The Lake of the Ozarks Watershed Alliance is taking a step that may lead to a solution. 

    The problem facing the group is how to manage Lake of the Ozarks pollution.  LOWA is using one of their elements, watershed planning, to attempt to do that.  The group announced last night that they wll be pursuing two one million dollar grants for planning. 

    LOWA President Donna Swall says the first grant will focus on a specific area, or Hydrological Unit Code, where local needs and local pollution issues will be and addressed and mitigated.

    "We'll be working in the two HUC's that we talked about tonight which is basically around Horseshoe Bend and north, and it kind of crosses to the Laurie area and gets down south a little bit, down toward Osage Beach," Swall said.

    "MoDNR wants us to be successful so rather than try to bite off the entire 886,000 acres at once, we are going to start with that 20,000 acre area."

    Swall says the second grant will be used to create a third party coordinating body.

    "Let's say each county of the four represented, on a board, that really manages our waste water systems. So it's not left up to the homeowner or it's not left up to the condo association, or five or six houses that get built, to individually manage their systems."  

    There are some questions still to be answered but Swall says the group's goals are attainable. 

    "How do we finance it successfully?" she asked. "We have to have a quality product. Very, very high quality.  And it needs to be managed." 

    "We do that around Lake of the Ozarks, this will be the pristine body in the country, if not the world. And that's our goal. It might sound a little hefty but we think we can make at least, at least the best lake or body of water nationally for sure." 

    Swall says the deadline for application for the grants is January.  If both 1 million dollar grants come through, LOWA will have to provide a 40% match, or $800,000.