The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) is charged with the ‘control, management, restoration, conservation and regulation of the bird, fish, game, forestry and all wildlife resources of the state.’ As stated in MDC’s recent Regional Management Guideline documents, ‘The Conservation vision is to have healthy sustainable plant and animal communities throughout the state of Missouri for future generations to use and enjoy, and that fish, forest, and wildlife resources are in appreciably better condition tomorrow than they are today.’ In order to achieve this vision, efforts to better manage streams and their watersheds will be a continuing priority in the Grand River watershed.

This section includes strategic guidelines to provide MDC Fisheries Division staff working in the watershed with management direction to address the issues detailed in earlier sections. These issues include point and non-point source pollution, loss of riparian vegetation, the effects of large confined animal feeding operations, instream flow issues, and threats to aquatic life within the watershed. The guidelines will be used to address future stream management, public awareness, and public access issues and needs. Efforts specifically related to the management of impounded waters are addressed in detail elsewhere and are not included here.

GOAL I: IMPROVE WATER QUALITY AND MAINTAIN OR IMPROVE WATER QUANTITY IN THE GRAND RIVER BASIN SO ALL STREAMS ARE CAPABLE OF SUPPORTING HIGH QUALITY AQUATIC COMMUNITIES.

Status: Many streams throughout the basin do not meet water quality standards. Excessive nutrients and sediment from agricultural runoff are the chief sources of pollution. Progress has been made in improving land use, but extensive areas are still without treatment. The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) has reduced the amount of highly erodible land in rowcrop production. Some ground is returning to intensive production as CRP contracts expire. Unrestricted access to streams by livestock has created problems of degrading streambanks and increasing the direct input of nutrients. Additionally, a large sediment source is found in excessive streambank erosion. Streambank erosion is usually the byproduct of poor land use and stream practices (ie. channelization) Biotechnicial solutions have little impact on streams with 15-20 foot vertical banks. Recently the move of large corporate farms into the watershed has provided threats to both water quality and quantity.

Objective 1.1

Basin streams meet state standards for water quality.

Guidelines:

Objective 1.2

Maintain base flows within the Grand River Basin at or above current levels within the constraints imposed by natural seasonal variations and precipitation.

Guidelines: The most efficient way to address these concerns is through existing agricultural agencies and the legislative process.

GOAL II: IMPROVE RIPARIAN AND AQUATIC HABITAT CONDITIONS OF THE GRAND RIVER BASIN TO MEET THE NEEDS OF NATIVE AQUATIC SPECIES WHILE ACCOMMODATING SOCIETY'S DEMANDS FOR WATER AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION.

Status: Streams in the Grand River Basin are generally characterized by a narrow riparian corridor of trees less than 20 feet wide that is rapidly being eroded. Large reaches of stream lack a wooded riparian corridor or have no corridor. In many locations where trees are present; the stream channels have downcut below the root systems. Thus these trees provide little if any streambank stabilization benefits. Landowners within the basin are very reluctant to restore a 100 foot wide corridor along streams on their property. They want to maintain agricultural production within the corridor zone and many view trees as a cause of stream problems rather than a solution. The Conservation Reserve Program and the Wetland Reserve Program provide the opportunity to make significant improvements in riparian habitat. Both programs have been well received by landowners.

Objective 2.1

All riparian landowners within the Grand River Basin exposed to the messages of the importance of good stream stewardship and where to go to get technical assistance for sound stream habitat improvement. Efforts to improve riparian conditions will be concentrated in the following sub-basins (sub-basins are listed in order of priority):

  1. Sugar Creek
  2. Locust Creek
  3. Marrowbone Creek
  4. Upper Shoal Creek
  5. Grindstone Creek
  6. East Fork Grand River
  7. Big Creek - (Daviess and Harrison counties)
  8. Lower Yellow Creek
  9. Big Creek - (Carroll County)

Guidelines: Advertising and promoting stream programs, installing and maintaining demonstration projects, and providing educational opportunities to landowners will make them more aware of the reasons and techniques for protecting streams. Emphasizing economic aspects of stream improvement will encourage more landowners to participate. The quality and availability of stream management information for landowners will be improved.

Objective 2.2

Critical and unique Grand River Basin aquatic habitats identified and protected from degradation.

Guidelines: Identification, acquisition, targeting private landowner programs and cooperation with other agencies/organizations can provide greater control and better management of critical and unique aquatic areas.

GOAL III: MAINTAIN DIVERSE AND ABUNDANT POPULATIONS OF NATIVE AQUATIC ORGANISMS WHILE ACCOMMODATING ANGLER DEMANDS FOR QUALITY FISHING.

Status: The Grand River Basin supports a fish assemblage that lacks diversity. Only 55 fish species have been collected throughout the Grand River Basin since 1963. An additional 6 species are know to exist in the basin, 5 of the 6 species can be directly attributed to artificial stockings. A comprehensive survey of the fishes of the Grand River Basin is needed to document current fish distribution from previously unsampled (or inadequately sampled) streams and document changes in fish distribution throughout the basin. Several fish species desirable to anglers are found in the basin. Catfish (blue, channel and flathead) are the most sought after fish species in the streams of the Grand River Basin. Other fish of interest to anglers in these rivers are: bluegill; buffalo; bullheads; carp; crappie and green sunfish. Sufficient samples to assess the status of these populations is lacking. The MDC walleye committee selected Grand River as a location to stock walleye fingerlings. Stocking is scheduled to begin in June of 2000. Several non-game fish species of concern occur in the basin. The Topeka Shiner, a federally listed endangered species is found within the basin. Some invertebrate sampling has been conducted in the basin, but a system-wide comprehensive invertebrate collection has not been made.

Objective 3.1

Evaluate and maintain sportfish populations, with emphasis on channel and flathead catfish, at sufficient quality and condition to satisfy the angling public.

Guidelines: Assess the populations of emphasis species and take steps to improve their populations through public education, regulation, harvest restrictions, habitat improvement, stocking or other methods. No information has been collected on angler use or desires since the mid-1970's. Gathering this information will be a major objective over the next several years. This information will be used to develop appropriate management strategies.

Objective 3.2

Populations of native non-game fishes and aquatic invertebrates assessed and maintained at or above present levels throughout the basin.

Guidelines: Assess the status of fish and invertebrate communities throughout the basin through a cooperative effort between MDC Fisheries Division and Iowa DNR. It is assumed that a decline in diversity, distribution and abundance of non-game fishes is largely related to land use changes over the last 100 years. Available fish distribution data is sufficient to document current levels of diversity and in certain streams and stream reaches relative abundance; but not basin wide. Techniques to maintain or improve non-game fishes will depend on the fish communities in decline and the causative agent. It is also assumed that improvements in other aquatic life will occur simultaneous to those occurring in fish communities.

Objective 3.3

Populations of Topeka shiners assessed and maintained at or above current levels in the basin.

Guidelines: Assess the status of Topeka shiner populations throughout the basin. Assist in implementing the action plan for Topeka shiner (Notropis topeka) in Missouri (MDC 1999). "We learned of the presence of the Topeka shiner in Harrison County only because a student sampled many small streams of this county as part of a thesis project in 1963. There has never been a systematic survey of small streams in most other counties of the Grand River system, and such a survey might have the best potential for the discovery of additional Missouri populations of N. topeka" (Pflieger, MDC, personal communication). Known Topeka shiner populations have shown a significant decline since 1963, so restoration efforts will be aimed at maintaining or improving existing populations and enhancing habitat in streams where Topeka shiners have been most recently extirpated. We assume the decline in this species is land use related, so enhancement efforts need to be directed at land use improvement. Land use is a resource largely beyond our direct control. By keeping populations at current levels and monitoring their health, an adequate "seed source" will be available from which to assist with restoration efforts.

GOAL IV: INCREASE RECREATIONAL USE OF STREAMS IN THE GRAND RIVER BASIN.

Status: Public use of Grand River Basin streams for recreational activities other than fishing is limited. Information on recreational use of the Grand River was conducted in the 1970's; a survey to determine current usage would be valuable. Turbid water and the intensively rowcropped landscape can be aesthetically unappealing and thus limit recreational floating on the streams in the Grand River Basin. However, some scenic stretches still exist. With increased public awareness and restoration of wooded corridors limited increases in recreational use is possible.

Objective 4.1

Access sites, bank fishing and trails developed in sufficient numbers to accommodate public use.

Guidelines: The MDC strategic plan anticipates an increase in stream use because of an overall increase in the levels of fishing. We must determine the level of public satisfaction with existing recreational opportunities and undertake acquisition and development projects to improve those opportunities.

Objective 4.2

All anglers and floaters have access to information on the stream recreational opportunities within the Grand River Basin.

Guidelines: Make the public aware of various opportunities through media outlets, fair exhibits, and Missouri Conservationist articles. Increase recreational stream use within the basin.

GOAL V: INCREASE PUBLIC APPRECIATION FOR STREAM RESOURCES THROUGHOUT THE GRAND RIVER BASIN.

Status: Citizens throughout the basin have little appreciation for stream resources; there is a fundamental lack of understanding the importance of streams culturally, biologically and historically. As a result there is little concern for the well-being of the stream resource within the basin. Streams For The Future has received a "lukewarm" reception in the area. Certain practices which are detrimental to streams have become a part of the local culture. Channelization riparian clearing and improper placement of levees are stream practices that are deeply rooted and considered good stream management practices by many landowners within the basin.

Objective 5.1

Increase current level of public awareness of local stream resources and good stream management practices.

Guidelines: Increased appreciation of the stream resource should follow increased public awareness and education of stream values. Heightened knowledge and use of the basin's streams should lead to appreciation of this resource and result in concerns about the quality and quantity of water within the basin's streams. Newspaper articles, talks and special events highlighting streams should help foster this awareness.