Jason Hubbart is working with a team of MU scientists, along with experts from state and federal government, to develop a comprehensive monitoring project for the entire watershed of a beleaguered urban stream. The goal is to understand the full range of physical processes affecting the health of that stream, and how these impact the extended biological communities those streams support. What they learn could significantly boost the prognosis for all of the nation’s waterways.
In this case, the ailing patient is Hinkson Creek, a small stream in central Missouri with a watershed of about 80 square miles. Located entirely in Boone County, its headwaters originate in sparsely populated farm country. From there, the Hinkson flows through suburbs and residential developments that ring Columbia, this college town of some 105,000 people.
Reviewed 2013-02-18