Flooding....Again.

The USGS water depth gage rose from 3.49' at 3:15am on Saturday, June 28th to 7.45' @ 5:15pm, on Sunday, June 29, 2008. This was the 14th high water event this year.




Due to heavy localized rain, the USGS River gage went from 3.87' at 11:15 pm on Thursday, June 19 to a high water level of 8.27' at 9:30 pm on Friday, June 20, 2008. Another line of thunderstorms moved through Monday, June 23, raising the water gage from 4.19' at 2:00am, to a high point of 5.51' at 12:15 pm. These spikes in the water depth were high water events #12 and #13, respectively.


Due to extraordinary rainfall in the area, the USGS rain gage at the La Russell Access Point on Spring River, rose for 3.57' at 6:16am on Friday, June 13, 2008 to 12.62' on Saturday, June 14th. Record Rainfall Across the Ozarks on Friday the 13th...



The USGS Spring River gage on Monday, June 9, 2008, indicated a high water event of 5.82' at 6:45pm. This followed a water gage increase to 4.45' on Saturday, June 7, 2008.




The June 1, 2008 (Sunday) early morning downpour created the 10th high water event of the year. The USGS water gage indicated a baseline of 2.77' rising to 6.91' by 1:45pm.




The USGS water gage graph indicates the water depth went from 3.13' on (Wednesday) May 7 to 8.33' on (Thursday) May 8 at 5:00am.





The USGS water gage graph indicates the depth went from 4.0' at 3:15am (on Thursday, April 24th) to a high of 7.31' at 9:45am, an average increase of 0.66' per hour.




Once again, the La Russell Access point was flooded, due to excessive rain fall in the area. The water gage indicated an increase from 4.37' at midnight on April 9 to a high of 12.71' at 9:15 PM on April 10.


There have been 15 "high water' events in 2008. They were:
9.10' on January 9, 2008
4.98' on February 6
4.05' on February 11
7.73' on February 17
6.92' on March 3
13.68' on March 19,
12.71' on April 9,
7.31' on April 24,
8.33' on May 8,
6.91' on June 1,
12.62' on June 13-14,
8.27' on June 20,
5.51' on June 23,
7.45' on June 29, and
6.95' on September 15, 2008.

The water gage was installed on the La Russell Access site on May 1, 2007.
The following are (recorded) "high water" events in 2007:
6.30' on May 11, 2007
7.72' on June 2
11.11' on June 10
11.25' on July 1
12.8' on August 20
5.29' on September 7, and
11.37' on September 8, 2007.

43 Volunteers Clean-Up Dump

A BIG thank you goes out to our sponsors and forty-three volunteers for todays successful clean-up of the illegal dump on Spring River. Volunteers began arriving at 7:30 am and didn't leave until after 3:30 pm. We even had a film crew join us from Southwest Baptist University, making a short film on environmenal issues. Everything worked smoothly and we picked up more than 5 tons of liter. Some said that the illegal dump had existed for more than 30 years. Canoers floating Spring River in the future will remember its beauty, not the ugly dump.

Eight members of Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity, Missouri State University (Springfield) showed up ready to volunteer. They spent most of the day on the embankment filling green Stream Team liter bags. Several took turns pulling the bags up the 100'embankment.

The bucket truck with a boom-winch was a key to our success. The equipment was used to raise the heavy metal appliances (including hot water tanks, washing machines, chest freezers, multiple stoves, car parts), bales of wire and fencing, and tractor tires. We utilized a crew of six to attach debris with chains on the embankment, and then maneuver it onto the access road. We are grateful to Robinson Excavating & Construction for donating their equipment and services to the project.

Picking up debris on the 63 foot dropoff, 39° degree embankment was challenging, dangerous and exhaustive. This picture illustrates the challenge of maneuvering, securing suitable footing and extra effort to even stand up.


Several volunteers commented on how much they appreciated the ambulance being on site, all day. All volunteers were required to listen to a Safety Lecture before starting work. We feel that this contributed to the success of the event. We really appreciate McCune-Brooks Regional Hospital and Carthage Ambulance providing this service.

We had two Stream Team members assigned to "Water Rescue". They were successful in recovering boat loads of debris. As it turned out they had a 50-50 mix of trash and recyclable metal. We divided all of the debris collected into three categories: recyclable metal (including appliances), tires, and trash.





In addition to a beautiful day with sunshine and upper 60° temperatures, the volunteers were able to enjoy grilled hamburgers, along with chips and brownies for lunch.



This is one of several piles of metal (and appliances) that were segregated out for recycling. Apparently metal prices are high enough that all of the metal from last week disappeared within a couple of days. We were not able to negotiate a percentage of the income from selling the scrap metal, but felt good that it wasn't going into the dumpster.

We are grateful to Jim Doty Trash Service-Aurora, for donating the dumpsters for our clean-up project. I don't think that anyone counted the green Stream Team liter bags that went in, but we went through more than 100 bags today. They weighed 1.87 tons.





This scrap dealer had two trailers filled and couldn't take any more, since they had to wait to sell the scrap metal, on Monday next week, before unloading. We estimated that each trailer had 2-tons of metal on it.


This is the reason for the clean-up. Several volunteers commented that this was the most beautiful view on Spring River. We are grateful to all of the sponsors and volunteers that made this project a success. Thank you from LaRussell Stream Team #2945.

Group's Effort Merit Public Attention, The Joplin Globe, Monday, April 21, 2008, by Jo Ellis.

Thank You to Our Sponsors & Volunteers

The clean-up of the illegal dump on Spring River was a total success due to our project sponsors and volunteers. La Russell Stream Team #2945 wants to thank our sponsors for their generous donation of goods and services.

They include:
JIM DOTY TRASH SERVICE, Aurora, MO.
ROBINSON EXCAVATING & CONSTRUCTION, La Russell, MO.
PINEWOOD NURSERY, La Russell, MO.
CARTHAGE AMBULANCE SERVICE, Carthage, MO.
EVERTS FARMS, La Russell, MO.
CARTHAGE WATER & ELECTRIC PLANT, Carthage, MO.
MISSOURI STREAM TEAM, Jefferson City, MO.

We were also blessed with enthusiastic, strong and committed volunteers. Together we were able to accomplish much more than we could have done by ourselves. La Russell Stream Team #2945 wants to thank our volunteers for their time and support.

They include:
ALPHA GAMMA RHO FRATERNITY, Missouri State University, Springfield, MO.
JASPER COUNTY WATER WATCHERS STREAM TEAM #3320, Webb City, MO.
CHERT GLADES MASTER NATURALIST CHAPTER, Joplin, MO.
McNAMARA NEW HOPE BOY'S HOME, La Russell, MO.

Voices: Uncovering the Beauty, The Joplin Globe, Thursday, April 17, 2008