Missouri’s drinking water has an unlikely guardian: a tiny endangered fish found only in Perryville’s cave system.
The nearly matchstick-sized grotto sculpin depends on fragile underground streams, and The Conservation Fund stepped in to protect its habitat by buying land at risk from St. Louis’ expansion.
Clint Miller, central Midwest regional director for the fund, said protecting Missouri’s rare cave systems is not just about saving an endangered fish; it is also about protecting local drinking water.
"The grotto sculpin is an indicator, a bioindicator of the health of our environment, and in particular in these cave systems; they are dependent on high water quality," Miller explained. "What happens on the surface of a cave really affects what goes on down below inside the water systems within these caves."
The property includes one of only two entrances to the Moore Cave System and is now managed by the Ozark Land Trust for conservation and education. Other state and federal partners, private donors, and the Land and Water Conservation Fund are all supporting the project.
One family owned the land above the Moore Cave System for 170 years, but when they decided to sell, the clock started ticking. Miller noted the timing lined up perfectly with The Conservation Fund’s strength: moving fast when a project cannot wait.
"When the landowner was ready to sell, they were ready to move on and sell this piece of property, and the other partners, the agencies and the entities that would be interested in owning it, just weren't ready yet," Miller recounted. "They didn't have the money assembled, they didn't have the expertise assembled."
Perry County contains more than 700 documented caves, one of the highest concentrations in Missouri, making the newly protected site part of a much larger underground landscape still being explored.
The Missouri Public News Service, a partner with KRCU Public Radio, originally published this story.
