OTTAWA — A hearing on a water-quality grant for the Marais des Cygnes River in Franklin County will be tonight at 6 at the Franklin County Annex’s commission room. The Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS) grant will be used to help eliminate sources of pollution into the river, Lake Region chairman Don Stottlemire said. Tonight’s meeting will offer the public an opportunity to make suggestions on how to use the grant and propose projects. The grant will also include water-quality work along the Pottawatomie Creek in Anderson and Granklin counties. A similar public meeting was held Tuesday night in Garnett. Lake Region’s Rick Porter said that research shows that dissolved oxygen is a problem for the Pottawatomie Creek, which was a surprise to many who attended the meeting. Dissolved oxygen is often caused by the runoff of agriculture-related chemicals. It has difficult to track where the pollution is coming from because there’s only one water monitor along that part of the creek in Anderson County, he said.
Wednesday, Feb. 16, noon
