Stories & Videos
Karst stories are rich and varied, with science, history, and landscape beauty rolled together! Below is our trio of short karst documentaries, which can build upon each other for a comprehensive understanding of Ozark karst.
Also available is a video demonstrating stream bank erosion and ways to protect riparian corridors. There’s even more: magazine reprints that delve further into karst stories.
We suggest viewing the karst trio in this order:
• Karst in the Ozarks: a ‘karst 101’ for south central Missouri, which explains the basic components: caves, springs, sinkholes, and losing streams.
• Ozark Karst Dramas: NEW, August 2024, with stories about historical karst-related catastrophes.
• Karst in Perry County: how a community solved their pollution problem that was killing a rare cave-dwelling fish.
Karst in the Ozarks
Ozark underground mysteries are explained in “Karst in the Ozarks,” which targets middle school science students, showing how groundwater in Ozark caves and springs is vulnerable to pollution.
Enjoy dramatic footage of some of south central Missouri’s best-known natural features, including Grand Gulf, Big Spring, Greer Spring, Mammoth Spring, Tumbling Creek Cave, and the Jacks Fork River, plus footage of caves, rare cave creatures, bluffs, and sinkholes.
Ozark Karst Dramas – NEW!
Seven dramatic historical events are recounted in this documentary, which illustrates the vulnerability of human-built structures in karst areas. Included are the 1978 collapse of the West Plains Sewage Lagoon, which sickened hundreds; a 1981 fertilizer pipeline break that led to mass killing of trout and rare cave creatures in Maramec Spring; and the 2006 sinkhole collapse in Nixa that swallowed part of a house.
Karst in Perry County
This documentary investigates a Missouri county’s karst features–caves, sinkholes, sink basins, and springs–and reports on a county-wide controversy that erupted when a cave-dwelling fish, the grotto sculpin, was considered for listing as an endangered species.
“Karst in Perry County” has been featured at conferences, has aired on the PBS affiliate in Cape Girardeau, Mo., was named Best Documentary at the 573 International Film Festival in 2022, and won a 2023 award from the Nature Without Borders Film Festival.
Stream Table Demo:
How Land Use can Impact Water Quality
In this video, erosion and sediment pollution are demonstrated using a stream table with flowing water and sand-like grit to represent a live stream within a watershed. The film shows measures that can protect the riparian corridors along stream banks, along with methods to prevent non-point pollution from livestock and other sources.
More Karst Stories
West Plains Sewage Lagoon Drama, 1978
This is a historical account of a catastrophic failure of a city sewage lagoon in a karst area, which polluted groundwater and sickened at least 800 people. The story first appeared in the 2020 edition of Elder Mountain, A Journal of Ozark Studies, published by Missouri State University-West Plains.
Cave Country
Read how a community came together and resolved a controversy over an endangered cave fish. This article was featured in the Missouri Conservationist, February 2022, and recounts the story also told in the documentary “Karst in Perry County.”