Panel Voices Opposition To Lee Creek Dam

By John L. Moore
The Morning News

FAYETTEVILLE -- A ditch would have more protection than Lee Creek if changes proposed to Arkansas' water quality plan are adopted, one environmentalist at a Sierra Club panel said Wednesday night.

Ken Smith, executive director of Audubon Arkansas, was one of six people on the panel that discussed the state's triennial review of the state's water quality plan and a separate proposal from River Valley Regional Water District to change the rules that govern Arkansas' "extraordinary resource waters."

Extraordinary resource waters are designated streams that the state says deserve extra protection because of their quality.

Smith and others on the panel said the changes proposed by the River Valley district would remove protections on extraordinary resource waters that are in place for other so-designated rivers in the state.

About 30 people showed up at the meeting to express concern in changing the water quality standards in Arkansas. A public meeting on this is set for tonight.

The triennial review of the water quality plan is focusing on extraordinary resource waters, according to Martin Maner, chief of the state's water quality division in the Department of Environmental Quality.

Lee Creek is one of the streams designated as an extraordinary resource.

To dam the creek, the River Valley district has proposed changes to the state's water quality plan through a separate third-party process that would affect all rivers designated as extraordinary resources.

The move has riled conservation groups who see the change as one more attempt to undermine regulations protecting Arkansas waters.

"I don't think what's being proposed (a large dam on Lee Creek) is going to fly," Maner said.

Maner said the department has gone on record as opposed to the changes. He said that federal regulations prevent changes to the creek that would result in changes its habitat or the natural flow of the stream. A dam on Lee Creek would change both of those, he said.

The Buffalo National River and the Kings River are also extraordinary resource waters and could be affected by the changes proposed. About 16 percent of the total miles of streams in Arkansas are designated as extraordinary resource waters.

This special designation provides more stringent guidelines for development around these streams for road or bridge construction and rules to prevent commercial gravel mining below the ordinary high-water mark of the stream.

Maner said the department hopes that alternative language to change the special designation could come out of the triennial review.

One change would provide ways for public water supplies to avoid affecting stream habitat and flow such as the weir built on the Saline River for Benton's drinking water supply. The weir allows a small pool to form that does not affect the stream's habitat and flow. Water is then pumped into off-site storage areas and then to a treatment plant.