The Big Lessons of Little Creek Restoration - The Nature Conservancy

Learning to ranch for healthy water

"Taking care of the watershed is the first step to taking care of the water," Herrington says.

In 2017, TNC bought a farm just across State Route M to the south of Dunn Ranch Prairie. Now called Little Creek Farm, it has become a demonstration site for innovative ranching practices, including sustainable grazing. Kent Wamsley, TNC in Missouri's grasslands and sustainable agriculture strategy manager, says part of the work has been to protect Little Creek, which flows under Route M and on through the ranch.

One of the first things TNC did was to fence off pastures to keep the ranch's cattle out of the creek. Cows trample creek banks on their way to and through the water and can graze riparian buffers to the dirt, contributing to erosion. With no grass to hold it in place, the earth—and any cattle waste or other material that's in it—washes into the creek.

Sediment fills the pools where little freshwater fishes, such as the Topeka shiner, go to seek cooler, deeper water to feed and spawn. And it also washes downstream, where it requires more effort and expense for water treatment plants and the people who depend on it.

"We're sending cleaner water downstream," Wamsley says.