James River Rescue and Dam Jam

What a great weekend out by and on the river! On June 11, 1 2 and 13^th, Lance and I visited our friendly AmeriCorps Kellie down in Springfield to help James River Basin Partnership with their annual River Rescue.

Lance and I arrive on Friday night to load up Kellie’s vehicle and prepare everything for the long day ahead of us. We started Saturday morning by setting up Ozark Mill to be ready for the many people who were coming out to clean up the river. After directing all the cars very skillfully, Lance and I were able to put our canoe in the water and start the clean-up. Once on the water we were acting as sweep, staying at the back to make sure no one was left behind. After a while, we were relieved of our sweep position and told we had actually only traveled 1/5^th of the route. So we tried to make up time and paddled pretty quickly to catch up with the rest of the paddlers. After an hour or so of bustin’ booty, we came upon a tight spot in the river and were asked to help the other staff direct the boats through this tight squeeze. So we lost all of our headway, but felt pretty good that no one’s canoe flipped!

After the float we had about an hour off to keep cool in a nearby pool before starting our next shift as parking attendants and cleaning up after the concert. Even more people showed up for this great concert than for the clean-up. Honky Suckle, Uncle Fudd and HonkyTonk Renovators rocked!

Overall, this was a great experience to see up close how much work goes into an all day event, and was definitely giving us ideas for MRCN’s big event, Canoe for Clean Water. MRCN spent months organizing this float and festival, only to have the mighty MO flood us out a few days before the event was scheduled. But don’t worry, it’s only postponed! Keep the Canoe for Clean Water on your calendar, just move it to Saturday, October 9^th, 2010!

Thanks to my gracious host Kellie and James River Basin Partnership for a great event!

FIELD DAY at Watershed Center, Springfield, Missouri

There is a special place in Springfield, MO, the Watershed Center. While most would consider it special because of the endless educational possibilities about water conservation and quality, I discovered it to be special for a different reason. A site has be developed which is used to educate and train installers about waste water systems. At the recent Field Day hosted by Table Rock Lake Water Quality and James River Basin Partnership on July 27th, the community had the opportunity to see conventional and advanced waste water systems in action. First, time was spent discussing the importance of soil when developing a waste water treatment system for the homeowner. In southwest Missouri the karst topography leaves little soil for conventional waste water systems. Then, a conventional system was toured. Next, we moved on to several different advanced systems. We actually were able to see the systems working! and the above ground (for demonstration purposes) drip fields. That was AWESOME! The Field Day came to a close with very appropriate door prizes: several reusable shopping bags filled with green cleaning products and a free pump out provided by a local company! The evening was a success!