Renovation project completed at Roaring River Hatchery

A $1.9 million renovation project was recently completed at Roaring River Hatchery.
The photo at top left shows one of the new dams and pipeline access stations installed at Roaring River Spring as part of the hatchery renovation project. The dams allow personnel to better control water levels to help with flood management, according to MDC fisheries technician Marina Spurrier.
The small structure shown at right, in the top right photo, houses a new automated, rotating screen used to filter debris from spring water before it enters the hatchery. The structure and the equipment it contains comprised a large part of the renovation project, Spurrier said.
At left, Spurrier feeds small fry - approximately two inches long - at Roaring River Hatchery.
Photos by Sheila Harris.
The photo at top left shows one of the new dams and pipeline access stations installed at Roaring River Spring as part of the hatchery renovation project. The dams allow personnel to better control water levels to help with flood management, according to MDC fisheries technician Marina Spurrier.
The small structure shown at right, in the top right photo, houses a new automated, rotating screen used to filter debris from spring water before it enters the hatchery. The structure and the equipment it contains comprised a large part of the renovation project, Spurrier said.
At left, Spurrier feeds small fry - approximately two inches long - at Roaring River Hatchery.
Photos by Sheila Harris.
January 20, 2021
Sheila Harris
Roaring River State Park Hatchery’s $1.9 million renovation project - over two years in the works, counting the time fish tanks began to be emptied - is now complete, according to Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) fisheries technician, Marina Spurrier, of Cassville.
“The renovations are designed to improve water flow to the hatchery and help with flood management,” Spurrier said. “We hope they will also help make our hatchery program more autonomous.”
Roaring River Hatchery is typically home to 500,000 to 700,000 fish, according to Spurrier, many of which were relocated to other hatcheries while renovations were being completed.
“Starting this week, we will begin moving them back here in preparation for the opening day of trout season on March 1,” she said.
Spurrier says trout eggs are typically brought in from other facilities, then kept at Roaring River’s hatchery for 14 or 15 months through their various stages of growth.
“Fish are usually a little over 12 inches long when we release them,” Spurrier said.
“These babies,” she added, pointing to the small fry in a tank below, “should be ready for release by the opening of the 2022 season.”
During a guided tour of the renovation, Spurrier pointed out the addition of a new structure containing a large, automated screening mechanism designed to remove debris from the spring water before it is pumped into the hatchery.
“We run the automated screen every hour for about five minutes at a time,” Spurrier said. “Before we installed this machine, someone had to manually try to keep the water clean before it entered the hatchery area: a big job, especially in the fall.”
Spurrier indicated that the installation of the automated screen and the structure surrounding it was the largest part of the renovation project.
In addition to the screening device and the building housing it, two gates (or dams) allowing for the adjustment of water levels were added.
In a move partly designed for the safety of visitors, the conduit and pipeline from which water is drawn from Roaring River Spring were extended eastward into the mouth of the cave, beyond the end of the walkway leading to the Spring. Metal fencing was also added on each side of the path’s end, again, as a safety measure.
“The guardrails take a little bit away from the aesthetics of the area,” Spurrier said, “but with so many visitors, we wanted to put safety first.”
Spurrier, a Joplin native and graduate of MSSU with a degree in biology, has been with the Missouri Department of Conservation for four years. She’s been a technician at Roaring River Hatchery for about a year.
“I didn’t set out to work in a fishery,” she said, “but I love it.”
Spurrier says she enjoys working in the state park because visiting vacationers are upbeat and happy to be there.
As if to prove her point, newlyweds Morgan and Zach Patton, from Monett – who had tied the knot the previous day - strolled down the pathway to the spring with a photographer following behind.
Constructed in 1910 and operated by the MDC, Roaring River Hatchery is one of the oldest trout hatcheries in the state, according to the MDC website. It’s 40 raceways (trout-rearing units) are fed by adjacent Roaring River Spring - the state’s 20th largest - which produces an average of 20.4 million gallons of water per day.
The hatchery is located inside Roaring River State Park, seven miles south of Cassville on Highway 112.
Sheila Harris
Roaring River State Park Hatchery’s $1.9 million renovation project - over two years in the works, counting the time fish tanks began to be emptied - is now complete, according to Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) fisheries technician, Marina Spurrier, of Cassville.
“The renovations are designed to improve water flow to the hatchery and help with flood management,” Spurrier said. “We hope they will also help make our hatchery program more autonomous.”
Roaring River Hatchery is typically home to 500,000 to 700,000 fish, according to Spurrier, many of which were relocated to other hatcheries while renovations were being completed.
“Starting this week, we will begin moving them back here in preparation for the opening day of trout season on March 1,” she said.
Spurrier says trout eggs are typically brought in from other facilities, then kept at Roaring River’s hatchery for 14 or 15 months through their various stages of growth.
“Fish are usually a little over 12 inches long when we release them,” Spurrier said.
“These babies,” she added, pointing to the small fry in a tank below, “should be ready for release by the opening of the 2022 season.”
During a guided tour of the renovation, Spurrier pointed out the addition of a new structure containing a large, automated screening mechanism designed to remove debris from the spring water before it is pumped into the hatchery.
“We run the automated screen every hour for about five minutes at a time,” Spurrier said. “Before we installed this machine, someone had to manually try to keep the water clean before it entered the hatchery area: a big job, especially in the fall.”
Spurrier indicated that the installation of the automated screen and the structure surrounding it was the largest part of the renovation project.
In addition to the screening device and the building housing it, two gates (or dams) allowing for the adjustment of water levels were added.
In a move partly designed for the safety of visitors, the conduit and pipeline from which water is drawn from Roaring River Spring were extended eastward into the mouth of the cave, beyond the end of the walkway leading to the Spring. Metal fencing was also added on each side of the path’s end, again, as a safety measure.
“The guardrails take a little bit away from the aesthetics of the area,” Spurrier said, “but with so many visitors, we wanted to put safety first.”
Spurrier, a Joplin native and graduate of MSSU with a degree in biology, has been with the Missouri Department of Conservation for four years. She’s been a technician at Roaring River Hatchery for about a year.
“I didn’t set out to work in a fishery,” she said, “but I love it.”
Spurrier says she enjoys working in the state park because visiting vacationers are upbeat and happy to be there.
As if to prove her point, newlyweds Morgan and Zach Patton, from Monett – who had tied the knot the previous day - strolled down the pathway to the spring with a photographer following behind.
Constructed in 1910 and operated by the MDC, Roaring River Hatchery is one of the oldest trout hatcheries in the state, according to the MDC website. It’s 40 raceways (trout-rearing units) are fed by adjacent Roaring River Spring - the state’s 20th largest - which produces an average of 20.4 million gallons of water per day.
The hatchery is located inside Roaring River State Park, seven miles south of Cassville on Highway 112.