Hinkson Creek grants awarded to MU, Boone County Commission

COLUMBIA - The Missouri Department of Natural Resources awarded two grants totaling $680,884 to the Boone County Commission and MU on Thursday to address water quality issues on Hinkson Creek.

The $300,884 grant to the Boone County Commission will be used to continue the Hinkson Creek Watershed Restoration Project. The Restoration Project is seeking to address development-related erosion and water quality issues on the Hinkson and to educate residents living near the creek about maintaining healthy watersheds. The second phase of the project will focus on providing incentives for development techniques that will contribute to reducing storm flow.

A second $380,000 grant will be used by MU for a three-year project to monitor the creek and its hydrological cycle. Four stations will be installed along the creek to gather data about such things as sediment and climate.

Funding for the grants was provided by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Clean Water Act. Hinkson Creek is on the federal list of impaired waters, a designation that means the creek's water quality does not meet the standards set forth by the Clean Water Act.