W.Q.I.P.
The Southwest Missouri
Water Quality Improvement Project

A rapidly expanding population, the growing needs of agriculture and a billion dollar tourism industry are challenging the water quality in Bull Shoals and Table Rock Lake. The James, Spring, and Elk rivers are also being pressured by those activities. As a result, several watershed groups (see below) in southwest Missouri asked Senators Kit Bond and Jim Talent to help fund water protection efforts in the region (news release). When it came time to decide on how the money should be administered, the senators turned to the Environmental Resources Coalition.

ERC was selected because the science-driven, common-sense approach to consensus-building that bloomed during the Watershed Research, Assessment and Stewardship Project (WRASP) is exactly what the Southwest Water Quality Improvement Project (WQIP) needs to succeed.
Funding for this five-year, $10 million project comes entirely from federal dollars---no matching funds are required.

WQIP is pledged to improving water quality while also protecting rural economic development and agricultural interests. Empowered by the facts, Missouri residents who live in both town and country, will be able to make informed decisions about water issues instead of having environmental “solutions” thrust upon them. Everyone benefits when reasonable environmental regulations, policies and practices, are developed by choice, not chance.

Watershed Groups:
James River Basin Partnership
Upper White River Basin Foundation
Watershed Committee of the Ozarks, Inc.
Table Rock Lake Water Quality, Inc.
Elk River Watershed Improvement Association
Shoal Creek Watershed Improvement Group