RIDGEDALE, Mo. -- New federal environmental regulations mean that states and regional offices of the Environmental Protection Agency will have to do a better job of coordinating their efforts to fight water pollution, officials said.

A water-quality panel advising Missouri and Arkansas got a glimpse Friday of the new federal environmental regulations planned for protecting imperiled lakes and streams.

The panel, called the Water Quality Advisory Committee, met at Big Cedar Lodge on Table Rock Lake with Republican Reps. Roy Blunt of Missouri and John Boozman of Arkansas to look at where both states and the federal government could address damage caused by rapid development in the region.

"All of us agree we need to protect the environment," Blunt told the panel. "We're facing some real challenges dealing with that growth."

The EPA will impose new requirements in mid-December for farm operators who shed pollutants into rivers and lakes.

The change will require more beef and poultry producers to register and form plans for controlling pollutant runoff. The federal government, as part of rule changes being implemented in its enforcement of the 1972 Clean Water Act, will also require states to draw up in-stream pollutant limits, but those requirements are probably four years or more away.

Less successful elsewhere

Though the federal Clean Water Act has led to gains in water quality for rivers fouled by industry, the federal government has been less successful in getting states to regulate "nonpoint" pollution sources, such as farmland and fertilized lawns, which can add excessive nutrients to waters in hard rains.

"We know we have problems to solve out here," said EPA regional director Jim Gulliford. "Everybody is interested in finding reasonable solutions."

The Missouri Ozarks and northwest Arkansas have large agricultural industries that would be affected by tighter federal regulations. Missouri is a major beef cattle region; northwest Arkansas is one of the nation's largest poultry producers.

The pollutants in the Upper White River Basin, which is divided between the two states, are believed to be coming from farms, city wastewater discharges, runoff from golf courses and leaking septic tanks.

Until the livestock regulation is released Dec. 15, states and producers won't know exactly how they will be affected, officials said.