Just days before the year-end deadline imposed by Gov. Jay Nixon, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources released the findings of the water quality study at Lake of the Ozarks.
The study was the result of Nixon’s mandate to take aggressive steps to protect the lake.
The 15-page document does not give an overall summary of the condition of the lake but does report data collected during a sweep of wastewater treatment facilities and testing done in October.
In an interesting twist, the elevated levels of E. coli reported earlier this year that were the catalyst for the inspections and testing, were nearly non-existent in the findings listed in the report.
The report indicated that of the 78 tests done at various locations from Bagnell to Truman dam and where major tributaries empty into the lake, elevated levels of bacteria were found in only two locations, or less than 3 percent of the total sites.
What is more of a concern based on the findings in the study is what appears to be a historical lack of oversight and enforcement of the 419 wastewater treatment facilities surrounding the lake.
A significant number of facilities, 154, were cited for wastewater violations that stemmed from a lack of oversight and enforcement by DNR in the past. The report stated the most common problems were related to disinfection and proper operation and maintenance of the systems.
Of those 154 facilities, 75 took prompt corrective action, while 37 others signed agreements to return to compliance by specific dates. That left just 42 facilities, or about 10 percent, on which the department initiated enforcement.
The report makes the point that a comprehensive baseline study is usually done over a year-long period of time with multiple tests.
In this case, the study was done in a 10-day period of time during a time of heavy rainfall that produces a higher runoff rate.
“It should be noted that unseasonably cool and wet conditions during October 2009 led to atypically high flow volume throughout the sample collection period,” according to the report.
October is also one of the lowest months as far as usage at Lake of the Ozarks.
The department also analyzed wastewater discharge samples and found that 44 facilities did not meet permitted limits. Of those facilities, 24 received letters of warning, which are usually given to first time offenders or mild violations.
The other 20 received notices of violation, which are issued for serious, potentially serious or repeated violations.
The sweep and enforcement did not include on-site septic systems — systems that serve single-family residential lots of less than three acres discharging less than 3,000 gallons per day. Those systems fall under county or Department of Health and Senior Services jurisdiction.
At one time in the late 1990s, there were an estimated 20,000 of those systems in Camden, Miller and Morgan counties, according to the report.
