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Smithville Lake, a 7,190-acre manmade reservoir located 20 miles north of Kansas City in the rolling Missouri countryside, serves a dual purpose for nearby communities. First, with an average seasonal attendance of over 2.1 million people, it is a major recreational focal point for the area. Second, and more importantly, it is the major source for high-quality drinking water for over 4,000 households in the surrounding rural area
Smithville (pop. 5,517) and Plattsburg (pop. 2,354) are the largest communities that benefit directly from the lake's resources. The residents of both cities value the lake and the resources that it provides, and strive to assure that they will continue to benefit from its high-quality water supply. With this goal in mind, in the spring of 2001 the two cities entered into a partnership with the state of Missouri and USDA to form the Smithville Lake Watershed, Missouri Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program.
Since then, over 175 area farmers have voluntarily enrolled over 6,700 acres into the program. These farmers have signed 15-year contracts with the Missouri CREP partners. Through an alliance established by the contracts, the farmers agree to establish conservation friendly grass stands on their previously cropped fields in exchange for yearly rental payments. To date, the Missouri CREP project has resulted in an average 16 percent reduction in pesticide application in the Smithville Lake Watershed.
The sponsoring partnership cities have been elated with the progress that Missouri CREP has made in the watershed. Plattsburg City Manager D.J. Gehrt recently commented, "Missouri CREP is a major factor in assuring the long-term availability of a quality water supply for all patrons of the Smithville Lake."
Due to the high demand from area farmers to participate in the successful program and with the continued support of the project partners, the Smithville Lake Watershed Missouri CREP sign-up continued through 2005, the partnership's fourth year
This photo is of a field enrolled in the Missouri CREP in Clinton County.
Henry Fitzgerald, Clinton County - CRP filter strip adjacent to a cropped field to reduce sediment and chemical runoff that would otherwise flow into a main tributary of Smithville Lake.
Freeman Farms, Clinton County - CRP cool season grass/legume establishment on numerous fields located just four miles upstream from the northern edge of the Smithville Lake.
Mitch Hoover, Missouri Department of Conservation agent (left), and Peggy Rapp, Clinton County Farm Service Agency conservation program technician, survey wildflowers on a small tract enrolled in Missouri CREP. The wildflowers, which MDC considers forbs, were interseeded with warm season grasses to improve wildlife habitat.
Mitch Hoover, Missouri Department of Conservation agent (left), and Peggy Rapp, Clinton County Farm Service Agency conservation program technician, survey wildflowers on a small tract enrolled in CREP.
Peggy Rapp, Clinton County Farm Service Agency conservation program technician (left), and Mitch Hoover, Missouri Department of Conservation agent, survey wildflowers on a small tract enrolled in Missouri CREP. The wildflowers, which MDC considers forbs, were interseeded with warm season grasses to improve wildlife habitat.
Landowner standing on edge of area that was burned to right vs unburned on the left. The burned portion is showing a lot more diversity.
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