate for City Council, to the Concerned Citizens Committee
Missouri State Statutes
The Hazel Creek watershed, which includes more than 1,800 acres of land surrounding the Hazel Creek Lake, is owned by 58 private individuals and companies. More than 650 cows, horses, goats and buffalo resided on 28 livestock farms within the watershed as of August 2003, according to the city's Hazel Creek Watershed Management Plan.
Mark Spitzer, assistant professor of English, said he thinks the livestock already present in the watershed could pose a threat to both the lake's natural ecosystems and the city's drinking water. Spitzer, who fishes on Hazel Creek Lake, said he is working on a petition for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources Clean Water Commission, asking them to enforce the Missouri Clean Water Law. Spitzer said the law prohibits several types of water pollution and includes animal waste as a potential water contaminant.
"Basically cattle are not being fenced back from streams and ravines, and they're directly discharging waste into streams that are going right into Hazel Creek," Spitzer said. "This is killing plants, and if it hasn't killed fish yet, it's going to kill fish soon."
Spitzer said he hopes to gather 100 signatures of Missouri educators to send to the commission. He said he began circulating the petition in the Language and Literature Division on Friday, and as of Monday, he had about 12 signatures.
Spitzer said he is focusing primarily on University professors, but would be willing to help students with other efforts. He said the Hazel Creek Concerned Citizens Committee is not involved with his petition drive.
"I proposed it to the Concerned Citizens Committee, but they're concentrating on one effort, so they really didn't want to support another effort," Spitzer said. "And it's important, I think, to actually have many different efforts going on regarding this."
Everett Baker, chief of drinking water and an environmental engineer with the Northeast Regional Office of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, said the DNR generally only has the authority to regulate private farms in cases of large-scale pollution. Baker said the cattle farms in the watershed probably do not pose a threat extreme enough for the DNR to intervene even if Spitzer submits the petition.
"There are numbers that have to be gone by and the specific area [of land] as well," Baker said. "We're talking about maybe 5,000 head of hogs. The number of cattle probably is not quite that large, but still in the same range. We're not talking about a couple hundred but much more than that."
Baker said one reason he advised the City Council not to vote to sell the Hazel Creek property last December was because the DNR cannot strictly regulate private land.
"Once it's sold, we can't directly say 'We want you to move this cattle,' because they don't have to," Baker said. "It's voluntary after that, and people who own that land have a right to use that land for agricultural purposes."
Baker said the only thing the DNR can do in most cases is focus on educating cattle farmers about good land-management practices. Rotating the locations where cattle feed and fencing off ditches and ravines to keep livestock from going directly into the water are some ways farmers can prevent runoff and soil erosion, Baker said.
Farmers can receive money through a government cost-sharing program to help offset some of the costs of building fences and changing operation practices. Baker said the DNR also has "grazing schools," where cattle farmers can receive training in land management.
Baker said the city's planned watershed advisory committee also could help ensure the safety of the water supply and natural environment by educating farmers.
"I'm encouraged that the city seems to be moving toward making this watershed management committee and is starting to look at the watersheds of both lakes and trying to identify problems and address those," Baker said. "I think regardless of anybody's opinion of the land sale that it's a good move."
Local landowner Sam Neff said his family has owned land in the Hazel Creek area since before the lake was built, and he has about 30 cows on 300 acres of land within the watershed. Neff said he does some things to inhibit runoff, such as moving the cattle around to prevent overgrazing.
"I drink the water too, so I don't want it to be contaminated either," Neff said.
Scott Ellis, science division head, who owns and raises horses on land in the watershed, said he does not think livestock should be eliminated from the area. However, he said too many cattle in the watershed could threaten the safety of the water supply.
"Some cows are not going to be a problem," Ellis said. "I don't think we have to have cows down to zero. But I don't know what that threshold is. And in my mind, the more you concentrate the cows, as could be done on this land now, the greater the risk that cow poop will get into the water and the treatment process will miss killing some of the E. coli or cryptosporidium."
Related links:
Letter from Jeff Newton, Candidate for City Council, to the Concerned Citizens Committee
Missouri State Statutes