Hinkson Creek is currently on the federal 303(d) list of impaired waters. The impaired portion of Hinkson Creek starts just south of I-70 at Walnut Street and runs 14 miles through the City of Columbia into Perche Creek. A 319 grant from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources was awarded to Show-Me Clean Streams in 2004 to educate residents, developers, and the media about water quality issues in the Hinkson watershed. A second phase of the Hinkson Creek Watershed Restoration Project has now begun, this time administered by Boone County. The focus of this grant project will be to provide money to retrofit stormwater treatment structures into developed areas, in hopes of improving the water quality of the Hinkson.   We will also be sponsoring educational events and programs on issues concerning streams.

Raingardens

Map of Watershed

Low Impact Development

Target area for retrofitting

Outdoor Classroom

Our specific milestones include:

• Forming a stakeholder group to review and change our draft watershed management plan.
• Have a consultant propose possible locations to retrofit stormwater treatment structures within a hotspot area near the I-70/Hwy 63 connector.
• Provide 60% costshare to landowners wishing to retrofit stormwater treatment structures on their property (with emphasis on the hotspot area)
• Produce humorous (hopefully) public service announcements concerning water pollution and stream quality.
• Monitor the performance of stormwater treatment structures to verify their effectiveness.
• Conduct stream clean-ups and monitor the water quality of local streams.

Although the Hinkson is "not fully supporting" of warm-water aquatic life (according to its federal 303d designation), that does not mean it is lifeless. Far from it. As our little blue friend (above) attests, the Hinkson and its tributaries are still part of a living ecosystem that flows within our city. Orangethroat Darters like this one start showing up in our nets in mid-April when we sample for macroinvertebrates. These fish were found in Grindstone, County House Branch, and Flat Branch creeks.

While the darters were a nice surprise in our sampling nets, our nets also revealed that the aquatic insect community is less diverse than it should be. Stoneflies (a sensitive order of insects) have been notably absent from most of our samples, and mayfly larvae have been all but absent in our samples as well. Development in the watersheds of these tributaries of the Hinkson may be contributing to the declining health of overall stream system. The impacts vary with the stage of development. Initially, sediment plumes from upland erosion on construction sites can fill in streambeds, leaving little habitat for fish, crayfish, and insects. Developments require infrastructure, which sometimes fails, and this can result in sewage and chemical discharges into streams. Finally, the change of land use from forest to residential and commercial use causes streams to become "flashier", causing flooding problems and reducing the stream's baseflow between rains.

If you have comments or suggestions on this website, e-mail shamilton@boonecountymo.org