GRANTS TO FUND EROSION BATTLE

JACKSON, Mo. -- Efforts have begun to control erosion along Hubble Creek, thanks largely to federal and state grants that will finance the bulk of the $1.2 million, five-year project.

Cape Girardeau County Soil and Water District officials announced a $750,000 state grant and a $237,300 federal Environmental Protection Agency grant Thursday. The funding will be spread out over five years.

The EPA grant will be matched with $244,100 in other state and federal funding and money from Cape Girardeau County government.

The grant money will help landowners pay for ponds, the planting of trees and other erosion-control projects along the creek from Fruitland, Mo., to the Diversion Channel south of Dutchtown, Mo.

Bridge work

It also will be used to pay the salary of Stan Murray, who will coordinate the Hubble Creek erosion control effort, and install rocks and a cement material along the banks of Hubble Creek near the County Road 228 bridge south of Gordonville, Mo.

Cape Girardeau County government is helping to pay for that work, which is slated to begin next month.

The work at the bridge should be completed within one to two months, Murray said.

"We are building it to save a bridge," said Murray, who works out of the U.S. Department of Agriculture office in Jackson. Erosion has undercut the bridge supports.

The grants announced Thursday culminate a three-year effort by county officials and landowners to address the erosion problem.

Hubble Creek, which flows through Jackson, carries a lot of sediment from stormwater runoff from farm fields and urban development.

More than 50,000 tons of soil is carried down Hubble Creek each year, Murray said. That clogs small streams and sewers and results in less productive land for farmers.

The erosion also reduces fish and wildlife habitat, he said.

While erosion control is the main objective, Cape Girardeau County First District Commissioner Larry Bock said halting erosion also will help prevent flooding along the creek in the growing Jackson area.

To that end, Murray said, the city of Jackson is developing a stormwater plan to reduce the amount of soil washing off development sites.