____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hickory Creek is a characteristic prairie stream, lying within the greater Grand River Basin watershed. The streambed composition of Hickory Creek is composed of alluvial material imbedded with silt and clay. It is one of the few in Grundy County that has not been channelized. This fourth order stream is historical habitat for the endangered Topeka Shiner (Notropis topeka) and is listed on the Missouri Department of Natural Resources' 303(d) List of Impaired Waters.
The topography of the watershed includes flat floodplains and rolling hills. Bedrock in the area primarily consists of Pennsylvanian shale, sandstone, and limestone. The dominant soils are from glacial drift and loess. Silt loams cover the divides and gentle slopes while highly eroded glacial silt loams and silty clay loams occur on the slopes. The stream valley soils are alluvial in nature and tend to be poorly drained. Silt loams tend to be the most extensive texture class. The soils in the watershed are fine grained and easily erodible.
Water quality problems found within the Hickory Creek watershed are those that plague most northern Missouri streams. These include suspended sediment, elevated water temperatures, increased nutrients and the loss of pool habitat. All of these nonpoint source problems are the result of under managed agricultural operations. Our intent is to educate landowners about alternative management practices and new methods of conservation, inform them on available programs and how they can receive technical assistance from various agencies in order to adopt and implement these practices to become better managers of their natural resources.
Soil erosion in the watershed can be linked to continuous tillage practices and/or limited crop rotation and continuously grazed pasture. The erosion rate varies from 13 to 24 tons and acre a year on upland crop ground while most of the pasture is at "tolerable" levels of 2 to 5 tons an acre a year. There are approximately 3772 acres of highly erodible land (HEL) in the watershed.
The streambank along Hickory Creek is highly receptive to erosion due the fact that much of the protective riparian corridor is either gone or inadequate. Stream bank vegetation is limited to shallow rooted plants and what corridor remains consists of a narrow 10-20 foot band of mature hardwoods, willows and herbaceous vegetation. Water temperatures are elevated during the summer months from lack of adequate trees to help shade the creek. Increased nutrient levels lead to algal blooms. These two factors cause lowered dissolved oxygen in the stream. Decline in the riparian corridor can be attributed to clearing for agricultural operation and allowing cattle access to the creek and the adjacent tributaries.
We have seen first hand how funding from an AgNPS SALT grant coupled with an EPA 319 grant positively impacts not only the water quality but also producer pride and interest in a watershed through other projects in our county. It is our hope to mimic this success in the Hickory Creek watershed.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
BACK
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________