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On-Line Home of East-West Gateway Council of Governments - St. Louis, Missouri
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Introduction
The Initiative for a Metropolitan Community (IMC) was a community-based effort of the  East-West Gateway designed to carefully identify those areas where local governments can act with common
purpose and fact-based analysis in order to develop planning strategies which address the on-going issues of growth and development. An important and
critical area of concern for all local governments was the proper management of natural resources. A key element which emerged from all the IMC focus groups
was water resources. In particular, local governments and officials were concerned about storm water, water quality and drinking water issues with respect to their
communities. The IMC committees expressed a universal desire that the sustainable use of water resources be integrated into the overall planning
process. In this regard, all water resource polices and programs must recognize and address the dramatic current trends in exurban population growth and movement. The IMC process
emphasized the need for all local governments to properly manage the growth impacts of land use and open space changes on the water resources of the St. Louis region. Economic and
land use policies which encourage growth must be balanced carefully in relation to the available water resource base. To this end, the IMC process adopted as a guiding principle sustainable
water quality which seeks to achieve an ecological balance between the social demands placed on regional water resources versus the capability of the water resources biological and ecological systems.
Issues
The following are major water quality issues which were identified during the IMC planning process.
- The proliferation of individual home treatment systems (IHTS) or septic tanks in the
exurban portion of the region and their impact on groundwater supplies.
- Storm water runoff can threaten the quality and viability of both surface and groundwater
resources. There is a lack of regulatory and financial resources to solve these problems on a regional basis. There are major problems surrounding the on-going maintenance
of storm water management facilities.
- The St. Louis metropolitan area has a wide variety of flood plain uses and protection,
ranging from 500 year federal levees to 10 year agricultural levees. Flood plain management within these areas is a disparate set of rules and regulations resulting in
sporadic and random development patterns and continuing development pressure.
- Large areas of the metropolitan area rely on ground water sources, such as deep wells,
for their water supply. Consequently, these communities may not have adequate drinking water supplies, and may, also, experience substandard drinking water quality.
- In residential developments outside existing sewer service areas, developers may
install package treatment plants or wastewater lagoons. When the development is complete, the operation and maintenance of these facilities and the associated costs
then becomes the responsibility of the residents.
Regional Water Resources Advisory Committee
To address these concerns identified through the IMC process and to build upon the results of the April 2001 Earth Day Water Symposium in 2001, EWGCC organized a Regional Water
Resources Advisory Council (WRC) for the Missouri portion of the EWGCC region. It served as an advisory committee to the EWGCC Board of Directors. The membership of the WRC was
composed of representatives from industry, water and sewer districts, communities, government agencies, universities, environmental groups, and the general public and from all
parts of the region. The overall mission of the WRC was to provide a forum for the sharing of ideas and discussion of major water quality issues facing the region's communities and for
developing a cooperation and collaboration of ideas and actions for addressing these problems. EWGCC obtained a grant from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to implement the WRC.
Presentations
- March 6, 2009 WRC Meeting
- March 3, 2008 Kaskaskia River Watershed Summit
- June 29, 2007 WRC Meeting
- October 26, 2006 WRC Meeting
Reports and Products
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TOOLBOX
This Tool Box contains information on watershed and stormwater management approaches and techniques. These documents, fact sheets and portable document files (pdfs) were prepared by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), the Missouri Department of Conservation and the Water Resources Advisory Committee of the East-West Gateway Coordinating Council. Also in this section are local and national on-line information sources and model ordinances.
The Water Resources Toolbox is a beginning reference document for those interested in watershed planning and stormwater management tools and techniques.
The contents of the Tool Box are for information purposes only. We do not support or endorse any one of these techniques or control measures over another.
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Tasks
Listed below are major tasks accomplished during the first year of the RWRC project.
- a regional decision-making process created to enhance and protect the region's water resources
- a public forum provided for members of the regulated sector, educators, environmentalists and the affected public
- a regional water quality database established which prioritized watersheds and subwatersheds by existing water quality
problems, and GIS mapping system
Events
- 2005:
- Mississippi River Barge Trip part of St. Louis Earth Day Water Symposium
- 2004:
- Mississippi River Barge Trip part of St. Louis Earth Day Water Symposium
- 2003:
- 2002:
- Spring and Summer Activities
- Mississippi River Inspection between St. Louis, MO, and the Melvin Price Locks and Dam, on board the Motor Vessel Mississippi.
- Water Symposium -- Connecting Our Communities: Watershed Planning, April 22, 2002
- 2001:
- Spring Activities
- Water Resources Symposium - April 27, 2001
- Excursion on the Mississippi River prior to the Symposium - April 26, 2001
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