Mission Statement:
The mission of the St. Louis Confluence Riverkeeper organization is to make a significant ongoing contribution to preserving and protecting the water quality of the Mississippi, Missouri, and Illinois Rivers where they come together to form the confluence. And to serve as a source of contintuing information and public education through cooperation with other organizations.
Our goal is to protect the Confluence Rivers from pollution created by man which effect the quality of the water, and that affect their use by the public, by fishermen who’s trade and sport is jeopardized, and by hunters who‘s sport is jeopardized, by boaters , marinas, and others who use the rivers and expect that there health will not be jeopardized by that use.
We will serve as a full time service to coordinate issues identified by other environmental groups, and to provide public awareness. To monitor and investigate problems, and negotiate solutions to protect the waterways.
If negotiations cannot be successful, to bring the matters to public attention through the media, and other public means, and if still unsuccessful to use all legal methods available to stop conditions that jeopardize the Confluence.
History of the Riverkeeper Organization:
The Riverkeeper® organization was originally developed on the Hudson River and was a strong mover in getting the problems of water quality to be recognized, and steps to be taken to reverse the damage that had been done to the rivers and their aquatic occupants. While over 35 years have passed since the Clean Water Act was developed, the original goals are still far from being met. While vast improvements have been made there are still problems that need to be corrected so that our descendents will have both a safe environment to live in, and water quality that will allow them to use the rivers and waters of our states without fear of their health being affected. Also the aquatic dwellers that inhabit these waters should not only remain in good health, but increase in abundance, and not fear for their demise.
The Federal Clean Water Act of 1972 (FCWA) was a major action to reverse the damage that had been caused to our nations waters over the previous 100+ years. Its goals were to restore the navigable waters to a condition that existed prior to the waters becoming a cheap dumping ground to remove unwanted chemicals, toxic byproducts, and sewage. To date the main improvement brought about by the Clean Water Act has been in point source discharges (think a single pipe) of municipal sewage, and to a much lesser extent to industrial waste. Non-point source pollution control (pollution from sources other than a pipe.) has not been as successful. There is a continuing battle to change the interpretations of the original documents, and in most cases those changes (usually legal decisions) are not an improvement to the original FCWA of 1972.
Unfortunately, in addition to the water that is being removed for drinking, and irrigation, water is being returned to the rivers from sources which are detrimental to the users of the rivers. These waters contain chemicals, fecal matter, untreated waste, and sedimentation which are harmful both to the aquatic life who reside in the rivers, and the people who use them. Those who choose to use the rivers for recreation purposes should not be exposed to these added items, and those who choose to ingest the fish and wildlife who also use the rivers as a source for food and hydration should be able to do so without a fear of detrimental side effects.
Our area of concern:
The St. Louis Confluence Riverkeeper® specifically chose as their area of concern the areas immediately adjacent to the Illinois, Mississippi, and Missouri Rivers. The confluence of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers join at mile marker 218? on the Upper Mississippi, they are then joined by the Missouri River at mile marker 185? on the Upper Mississippi River. In addition to providing a commercial means for barge traffic these rivers provide recreation, drinking water, and irrigation for over 3 million people in two states, who live within 25 miles of the points where they join.
The current upper limit of the Mississippi River for the Riverkeeper® begins at the Golden Eagle Ferry crossing at mile marker 228.7. This point is the northern limit of the majority of the marinas in the St. Louis area. The northern limit of our area of concern begins on the Illinois River at the Pere Marquette State Park at mile marker 7.2. The total range of the river banks on the confluence rivers runs from a natural stream bank on the Illinois to a combination of natural and manmade rock banks as it joins the Mississippi at the city of Grafton Illinois at mile marker 217.9. As the Mississippi progresses southward from Grafton, the eastern bank is a multi-lane highway, while the western bank is a natural riverbank. As the Mississippi progresses through Alton to the Melvin Price Lock and Dam (Lock and Dam #26) the eastern shore becomes a highly industrial one, while the western bank remains a natural riverbank. At mile marker 195.3, where the Missouri River joins the Mississippi, the eastern bank remains industrial, while the western bank becomes the Edward & Pat Jones Confluence Point State Park. This area is a wetland that becomes flooded upon the rivers rising. The eastern bank contains the Chain of Rocks Canal (Lock and Dam #27), which was designed to allow barges traveling the Mississippi to avoid the Chain of Rocks rapids. This is the most southerly lock and dam on the Mississippi River.
As one progresses westward up the Missouri, you find that the color of the water changes from that of the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers,and definitely shows the high level of silt that the river carries. Mark Twain is to have said when talking about the Missouri, “the water is to thick to drink, and to thin to plow”. Most of the southern bank consists of rock walls with a at least one quarry visible from the water. Sand dredges operate removing for commercial purposes the sand that is carried in the water flow. The northern bank is covered with rock rip rap, and numerous wing dams to direct the current away from the shoreline and protect the farmland that continues up the river channel almost to the City of St. Charles. St. Charles is the westernmost limit of the Confluence Riverkeeper©.
Returning to the Mississippi, the Confluence Riverkeeper® area of concern proceeds down the Mississippi, through the Lower Lock (Lock and Dam #27)on the Chain of Rocks Canal and back into the main channel of the Mississippi. This is the area where the Bissell Point Waste Water Treatment Plant empties its treated water into the river. Then southward through the downtown area of the City of St. Louis and where the Lemay Waste Water Treatment Plant empties into the river. The southernmost area where the Confluence Riverkeeper® responsibility ends is at the point where the Meramec River joins the Mississippi at mile marker 160.5.
As a part of the Riverkeeper® program we have a mission of identification of problems and obtaining their resolution. We will assume that those violations are not intentional, and hope that by calling them to the attention of the parties responsible that they will cease and remediation of the damage will be made by those causing the damage.
St. Louis Confluence Riverkeeper Board of Directors:
The Confluence Riverkeeper has strived to develop a Board of Directors which have a strong interest in water quality. They come from many differing backgrounds, and have during their previous actions indicated that they are advocates of the items that the Confluence Riverkeeper has identified as their Mission Statement. Each director brings a promise to do all that they can possibly do to educate the public, eradicate problems and prevent future problems from developing.
The Original Board of Directors at the formation of the Confluence Riverkeeper during the summer of 2008 were:
Since that time the Board of Directors has grown to include the following as of October 2009.
- Jane Gleason, Community Volunteer.
- Dr. Patricia Hagen, PhD., Exec. Director, St. Louis Audubon Center
- Terry Houston, Principal, Roosevelt High School, St. Louis, MO
- Patrick S. McGinnis, Water Resources Team Leader, The Horinko Group
- Gary Penrod, Instituform Corporation
- Paul Rohde, Vice Pres., Waterways Council, Inc.
- Dr. Richard Sparks, PhD, Director of Research for the National Grfeat Rivers Research and Education Center
- John Wagner, Gateway Industrial Power, Inc.