The original East Locust Creek Watershed Project was approved in 1987. Since then 72 small, floodwater-retarding structures were installed.

Project sponsors and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service have revised the project to construct a 2,235-acre reservoir that will provide drinking water for 54,000 residents of 10 counties (Adair, Chariton, Grundy, Linn, Livingston, Macon, Mercer, Putnam, Schuyler and Sullivan). The lake also will provide water-based recreational opportunities and will enhance fish and wildlife habitat. It will be about 4.5 miles north of Milan.

The revised project also includes installing another 22 small, floodwater-retarding structures. The multiple-purpose reservoir and 22 small dams will reduce flood damages by an additional 22 percent.

The cost to construct the multiple-purpose reservoir and the other 22 dams is estimated at $52.5 million, which will come from federal, state and local sources. 

During the signing ceremony on January 25, NRCS State Conservationist Roger Hansen and local project sponsors signed the contracts necessary for the new construction.

For more information on the East Locust Creek Watershed Project, contact Stuart Lawson, NRCS district conservationist, at (660) 265-3440, Extension 3, or Bruce Hensley, North Central Missouri Regional Water Commission project manager, at (660) 265-1719.

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