Beaver Water District announces results of 2009 Secchi water-clarity study

NEWS RELEASE: Beaver Lake Monitoring Results Released-Nov 10 2009‏
From: Amy L. Wilson (AWilson@bwdh2o.org)
Sent: Tue 11/10/09 4:30 PM

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Amy L. Wilson, Director of Public Affairs
Beaver Water District
479-756-3651
awilson@bwdh2o.org
RESULTS OF PUBLIC MONITORING OF BEAVER LAKE
According to sampling and measurements conducted on Aug. 29 by 32 teams of volunteer citizen scientists at 34 sampling points, the water quality of Beaver Lake in 2009 compares well with results from sampling and measurements from the past three years of data. More than 200 people participated in the 4th Annual Secchi Day (pronounced like “Becky”). The event is co-sponsored each year by Beaver Water District, Audubon Arkansas, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-Beaver Lake, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service.
Secchi depth is a measure of water transparency that involves lowering a black and white disk into the water and recording the measurement when the disk is no longer visible. Deeper depths indicate water that is clearer than shallower depths. In addition to Secchi depth readings, volunteers also collect water samples that are tested by Beaver Water District’s lab.
“As usual, the measurements show we have good water quality in the northern portion of Beaver Lake, nearer the dam and poorer water quality upstream, which is what you would expect. That’s because water quality in large, manmade reservoirs improves as the water moves downstream and sediment and pollutants settle out,” said Dr. Robert Morgan, Manager of Environmental Quality for the District.
Secchi measurements this year ranged from less than one meter (a little over three feet) in the White River arm of the lake to more than 5.8 meters in the area of the Beaver Dam.
“The transparency of water is related to the concentration of particles, either organic, such as algae, or inorganic, such as sediment,” Morgan explained. “During most years, sediment has settled out of the water by August so transparency is mostly related to algae on Secchi Day. A shallow Secchi depth measurement indicates more algae in the water. Algal growth is not a health concern in Beaver Lake, but it can lead to taste and odor in drinking water. ”
Morgan said water transparency also may be related to weather conditions. Flooding causes lots of sediment to flow from tributaries into the lake. Increased sediment may also cause clarity of the water to decrease. For example, in 2008 Northwest Arkansas experienced two significant floods in the spring during which the flood gates at Beaver Dam were opened. The greatest Secchi depth recorded that year was 3.4 meters, more than 2 meters less than this year’s maximum. That makes sense, considering the fact that total rainfall for 2008 was almost 11 inches above average.
Each year, Beaver Water District’s lab technicians measure chlorophyll a, total phosphorous, and nitrate in each of the water samples. Chlorophyll a is a pigment in algae that is used to measure the density of the algal population in water. This year, the lake had chlorophyll a concentrations ranging from greater than 20 parts per billion in the headwaters of the lake to less than 3 parts per billion near the dam, which illustrates the gradient of water quality through the reservoir. Studies indicate that the potential for taste and odor events increases dramatically when chlorophyll a concentration reaches about 10 parts per billion. Phosphorous and nitrate are both nutrients that promote algal growth. As would be expected, the lake exhibited decreasing total phosphorous concentrations as samples moved from the headwaters of the White River to Beaver Dam. Nitrate concentrations increased from the headwaters to the dam as they have the past three years.
“Phosphorus from fertilizer and other sources attaches to soil particles. Storm water runoff carries with it a lot of soil particles and phosphorous. This is what is meant by the term ‘non-point source water pollution,’ ” Morgan said. “We want to reduce the amount of phosphorous that is entering Beaver Lake. We all need to understand that each of us contributes to pollution entering the lake. We all need to take responsibility for the actions we take that add to the pollution in the lake.”
Water quality is impacted by many human activities, including fertilizer runoff from lawns, erosion from unpaved county roads, and erosion from stream banks. Where residents have cleared stream side vegetation (also known riparian buffers) it is easier for the banks to erode. Eroding banks contribute sediment to the stream and degrade the water quality.
“All of these activities can negatively impact water clarity and water quality in Beaver Lake,” he said. “The District and its partners in Secchi Day are committed to educating the community about best management practices that will curb impacts from these activities and protect the lake’s water quality. After all, Beaver Lake is our drinking water. And abundant, quality drinking water is necessary for good health. It’s also essential for a strong economic base and for quality of life for Northwest Arkansans.”
Citizen scientists are the heart and soul when it comes to the success of Secchi Day, Morgan added.
“It simply wouldn’t be possible for one or two people to get this many measurements in one day,” he said. “I don’t have enough lab technicians to get it done in the time frame of a day. With the public’s help, we will have a whole decade of annual snapshots of Beaver Lake by 2015. This long-term data collection will allow us to evaluate trends in Beaver Lake. And it will be in large measure because we had an interested citizenry that cared about helping us monitor their drinking water source.”
Michelle Viney, Director of Conservation at Audubon Arkansas, agrees.
“We were very excited to see this many people getting outside, enjoying the lake, and participating in the hands-on activities of the event. Over the past four years, we’ve been able to grow and keep participation at about 200-plus people on the day of the event. In addition to hands-on sampling and measurement activities, Secchi Day offers watershed residents educational exhibits and networking opportunities. It’s a way for families and children to rally together to ensure that Beaver Lake continues to thrive for years to come.”
Viney added that a new activity this year was the opportunity to build and take home rain barrels; 29 people registered, built barrels, and are now capturing and using rain water instead of allowing it to rush off their property unused.
“This is a great way to reuse rain water and divert it so that it soaks into the ground where you live, rather than letting it potentially carry sediment with phosphorous and other nutrients into tributaries that then flow into Beaver Lake,” she said. “Getting involved like this and doing something that allows you to have a personal impact helps people invest in keeping Beaver Lake clean. It promotes awareness about how important Beaver Lake is for the health and economic welfare of Northwest Arkansas.”
As it stands today, Beaver Lake water quality is good, but it will take education and people changing behaviors and practices to make sure the water quality stays as good tomorrow as it is today.
“Any scientist will tell you that to be good stewards of our source water, we have to keep an eye on the lake so that we know how it changes over time,” Morgan said. “Only by collecting this and other data can we make a good analysis of the lake’s condition.”
A more detailed report and maps concerning Secchi Day 2009 may be accessed via the Beaver Water District website at www.bwdh2o.org. Next year’s event will be held on Aug. 21, 2010. For more information and a photographic slide show set to music, visit www.bwdh2o.org.

About Beaver Water District
Beaver Water District supplies drinking water to more than 250,000 people and industries in Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers, Bentonville and surrounding areas. These cities then resell the water to surrounding towns and communities. The District’s mission is to serve our customers in the Benton and Washington County area by providing high quality drinking water that meets or exceeds all federal and state regulatory requirements in such quantities as meets their demands and is economically priced consistent with our quality standards. For more information, visit www.bwdh2o.org.

Veterans Memorial 5K entry form for 8 a.m. Saturday, November 7, 2009, linked below video

Walker Park Trail built through formerly thick grove of trees in the riparian zone of Spout Spring Branch, resulting in hideous erosion of stream banks and dangerous spots for people using the trail: curb and gutter and piping upstream on Government Ave. will make problem worse!

Please click on each image to go to Flickr site and see full photos.

Ducks Unlimited Banquet October 29, 2009, in Fayetteville, Arkansas

Please click on images to move to Flickr site and use magnifying tool above photo to ENLARGE for easy reading.

Green Groups Guild meeting Thursday

From: Green Groups Guild (ggg@listserv.uark.edu) on behalf of ggg (ggg@UARK.EDU)
Sent: Tue 10/13/09 2:31 PM
To: GGG@LISTSERV.UARK.EDU

Meeting 10/15/09 7:00 p.m.
209 Thompson Ave. Three Sisters Bldg on Dickson above Fez Hookah Lounge.
Patrick Kunnecke
GGG President
ASLA Vice President
4th Year Landscape Architecture Student
479-544-1906

Runners and Sponsors sought for Nov. 7, 2009, 5K veterans' memorial race to benefit Fayetteville National Cemetery

Please click on image to move to Flickr site and ENLARGE for easy reading. The Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation meets at 10:30 a.m. Saturday October 10 and needs to add sponsor names to the file for the race T shirts and the brochures so that printing can begin. Already, Tyson Foods has donated at the Medal of Honor level and has challenged others to join them at the top of the list, thanks to the effort of RNCIC Secretary Peggy McClain.

Veterans' Memorial 5K race set for November 7, 2009, in Town Branch neighborhood: Sponsorship information below

The Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation (RNCIC) is organizing a Veteran’s Memorial 5K race on Saturday, November 7th at the National Cemetery in Fayetteville. The purpose of this 5K race is to raise funds for purchase and clearing of land to expand the Cemetery and, even more importantly, to raise the awareness of the Cemetery and the ongoing threat of closure.
We write to ask that you consider sponsoring the event.
The sole mission of the nonprofit RNCIC is to secure and clear land adjacent to the Fayetteville National Cemetery to ensure that the cemetery can continue to receive veterans for burial. Established immediately after the Civil War, the Fayetteville National Cemetery is an important part of the history of this region and the country. Veterans living in Northwest Arkansas, as well as many veterans from here but now living outside our region, have planned their final resting place here. But that may not be possible in the near future.
The Veteran’s Administration maintains the Cemetery, but the purchase of new land to expand
existing National Cemeteries has not occurred in decades.
When the RNCIC was organized only seven unfilled grave sites remained at Fayetteville National
Cemetery and the Cemetery was soon to be permanently closed to new interments. We have kept the Cemetery open and increased its size by over 120 percent in the ensuing 25 years, but with the passing of the World War II generation of veterans, the Cemetery will be full in a few years and closed to new burials.
Unless, of course, we act now to prevent that.
The recent controversy over the possible rezoning and development of the adjoining property has regularly been on the front page of local newspapers this summer. The massive turnout of veterans and non-veterans alike to public hearings demonstrates the deep emotional currents that surround the National Cemetery. We are grateful for past commitments to support veterans made by this community. We plan to make the race an annual event and, in this inaugural year, we are happy to give you the opportunity to associate yourself with keeping an important part of this region’s and nation’s heritage alive and to honor those who guarded us. We hope that you will see your way clear to sponsor this event. Please feel free to contact us with any questions.
Respectfully submitted,
Wesley Stites, Race Organizer
wstites@uark.edu
Tel: 479-871-7478
5K RACE
VETERANS MEMORIAL
Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation
P.O. Box 4221
Fayetteville, AR 72702
http://regncic.tripod.com

2009 Veteran’s Memorial 5K Race Sponsorship Levels
We thank you for considering sponsorship of this fundraising event. As you may know, all
proceeds of the race go to purchase and clear land for the expansion of Fayetteville National
Cemetery. The Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation is a registered nonprofit
with a 25-year history. Through the efforts of this group and, even more importantly, the
generosity of past donors, land has been purchased, cleared, and donated to the Veterans Administration increasing the size of the National Cemetery by 120% and keeping it open for
burial of veterans. However, without additional purchases of land, the cemetery will be closed in 14 years or less.

MEDAL OF HONOR - $1000
Business name and logo prominently on front and back of race shirt
Business name and logo on all race materials and race website
Sponsorship noted in all press releases
Business name and logo on finish line banner
Business recognized at award ceremony
Distribution of marketing materials and/or product samples in race goodie bags
10 complimentary entries and/or race shirts

DISTINGUISHED SERVICE - $500
Business name and logo prominently on back of race shirt
Business name and logo on race website
Business name and logo on finish line banner
Business recognized at award ceremony
Distribution of marketing materials and/or product samples in race goodie bags
5 complimentary entries and/or race shirts

SILVER STAR - $250
Business name and logo on back of race shirt
Business name and logo on race website
Business recognized at award ceremony
Distribution of marketing materials and/or product samples in race goodie bags
3 complimentary entries and/or race shirts

BRONZE STAR - $100
Business name and logo on back of race shirt if room allows
Business name and logo on race website
Business recognized at award ceremony
Distribution of product samples in race goodie bags
1 complimentary entry and/or race shirt
CONTACT Information:
Wesley Stites 479-871-7478
All checks should be payable to Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation or to R.N.C.I.C.
Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation
P.O. Box 4221
Fayetteville, AR 72702

Webcast on Clean Water Act quality standards FREE by registration

Still Time to Register!
To register, visit http://www.epa.gov/watershedwebcasts
Free September Watershed Academy Webcast -- Second in Clean Water Act Series
Join us on Thursday, September 10th at 1-3pm Eastern for an "Introduction to Water Quality Standards," a second in series of Webcasts on the Clean Water Act (CWA). The CWA is the cornerstone of surface water quality protection in the United States and it sets broad goals for restoring and maintaining the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation's water. Water quality standards (WQS) are aimed at translating the broad goals of the CWA into waterbody-specific objectives.
Tune into this Webcast to learn about WQS, which are the foundation of the water quality-based pollution control program mandated by the CWA.The Webcast will highlight the three major components of state and tribal water quality standards e.g., designated uses, water quality criteria, antidegradation, and will include a case study of how one state is working to strengthen its WQS program. Future Webcasts will highlight other aspects of the CWA including monitoring and assessment, total maximum daily loads, programs for managing point sources and nonpoint sources, and wetland protection.
Speakers:
Dr. Thomas Gardner, Environmental Scientist, U.S. EPA's National Water Quality Standards Branch; Heather Goss, Physical Scientist, U.S.EPA's National Water Quality Standards Branch; and William (Bill) Cole, Research Scientist, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Water Quality
Standards Unit
To register, visit http://www.epa.gov/watershedwebcasts.

Video from the Fayetteville National Cemetery with Washington County Livestock Auction barn in the background

Please go to
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7295307@N02
to see some of today's photos online. My picasa gigabite is full!

Green Faith Alliance of Central Arkansas to meet by telephone with like-minded or curious Northwest Arkansas residents at UA business school

The Green Faith Alliance of Central Arkansas will meet with us by
telephone on Monday, August 3, at 5:30 pm. Our meeting will be held in
Willard J. Walker Hall, room 546 (fifth floor) on the Business School Campus area at the
University. Attached are directions (from I-540) to the Harmon
parking garage, which is directly across from Walker Hall. The cost
to park there is about $3 for an hour.
As you may recall from my previous email, we talked briefly about the
possibility of having a Green Faith Alliance of Arkansas (dropping the
word “central”) instead of forming a second group called Green Faith
Alliance of Northwest Arkansas. This way, there would be one group,
instead of two, and we might accomplish more by working together than
we can separately.
I am currently on vacation in Georgia. Vivian Hill from St. Paul’s
will be your host for this meeting.
Please RSVP accept or regret to Vivian at vhill@walton.uark.edu as
soon as you can.
We hope that you will be able to join us for this meeting. Again, the
details are:
· Monday, August 3rd
5:30 pm
Willard J Walker Hall, Room 546, U of A Campus
Many thanks to you and thanks for your ministry for the planet that we share.
Michele Halsell

Adopt your watershed or update your organization's contact information and description

On June 22nd, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson joined several Cabinet
members in launching the United We Serve campaign, President Obama’s
summer service initiative. United We Serve is a call to all Americans to
join a volunteer effort this summer and be part of building a new
foundation for America, one community at a time. Administrator Jackson
was joined by Missouri River Relief, Blue River Watershed Association,
the Missouri Stream Team and Friends of the Kaw at the kick-off event in
Kansas City.

As part of this new service initiative, EPA is directing volunteers to
our Adopt Your Watershed Web page (epa.gov/adopt), an on-line database
of local watershed organizations. Your organization is currently listed
in our database. Since we expect an increase in traffic and visibility
to the Web site and database, we need your prompt assistance in making
sure your group's information is accurate and up-to-date. Please take a
few minutes to review the information below, including your group’s
contact information, Web site, mission statement, and geographic
information, etc. Please take a few minutes to review the information
below, including your group’s contact information, Web site, mission
statement, and geographic information, etc.

EPA is promoting the President’s new service initiative as a way to
encourage volunteer monitoring and watershed stewardship. Please also
consider registering your program at www.serve.gov. You may get
contacted by a number of volunteers eager to help. For more information
on President Obama’s United We Serve initiative: http://www.serve.gov


EPA's Adopt Your Watershed program challenges you to serve your community by taking part in activities to protect and restore your local watershed.


Visit our on-line Adopt Your Watershed database of more than 2,600 watershed groups to learn about opportunities to get involved in activities such as volunteer water monitoring, stream cleanups, and storm drain marking. Once you locate your watershed, simply click on "citizen-based groups at work in this watershed" to find a list of organizations.

If you can't find a group to join or want to organize your own activity, we've included a Watershed Stewardship Toolkit with eight things you can do to make a difference in your watershed.

*The full Adopt Your Watershed database file is available as an XML file for download. (Right click and download to your computer. 2.2MB)

Adopt Your Watershed is part of the President's UNITED WE SERVE initiative.



What YOU Can Do to Make A Difference
A Watershed Stewardship Toolkit for Volunteers
Become a volunteer monitor. Monitor water quality conditions, build community awareness about water pollution, and help identify and restore problem sites. Visit our directory of volunteer monitoring programs or learn how to start out in volunteer monitoring.

Organize your own trash cleanup (PDF) (19 pp, 751K, About PDF) or join a nationwide river cleanup campaign (National Rivers Cleanup ) or an international beach cleanup campaign (International Coastal Cleanup ).

Build a Rain Garden : Rain gardens planted with native vegetation help reduce the adverse effects of storm water runoff by soaking up excess rainwater.

Organize a Stream Drain Marking Project: Rain water that flows into storm drains goes untreated to nearby streams, lakes, and bays. Produce a flyer or door hanger to encourage pollution prevention. Visit EPA's Stormwater Web site for educational materials that can be downloaded or ordered for free.

Greenscape Your Yard: GreenScaping is a set of landscaping practices that can improve your lawn and garden while protecting and preserving natural resources.


Educate Your Community About Water Quality Protection: Use this collection of Public Service Announcements and downloads from effective advertising campaigns to raise awareness about water pollution and stormwater runoff.

Advocate for Local Impact Development in Your Community: Low Impact Development is an approach to land development (or re-development) that works with nature to manage the adverse impacts of storm water.

Start a Watershed Organization: If you are interested in starting your own watershed organization with partnerships, organizational priorities, a watershed plan and more, here are some things to consider before you get started.

See our Adopt Your Watershed Brochure (3 pp, 447K, About PDF)

Or check out Ten Things You Can Do to Make a Difference in Your Watershed for more project ideas. Also, find out what Girl Scouts are doing to help protect their local watersheds through the Water Drop Patch Project.

Information presented in the Adopt Your Watershed database does not constitute an official endorsement by EPA of any particular group's policies, activities, or positions on federal or state legislation. Disclaimer.

Beaver Water District holding budget, expenses down

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Amy L. Wilson, Director of Public Affairs
Beaver Water District
479-756-3651
awilson@bwdh2o.org
www.bwdh2o.org

N E W S R E L E A S E


BEAVER WATER DISTRICT HOLDS LINE ON 2010 PERSONNEL BUDGET

For immediate release: July 16, 2009

Beaver Water District’s Board of Directors met in the District’s newly constructed Administration Center today and approved a fiscal year 2010 personnel budget that is near 2009 levels.

“We appreciate management holding the line on the personnel budget for next year,” said Chris Weiser, Secretary-Treasurer of the Board. “The action we took today falls into step with our earlier vote in April to defer the planned 2-cent per thousand gallon increase in water rates.”

The personnel budget is $3,301,000 for 2010, just $9,000 more than the 2009 budget, or a 0.27% increase. While hourly employees of the District will receive an average 2% increase in pay, managerial staff salaries have been frozen at 2009 levels. In addition, savings have been realized in other areas, such as reduction of budgeted overtime.

“We take our financial stewardship of District resources just as seriously as we take stewardship of Beaver Lake and the natural resources the lake and its watershed provide to us,” said Alan D. Fortenberry P.E., CEO. “It’s important to continue a conservative outlook for the near future in light of the continued economic downturn. We want our employees to know they are appreciated and valued while also staying fiscally responsible for the near term.”

Today’s meeting marked the first time the Board met in the new Administration Center, designed and constructed in line with the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED guidelines. LEED is an acronym for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. The District is seeking LEED certification for the project which had a construction cost of approximately $4.5 million.

“The new building offers the public the opportunity to visit the plant and take advantage of educational opportunities,” said Larry Lloyd P.E., COO of the District. “Visitors will see a scale model of the water treatment plant in the educational area, where they can view the actual plant outside beyond the fencing that defines the secure campus. Additionally, one wall of the room features an 8-by-12 foot aerial photographic map of Beaver Lake Watershed.”

Building and site features of note include the use of pervious pavement in parking lots; natural lighting and the installation of motion detectors for lighting control; energy efficient heating and cooling systems; recycled content materials in cabinetry and building insulation made from scrap bluejeans; water-saving fixtures such as low-flow toilets, waterless urinals, and automatic water faucets in restrooms; a water feature supplied by effluent from the District’s waste process treatment plant and planted with native flowers and shrubs; and infiltration basins that hold and treat water from storm events.

“The infiltration basins on our site resemble bioswales, such as the one constructed at Gulley Park in Fayetteville,” Lloyd said. “These basins offer more capacity for water storage and for filtering of storm water. The plants in the infiltration basin were selected based on their ability to tolerate both submerged and dry conditions, much like those found in rain gardens.”

Beaver Water District’ s mission is to serve our customers in the Benton and Washington County area by providing high quality drinking water that meets or exceeds all federal and state regulatory requirements in such quantities as meets their demands and is economically priced consistent with our quality standards. For more information, visit www.bwdh2o.org.

Times' July 15 headline two weeks premature; it may be accurate if published on July 22, 2009

Please click on image to ENLARGE view of a couple from West Palm Beach, Florida, at the Fayetteville National Cemetery on July 14, 2009. They were on a self-guided tour of Civil War battlefields and National Cemeteries and such. Many people choose to vacation in cities that have significant historic sites.

The July 15 headline below may be accurate if published again on July 22.
"Rezoning of sale barn property postponed
BY ROBIN MERO Northwest Arkansas Times
Posted on Wednesday, July 15, 2009
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/News/78148/
"Consideration of a rezoning request for the Washington County Livestock Auction property will wait until the Aug. 4 meeting of the Fayetteville City Council.
"Developer Campus Crest LLC wants two more weeks to develop a bill of assurance for the request, which will be presented to the council with the aim of making the zoning request more palatable.
"The developer is asking that nine acres be rezoned to downtown general from heavy commercial/light industrial and seeks to build apartments for University of Arkansas students."

The headline and the two graphs above were written after an agenda-setting meeting of the Fayetteville City Council. It may turn out to be accurate if the council tables the issue during the July 21 meeting. No action is taken at agenda sessions beyond setting the agenda for the official council meeting. If the developers actually do ask that it be tabled at the July 21 meeting, then the a member of the council could make a motion to table and, if that were seconded, then they could vote to table or not. If the council approves tabling, then it might not be further discussed.
If the tabling fails, then a motion could be made to vote on the issue of rezoning, which would require allowing developers to present and the public to speak. So there is no guarantee that the issue will not come to a vote at this meeting, but it does appear likely that it will be delayed until the first August meeting.
It would be an embarrassment to the city if apartments were allowed next to the national cemetery. This isn't about property rights. The lack of need for apartments for university students at this time has been well-documented. The obvious need in Fayetteville is for affordable housing such as the single-family homes in the neighborhood nearest the former sale barn and the National Cemetery.

Please click on image to ENLARGE view of representatives of the VA and contractors on July 14, 2009, discussing plans to prepare property to be added to the Fayetteville National Cemetery.

On Tuesday, federal officials and engineers and others with experience in cemetery design walked the cemetery and some adjacent land to the west that already has been bought by the Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation and donated to the VA for cemetery expansion. That land will be prepared after careful study of that land to become part of the burial ground. But it will not meet the projected need for more space for much more than a decade.
The sale-barn ground also would require careful planning and much work if it is added later. But the people on hand yesterday are well-trained and able to do it properly. It will be needed and is in the natural spot to be added to the existing cemetery that was created in 1867, soon after the civil war ended.
Maybe some people would not see the inappropriateness of putting apartments there unless it were allowed and then they actually experienced what it would be like.
Just imagine.

Quoting the NWAT article further: "The council by law is to consider only whether the zoning requested is compatible with the neighborhood.
"Alderman Sarah Lewis asked how the developer can present information about the project when the council is not to consider a specific project.
" 'I don't understand; we're not allowed to talk about the project, but they're allowed to bring a bill of assurance," Lewis said.
"City Attorney Kit Williams said a bill of assurance doesn't describe a project, only limits the range of a zoning.
A bill of assurance places voluntary restrictions on a developer."
"Copyright © 2001-2009 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. All rights reserved. Contact: webmaster@nwanews.com"

Regardless of the outcome of the effort to stop this rezoning, the Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation will continue its fund-raising effort. There is no guarantee at this point that federal money will be provided to help expand the cemetery even though Senator Blanche Lincoln told me in person that she will work toward that end and even though Congressman John Boozeman told me and several other people recently that he will work to earmark a bill in the House of Representatives to provide money through the Department of Veterans Affairs to purchase the sale-barn property to add to protect the future cemetery and the thousands of veterans are eligible for burial there already.
Please make donations payable to the Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation and mail to P.O. Box 4221, Fayetteville, AR 72702.
For more information, please go to the RNCIC's Web site at http://regncic.tripod.com
Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation's Web site

Green-infrastructure and Land-Use Committee to meet at 7 p.m. today in Fayetteville City Hall

THE NEXT MEETING OF THE FAYETTEVILLE FORWARD ECONOMIC ACCOUNTABILITY COUNCIL'S LAND USE PLANNING AND GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE COMMITTEE WILL BE:


THURSDAY---JULY 9-----7 PM-----ROOM 111 ------ CITY HALL


GOAL SETTING: This meeting will briefly review the "What We Have" and "What We Need" of each category and determine short term goals in order to take our information and needs to the next level. Committees have been formed and objectives outlined:
Define and Identify: Land Use Planning and Green Infrastructure
Develop: Policy-- To make Land Use and Green Infrastructure Plan
Describe: Economic Impacts with or without LU & GI Planning

The Committee will review discussion at the June 4 meeting summarized below::
Bob Caulk of the Fayetteville Natural Heritage Association presented a power point program outlining the organizations work to date including maps of green areas within and surrounding Fayetteville. He also described the group’s ongoing effort to present infrastructure planning into the small towns on Fayetteville’s borders -- Johnson, Greenland, Farmington, and the Lake Wedington area---as well as plans to bring their project to Fayetteville.
Three poster boards were available for recording WHAT WE HAVE and WHAT WE NEED in each of the three categories for attendees to suggest where the community should be putting green infrastructure/land use planning into the working policies of our community and area.

IDENTIFY: LAND USE PLANNING AND GREEN RASTRUCTURE
What We Have---
--Maps/work/contacts generated by Fayetteville Natural Heritage Association
--School grounds, parks, trails, green spaces –private and public
--Botanical Garden of the Ozarks
--“will”



What We Need----
--Geologic map of city
--Inventory of old growth forest remnants
--Outreach to neighborhoods, individuals, businesses, and other communities to explain and garner support for green infrastructure

DEVELOP: POLICIES –TO MAKE LAND USE & GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE A REALITY
What we have----
Stormwater Issues & Actions
--Developing Stormwater Feasability Study—by Council Directive
--Stormwater infrastructure
--Planning Ordinances & Policies
--Field staff for storm water maintenance
--Nutrient Reduction Plan

Trees---Tree Preservation Ordinance and Landscape Manual
Green Teams---in schools

What we need-----
Storm Water--Complete Storm Water Feasibility Study
--Develop way to move forward—
--Identify ordinances, structure, philosophy, changes

Trees & Habitat
--Conduct Ecological analysis to see if Tree Ordinance working
--Establish a Wildlife Habitat Preservation Ordinance as part of Green Infrastructure
--Conduct a UFORE study to establish data on what trees contribute from an economic point of view
--Encourage use of native plant species
Other----
--Establish a Riparian Zone Ordinance
--Improve/strengthen the Hillside Ordinance
--Transfer Development Rights---get state enabling legislation passed
--Underground Utility policy for public construction projects
--Habitat or conservation zoning
--Education about structural designs that support roof gardens, etc.
--Bees throughout city –attention to insects and pollination needs they provide as well as the ecological system links between insects and bird and bat populations
--Educate children and adults

ECONOMICS ---IMPACTS OF LAND USE PLANNING & GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE
What we have----
--Websites & Links
* Robert Costanza/ Gund Institute Website: http://www.uvm.edu/giee/?Page=about/Robert_Costanza.html&SM=about/about_menu.html
“The Gund Institute for Ecological Economics (GIEE) is an environmental institute housed at The Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Vermont. Its primary mission is the study of the relationships between ecological and economic systems through the collaborative work of experts, educators, students, and others from around the world and across a wide variety of academic and environmental disciplines related to ecological economics."
:

Honeybee on butterfly milkweed on June 30, 2009

Please click on image to ENLARGE view of honeybee on milkweed on June 30, 2009, at World Peace Wetland Prairie.

Hill Place contractor's machine compacting street base, water added, water carries limestone silt into Town Branch of Beaver Lake Watershed

Please click on image to see where limestone-dust siltation orginates and where it is going.

Butterfly gardens easy to grow all over, especially in the black, rich soil of the Town Branch valley in south Fayetteville, Arkansas

Butterfly gardens can be grown throughout the
United States. There is a wide variety of both butterfly
attracting (nectar) plants and host (food) plants cover-
ing climates zones throughout the country.
Creating a Garden
Gardens can range in size from containers to sever-
al acres. Butterflies like sunny sites and areas sheltered
from high winds and predators. Warm, sheltered sites
are most needed in the spring and fall. Butterflies are
cold-blooded insects that can only fly well when their
body temperatures are above 70oF. They are often seen
resting on rocks, which reflect the heat of the sun help-
ing to raise their body temperatures, so be sure to
include some rocks in your garden. It’s also beneficial
to have partly shady areas, like trees or shrubs, so they
can hide when it’s cloudy or cool off if it’s very hot.
Plants that attract butterflies are usually classified
as those that areafood source,anectar source or both.
Butterflies require food plants for their larval stages and
nectar plants for the adult stage. Some larvae feed on
specifichost plants, while others will feed on a variety
of plants. If possible, include both larval host plants
and adult nectar plants in your butterfly garden.
Butterflies also like puddles. Males of several
species congregate at small rain pools, forming “puddle
clubs”. Permanent puddles are very easy to make by
buryingabucket to therim, filling it with gravel or
sand, and then pouring in liquids such as stale beer,
sweet drinks or water. Overripe fruit, allowed to sit for
afew days is a very attractive substance to butterflies
as well!
Life Cycle of A Butterfly
Butterflies go through a four-stage developmental
process known as metamorphosis (egg, larva or caterpil-
lar, pupa or chrysalis and adult). Understanding a but-
terfly’s life cycle can make butterfly watching more
enjoyable, andthis knowledge is an important asset to
those who want to understand the principles of attract-
ingbutterflies to their gardens.
Butterflies begin their life as an egg, laid either
singly or in clusters depending on the species. A very
tiny caterpillar emerges and, after consuming its egg
shell, begins feeding on its host plant. Caterpillars must
crawl out of their skin or molt, usually around five times,
before changing into a pupa. Finally, an adult butterfly
emerges, spreads its wings and flies away.
Butterflies typically lay their eggs in late spring and
hatch 3 to 6 days after they are laid. It takes 3 to 4
weeks for a caterpillar to pupate and 9 to 14 days to
emerge as an adult.
Host Plants
Adult female butterflies spend time searching for
food plants required by the immature caterpillar stage.
Most butterflies have specific host plants on which they
develop. For example, caterpillars of the monarch but-
terfly develop only on milkweed, while the black swal-
lowtail feeds only on parsley, dill and closely related
plants. Planting an adequate supply of the proper host
plants gives butterflies a place to lay their eggs, which
will successfully hatch and result in butterflies that will
continue to visit thegarden. Providing the necessary
food plants for the developing caterpillars also allows
production of a “native” population that can be
observed in all stages ofdevelopment.
To enjoy adult butterflies, you have to be willing to
allow their caterpillars to feed on foliage in your garden.
Food source plants that support caterpillars include the
annual marigold, snapdragon and violet; the perennial
butterfly milkweed, daisy and various herbs; the ash,
birch, cherry, dogwood, poplar and willow trees; lilac
shrubs; juniper evergreens and more.
The weediness of some host plants makes them less
than desirable for a space within your more attractive
garden beds, but they serve the same function if you
place them away in a corner of the yard. To keep them
from becoming invasive, remember to remove their
spentblooms before they go to seed.
Plants to Attract Butterflies
To attract the most butterflies, design a garden
that provides a long season of flowers (nectar plants).
The time of flowering, duration of bloom, flower color
and plant size are all important considerations when
selecting plants to attract butterflies. A wide variety of
food plants will give the greatest diversity of visitors.
Choose a mixture of annuals and perennials.
Annuals bloom all summer but must be replanted every
spring (after the last frost). Perennials bloom year after
year from the same roots but their blooming periods are
typically limited to a few weeks or months. To ensure
the availability of nectar sources throughout the sum-
mer, long-blooming annuals should be planted between
the perennials.
Try staggering wild and cultivated plants, as well as
blooming times of the day and year. Planting in mass
(several plants of the same kind) will usually attract
more butterflies, as there is more nectar available to
them at a single stop. Plants with clusters of flowers
are often better than plants with small, single flowers
because it is easier for butterflies to landon clustered
and/or larger flowers.
Many plants which attract butterflies, especially
trees and shrubs, may already be present in a specific
area. Shrubs include azalea, spirea, butterfly bush and
lilacs. Although weeds andsomenative plants are gen-
erally not welcomein a garden, allowingthem to grow
under supervision may be an option, as these plants
help attract butterflies. Try to avoid plants that readily
reseed and may take over and dominate garden sites.
Perennials, such as chives, dianthus, beebalm, but-
terfly weed, mints, black-eyed susan and purple cone-
flower offer a succession of blooms, other perennials
include coreopsis, lavender, phlox, sedum and yarrow.
Add annuals that flower all season, such as cosmos, lan-
tana, pentas,petunias, phlox, salvia and zinnias. Select
flowers with manysmall tubular flowers or florets like
liatris, goldenrod and verbena. Or chose those with sin-
gle flowers, such as marigold, daisy and sunflower.
Butterflies are attracted to flowers with strong
scents and bright colors, where they drink sweet energy-
rich nectar. Planting a variety of nectar sources will
encourage more butterflies to visit the garden.
For better butterfly viewing, plant the tallest
plants in the rear of the garden and work smaller or
shorter towardthefront.
Butterfly
Gardens
Creating, Growing and Enjoying
EARLMAYSEED&NURSERY
www.earlmay.com
SHENANDOAH, IOWA51603
Butterfly Host Plants(continued)
Trees Herbs
Ash Dill
Birch Parsley
Cherry Sweet Fennel
Dogwood
Linden
Poplar
Willow
Butterfly Attracting Plants
Annuals Perennials
Ageratum Aster
Cosmos Beebalm
Gomphrena Blanket Flower
Heliotrope Butterfly Milkweed
Lantana Coreopsis
Marigold Daisy
Nasturtium Dame’s Rocket
Nicotiana Daylily
Pentas Dianthus
Petunia Liatris
Phlox Phlox
Salvia Purple Coneflower
Snapdragon Rudbeckia
Statice Russian Sage
Sunflower Salvia
Sweet Alyssum Scabiosa
Verbena Sedum
Zinnia Veronica
Yarrow
Shrubs Herbs
Azalea Catnip
Butterfly Bush Chives
Lilacs Lavender
Mock Orange Mint
Potentilla
Viburnun
Cut Back on Insecticides
It’s difficult to have a successful butterfly garden
inalocation where insecticides are used. Pesticides,
specifically insecticides, kill not only the insects you
want to get rid of – they also kill the insects you want
tokeep, such as monarch caterpillars. Even biological
controls such as Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) will kill but-
terfly larvae. When treating for insect pests, always
consider non-chemical methods of pest control before
turning to pesticides.
Let Your Garden Grow
Most butterfly species over-winter nearby. This
means that their eggs, chrysalises, or larvae are likely to
be in or near your yard during the non-gardening
months. Some will even hibernate as adults. Do not
mow weed sites, cut down dead plants or dismantle
woodpiles which provide them safe shelter in the off-
season until the weather warms up.
Enjoying Your Butterfly Garden
Butterfly gardens are a great source of enjoyment
for everyone. Visiting butterflies include a variety of
different species and names, depending upon the region
of the country in which you live. To learn more about
which plants help in attracting butterflies get your copy
of National Wildlife Federation Attracting Birds,
Butterflies and Other Backyard Wildlife by David
Mizejewski or the Earl May Perennial Guideavailable at
your local Earl May Nursery & Garden Center.
Butterfly Host Plants
Annuals Perennials
Marigold Butterfly Milkweed
Snapdragon Daisy
Violet
Shrubs Evergreens
Lilacs Juniper
IBM# 912600 750 4/08
Copyright Earl May Seed & Nursery L.C. ©

Washington County found innocent. Watershed degradation being done by state highway department

Please click on images to ENLARGE view of Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department machine digging rich, dark well-vegetated soil out of a ditch on the west side of Arkansas 265 south of Fayetteville. An earlier post quoting a commuting motorist's email contained an error. Washington County is not to blame for this misguided work that threatens to increase the silt load of Cato Springs Branch, the lower Town Branch and the West Fork of the White River entering Beaver Lake. The soil being eroded is typical high-quality prairie topsoil that has washed into the ditch but should be back on farm or pasture or natural prairie land. This soil is hauled away and dumped, allowing more to erode away.

Arkansas officials say 'Don't Do Fescue'

Arkansas “Don't Do Fescue" is theme of AGFC public campaign
JONESBORO - Tall fescue is a widely used forage crop. It is insect resistant, tolerates poor soil and climatic conditions well and has a long growing season. Unfortunately, tall fescue also has a downside.

With approximately four million acres of pasturelands planted in tall fescue, Arkansas has a great deal of this crop. According to David Long, agricultural liaison with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, the agency is working diligently to help the public understand the shortcomings of this type of grass.

"The AGFC has developed a new tool in its effort to educate landowners about the toxic and negative effects of Kentucky 31 Tall Fescue to farm wildlife. A new bumper sticker entitled 'Don't Do Fescue' is now being distributed to agency employees and others interested in spreading the word," Long said. Tall fescue is a common forage grass that has been planted across Arkansas for over 40 years.

Estimates are that about 70 percent-95 percent or 4 million acres of the pasturelands planted with tall fescue in Arkansas are infected with an endophyte fungus. The fungus causes declines in bobwhite quail, cottontail rabbits, grassland songbirds and also limited other game populations such as white-tailed deer and wild turkey.

"The fact that the plant is actually toxic to both domestic livestock and farm wildlife species is accepted by agriculture extension specialists and wildlife biologists alike," Long said. "The plant produces chemicals causing the fescue to have very toxic qualities. The alkaloids are found throughout the plant, but are especially concentrated in the seeds and leaves," he explained.

In cattle, the fungus causes excessive body temperatures, elevated respiratory rates, loss of appetite, body weight loss, lowered fertility rates and abortion of fetuses. Dairy cows often show sharp declines in milk production. Horses are affected also with more aborted fetuses, foaling problems, weak foals and reduced or no milk production. The CES estimates that this endopytic toxin cost American beef producers up to $1 billion a year in lost profits.

"It's very important for private landowners who desire viable wildlife populations on their property to know the effects of planting fescue," Long noted. "Many species of wildlife would directly suffer these same negative effects if they were confined to the pasturelands as are livestock. However, since they are free ranging, they simply avoid the fungus infected fescue pastures, but nevertheless, this results in loss of farm wildlife habitat on these acres. You may have deer and turkey travel through tall-fescue pastures, but they rarely find food sources available they can utilize, since the aggressiveness of the fescue usually results in solid stands of the plant," Long concluded.

The grass is a sod-forming turf with thick matted growth that also limits movement of young bobwhite quail, turkey and cottontail rabbits, provides no nesting habitat for wild turkey or quail, and is extremely poor habitat for many declining grassland species of songbirds. "Bottom line, fungus infected tall-fescue pastures offer little food, cover or nesting habitat to a broad range of farm wildlife," he said.

"Tall fescue has been planted in an estimated 4 million acres of the 5.4 million acres of pasture scattered over the state and for all practical purposes is of no value to farm wildlife. With the widespread establishment of tall fescue pastures, a great loss of wildlife habitat for deer, turkey, quail, cottontails and grassland songbirds has occurred.

Many landowners now recognize this problem and are interested in eliminating tall-fescue on some or all of their acreage. However, many landowners continue to plant tall-fescue, not knowing the detrimental effects it will have to wildlife. (There is an endophyte-free variety of tall fescue available for planting but it is less viable and hardy, and still provides very limited habitat for wildlife.)

We want to educate all landowners regarding this fact because there are other planting options to providing livestock forage and wildlife habitat on their farms," Long explained.

Please help spread the word to landowners "Don't Do Fescue!" by requesting a bumper sticker to place on your vehicle. Especially if they have an interest in managing for wildlife on their farm. For more information contact David Long at 877-972-5438 or dlong@agfc.state.ar.us.

Public hearing at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday to consider rezoning sale-barn property to allow Multistory apartment buildings next to National Cemetery

Please click on images to ENLARGE and read.

Annual War Eagle celebration Saturday near Huntsville

Please click on image to ENLARGE view of Audubon Arkansas invitation to the third annual War Eagle celebration tomorrow at Withrow Springs State Park.

Watershed groups must join to fight degradation of all area waterways

Please click on image to ENLARGE view of construction site mud being washed down S. Hill Avenue in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on May 11, 2009. Construction machines and dumptrucks put a lot of silt in Northwest Arkansas Streams. Watershed groups must combine forces to increase pressure on all jurisdictions in the region to enforce stormwater regulations to prevent flooding and to protect water quality.

The annual member's meeting of the Association for Beaver Lake Environment is at 6:30 p.m. TODAY (Tuesday, May 12th), at the Rogers Public Library.
We will be electing members for our Board of Directors. Hope to see you there.

IRWP Board of Directors Meeting
Tuesday, May 12, 6pm – 9pm
Rogers, Nabholz Construction Headquarters

Association for Beaver Lake Environment to meet at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 12, 2009, TODAY

The annual member's meeting of the Association for Beaver Lake Environment is at 6:30 p.m. TODAY (Tuesday, May 12th), at the Rogers Public Library.
We will be electing members for our Board of Directors. Hope to see you there.

How close to Partner's Branch should development occur?

A few words about the value of Pinnacle Prairie with night sounds for background

Click on start arrow to view night scene at Pinnacle Prairie and hear a few words about the value of Pinnacle Prairie and similar areas.

Association for Beaver Lake Environment to meet at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 12, 2009

This is an e-mail from 'Able-Ark.org - Association for Beaver Lake Environment '
Attention all members,
Just a reminder that the annual member's meeting
is at 6"30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 12th, at the Rogers Public Library.
We will be electing members for our Board of Directors. Hope to see you there.

Frog songs from Pinnacle Prairie adjacent to World Peace Wetland Prairie

Drinking-water week in the Beaver Lake watershed

BEAVER WATER DISTRICT KICKS OFF DRINKING WATER WEEK
WITH NEW PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN

At a time when some areas of the country are facing water shortages, Beaver Water District is making sure our water supply flows into the future. Drinking Water Week 2009 marks the beginning of a new Beaver Water District public awareness campaign that will educate Northwest Arkansans about conservation and water quality.
“Consume, Conserve, Connect—Connecting today’s actions with tomorrow’s planet” is the campaign’s new tagline. The platform aims to open up a dialogue with consumers to teach them that drinking tap water and using it wisely is good for everyone. Radio, television, and print advertising and public service announcements will carry that message to the masses. In addition, the public is invited to participate in the “Consume, Conserve, Connect” quiz, accessible on line at www.bwdh2o.org. Individuals who take the quiz will automatically be entered in a drawing for water-related prizes.
“By consuming this natural resource, we’re making an investment in the future of our region both environmentally and economically. And when we use water with conservation in mind, we ensure that the bounty of Beaver Lake is here for tomorrow,” explains David Short, President of the Beaver Water District Board of Directors.
The benefits continue: Drinking tap water saves money, and there is no time like the present to cut household costs. Plus, the health wave of hydration is still at high tide as nutrition magazines urge Americans to nourish their bodies with plenty of water.
Short adds, “We hope this new public awareness campaign will help Arkansans see water differently, appreciate it, and work to make it last.”
For over 30 years, the American Water Works Association’s Drinking Water Week has brought together communities and the water industry to recognize the role water plays in our lives. Drinking Water Week runs May 3-9, 2009.

###
About Beaver Water District
Beaver Water District supplies drinking water to more than 250,000 people and industries in Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers, Bentonville and surrounding areas. These cities then resell the water to surrounding towns and communities. The District’s mission is to serve our customers in the Benton and Washington County area by providing high quality drinking water that meets or exceeds all federal and state regulatory requirements in such quantities as meets their demands and is economically priced consistent with our quality standards. For more information, visit www.bwdh2o.org.

FarmToTable theme of today's program in the Rose Garden of the Walton Art Center with renewable-energy lecture at Night Bird bookstore at 2 p.m.

Please click on image to ENLARGE view of OMNI Springfest poster.

Please click on image to ENLARGE view of poster.

Solar Power Struggle
Professor Richard Hutchinson of Louisiana Tech University in Ruston will speak on "The Struggle for the Solar Future" at 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 2, at Nightbird Books on Dickson Street in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
An inquiry into environmental change and the obstacles and opportunities in the path of the renewable energy transition.
Sponsored by OMNI Center for Peace, Justice, and Ecology.

Beaver Water District honored for public-relations work

Beaver Water District Receives Award for Watershed Report

April 29, 2009

On April 29, Beaver Water District took home a 2009 APEX Award for Beaver Lake And Its Watershed 2008 from the Northwest Arkansas Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America in the printed material-publication category. The APEX awards recognize excellence in the public relations profession, particularly the use of exemplary communication practices in the general business community. Amy Wilson, Director of Public Affairs for Beaver Water District, attended the award luncheon and received the award on the District’s behalf.
Since 1947, the Public Relations Society of America has advanced the standards of the public-relations profession and provided members with professional-development opportunities through continuing education, information exchange, and research projects conducted on the national and local level. More than 20,000 members strong, organized in 114 chapters, PRSA is the world’s largest organization for public-relations professionals. The Northwest Arkansas PRSA chapter is one of the fastest-growing chapters in the nation: a dynamic assembly of seasoned veterans, spokespeople and communication specialists from major corporations, recent graduates new to careers, private consultants, agency representatives, researchers and nonprofit leaders. For more about PRSA, visit www.nwaprsa.org. To download and read a copy of Beaver Lake And Its Watershed 2008, visit www.bwdh2o.org.
Beaver Water District supplies drinking water to more than 250,000 people and industries in Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers, Bentonville and surrounding areas. These cities then resell the water to surrounding towns and communities. The District’s mission is to serve our customers in the Benton and Washington County area by providing high-quality drinking water that meets or exceeds all federal and state regulatory requirements in such quantities as meets their demands and is economically priced consistent with our quality standards.
Amy Wilson
Director of Public Affairs, Beaver Water District
P.O. Box 400, Lowell, AR 72745
479-756-3651/awilson@bwdh2o.org
www.bwdh2o.org

Earth Day a great day for cleaning up urban streams

Please click on images to ENLARGE views of the Town Branch of the West Fork of the White River south of Martin Luther King Boulevard on April 22, 2009.

Brown thrashers among the many species to be seen on World Peace Wetland Prairie during Sunday's Earth Day celebration

Please click on image to Enlarge view of one of the many species of birds feeding and picking nesting sites on World Peace Wetland Prairie on April 17, 2009. The elusive brown thrasher is often able to slip into the thickets before a camera can capture its image. But the attraction of scattered brush piles and the excitement of mating season can make them a bit careless.

Fayetteville Natural Heritage Association's green-infrastructure project report online

Green-infrastructure report from Fayetteville Natural Heritage Association project

Earth Day celebration on April 19, 2009, at World Peace Wetland Prairie

Please click on image to ENLARGE to read details of the poster.

Bird-watchers welcome every day from dawn to dusk!

Would student apartments be more appropriate than a livestock auction barn next to National Cemetery for veterans? Not likely

Everyone is welcom at today's 5:30 p.m. meeting of Ward One residents and the Town Branch Neighborhood at the S. Hill Avenue Church of Christ near the intersection of 11th Street and S. Hill Avenue to hear and discuss a proposal to rezone the Washington County Livestock Auction Barn for student apartments. The area is shown on Google Maps below.

View Larger Map

The sale barn in the view below is at right and the national cemetery is at left. WOULD STUDENT APARTMENTS be any more appropriate next to the National Cemetery than a sale barn? The cemetery was created in 1867 and the sale barn in 1937.

View Larger Map

Please share information about the 5:30 p.m. April 5 (TODAY) meeting of Ward One residents at the Church of Christ on South Hill Avenue in Fayetteville.
Attorney Bob Estes is to present a proposal to have the Washington County Sale Barn rezoned so that student apartments may be built on the land in the Town Branch Neighborhood. If the rezoning is accepted, then a North Carolina company will buy the land and build the apartments.
The cattle-auction facility was constructed in 1937 by the grandfather of the current owner.
Cattle are brought in early each week and auctioned on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday. There is no permanent housing of a large group of animals.
Because of the north slope's being well vegetated, stormwater runoff to streams in each direction is relatively clean, much cleaner than the runoff from the Hill Place Apartment complex being constructed three blocks to the west.
Closing the sale barn in south Fayetteville would greatly inconvenience ranchers and farmers in south Washington County. In fact, having to travel to Springdale to buy and sell cattle could be final factor in some landowners deciding to sell out and stop farming.
All this would come at a time when encouraging local production of food and protecting the rich soil on the prairies in the river valleys is high on the agenda of many people and many conservation organizations.
Closing the sale barn could affect the local farm economy and several other businesses in south Fayetteville that rely on local farming. It would encourage more unneeded housing to be built in rural areas while allowing more unneeded apartments to be built in a city where empty apartments and condominiums are plentiful.
Anything that damages the agricultural economy of Northwest Arkansas will reduce the effectiveness of such ongoing efforts as the FNHA's green-infrastructure project, the Beaver Lake and Illinois River watershed-protection efforts and the efforts of OMNI Center, the Sierra Club, Audubon Arkansas, the League of Women voters, the Ozark Society, the Arkansas Wildlife Federation, Ducks Unlimited and many other conservation organizations to protect and improve our environment and counter the threat of global climate change.

Town Branch Neighborhood Association meeting at 5:30 p.m. Monday April 6, 2009

Ward One City Council members, members of the Town Branch neighborhood association and the public will hear a presentation from a developer seeking to rezone the Washington County Sale Barn property to allow construction of student apartments. Everyone is welcome to the meeting in the church at 1136 S Ellis Avenue south of the intersection of S. Hill Avenue and Eleventh Street at 5:30 p.m. Monday, April 6.
For details, please call 479-444-6072 or visit http://townbranchneighborhood.blogspot.com

Ward One council members, residents of south Fayetteville to meet to discuss proposal to build student apartments on Washington County Sale Barn land

Town Branch Neighborhood Association meeting at 5:30 p.m. Monday April 6, 2009

Ward One City Council members, members of the Town Branch neighborhood association and the public will hear a presentation from a developer seeking to rezone the Washington County Sale Barn property to allow construction of student apartments. Everyone is welcome to the meeting in the church at 1136 S Ellis Avenue south of the intersection of S. Hill Avenue and Eleventh Street at 5:30 p.m. Monday, April 6.
For details, please call 479-444-6072 or visit http://townbranchneighborhood.blogspot.com

Earth Day at World Peace Wetland Prairie from 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday April 19, 2009

Members of the Town Branch neighborhood association and the OMNI Center for Peace, Justice and Ecology present the fifth-annual Earth Day celebration with activities for kids and adults. Wildflowers will be planted in the butterfly garden and peace-circle garden on the east portion of the city-owned nature park by children and adult volunteers. Ice-storm damaged limbs will be removed by those who wish to help. Volunteers may dig out fescue grass or remove Japanese honeysuckle that is suppressing native plants in parts of the western 2 acres.
Musicians and poets will be invited to play, sing or read in a pleasant outdoor setting.
Still on the Hill and Emily Kaitz are the headliners.
Several activities for youngsters will be provided by volunteers.
Parking is free from 1 to 5 p.m. at the the Hill Avenue Church of Christ south of the intersection of S. Hill Avenue and Eleventh Street, and street parking is legal in much of the neighborhood.
Everyone is welcome. For details, call 444-6072
or visit http://worldpeacewetlandprairie.blogspot.com
World Peace Wetland Prairie is at 1121 South Duncan Avenue in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Reagan family farm north of Arkansas 16 exemplifies the kind of land that must be protected in the cities of Northwest Arkansas to save Beaver Lake

Please click on image to ENLARGE view of Bill Reagan pointing to the line of trees along the fence on the south edge of his family farm along the north edge of East Fifteenth Street.


The Reagan family has owned the land for many years and Bill said that he has bought it from his mother and will keep it in the family. The farm is prairie that has been used for cattle grazing and other agriculture over the decades. It is an example of a heritage farm of the sort identified in the Fayetteville Natural Heritage Association's Green Infrastructure plan. Its rich soil captures water where falls and does not cause flooding downstream with its limited stormwater runoff entering the Town Branch of the West Fork of the White River without causing siltation or pollution. See Google map with view of Fifteenth Street area in a preceding post on this subject.
Democrat-Gazette on widening of Arkansas 16


View Larger Map
Please use controls and cursor to move the image, zoom in or out and trace the whole route discussed at the meeting yesterday. The Reagan property is near the middle left part of the image above.
If you use your cursor to travel north of the open Reagan property between Washington Avenue and Wood Avenue from 11th Street up to near 9th Street you can see the 7 wooded wetland acres that the Partners for Better housing board is trying to buy to dredge and fill for a low-income housing development. Water drains from north of Jefferson School, all the way from north of MLK Boulevard (former 6th St.) down to 15th St. and into the Town Branch of the West Fork of the White River and is slowed and purified by the moist-soil area where the tiny branch overflows.
This portion of the Beaver Lake watershed is under extreme threat. Thanks to the Reagan family and others for keeping a bit of green infrastructure intact and allowing a small part of the rainwater to stay it falls.

Public invited to view plan for widening portions of Huntsville Road and Fifteenth Street from 4 to 7 p.m. today

People interested in protecting Northwest Arkansas' two major watersheds, in this case, the watershed of the Town Branch of the West Fork of the White River and Beaver Lake, need to turn out and make sure that the planners are taking into account the potential affect of this project on water quality and the need for stormwater retention to avoid increasing the flooding and erosion threat downstream.

View Larger Map
Please use controls and cursor to move the image, zoom in or out and trace the whole route to be discussed this afternoon.

Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department officials will reveal the first phase of design for widening a 2.7-mile stretch of Arkansas 16 between S. College Avenue and Stonebridge Road to four lanes and installing a traffic light at the Stonebridge intersection, east of Crossover Road from 4 to 7 p.m. in the activity center of Fayetteville First Assembly of God at 550 E. 15th St. There won't be a presentation; residents can look at displays, ask questions and give feedback verbally or on survey forms, The Northwest Arkansas Times reported in its March 31, 2009, edition.

Doug Timmons still leading the charge to protect Beaver Lake in Benton County

Doug Timmons is a former president of Association for Beaver Lake Environment.
Thank you, Doug. We in Washington County are also very interested in maintaining the highest quality of water entering the White River and Beaver Lake.
People in our county (including this member of ABLE and participant in two of the focus groups of the Beaver Lake Policy Group) are still shaking their heads over a conditional-use permit issued by Washington County Quorum Court to allow a red-dirt farm to become a limestone quarry expected to last 70 years in a barely rural neighborhood, despite the outcry of the neighbors. The JPS actually voted down some of the weak restrictions recommended by its planning officials.
Don't expect county government to help fight pollution of our watershed much at this point.
But plenty of people here agree exactly with what you wrote. We are making progress under our new mayor. So Fayetteville likely will do its part.
Aubrey James Shepherd

Doug Timmons wrote on March 29, 2009:
To my fellow ABLE members,

Many of you might not be aware that the Northwest Arkansas Council (the good ole boys) has hired Tetra Tech to study the Beaver Lake watershed and to facilitate the development of a Beaver Lake Watershed Management Plan. They formed a Beaver Lake Watershed Policy Advisory Group (PAG) that is made up of different stakeholders. Acting ABLE President Tony Miltich has been participating on this PAG since I had resigned from the ABLE board but I have been monitoring this PAG and have continued to receive reference materials that Tetra Tech has been developing.

I was suspicious of this PAG from the beginning because many of the stakeholders on the PAG have not proven to be interested in protecting Beaver Lake in the past, and some have worked against protecting the lake (such as the NW Arkansas Property Rights group). I had communicated this suspicion with the ABLE board on several occasions but we wanted to participate to make sure that the goals of the PAG were truly to protect the lake. Representation includes Tyson, lake area JP Frank Winscott (who hasn’t been a friend of Beaver Lake), the Beaver Water District (BWD), a developer or two, the head of the Bentonville Chamber (who supported Grandview Heights condos), the NW Arkansas Property Rights group (who fight any type of local regulation), etc. I think you get my drift here, that many of these people haven’t proven to be Beaver Lake friendly in the past.

My fears and suspicions have recently been confirmed. I attended a recent PAG meeting on March 25th as an observer. Tony was there as the official ABLE representative. The problem starts with the goals that were developed by the PAG. The goals are as follows:
Maintain high quality water supply (no argument with this one)
Restore quality of impaired streams (no argument with this one)
Minimize additional costs (I have a problem with this one)
Minimize additional regulations (I have a bigger problem with this one)
Cost Effectiveness (more in a moment)
Risk of future impairment to streams (no problem with this one)

Now, when the main goal is supposed to be protecting Beaver Lake from further water quality degradation, number 3 & 4 above shouldn’t receive much weight. The major goal should have been stated as… “What actions are required and by who, and how much will it cost stakeholders to protect Beaver Lake from further water quality degradation”?

Well, Tetra Tech presented four different strategies that were made up of various types of best management practices (BMP’s) and actions needed to achieve a percentage of sediment and phosphorous reduction needed to protect the lake. Of the four strategies, the first two relied mostly on voluntary measures and education, and completely ignored any regulation for developers, both during construction and post construction. Not surprisingly, those two strategies were not effective in protecting the lake, option 1 achieved only 30%, and option 2 achieved only 50% of the targets for reducing sedimentation and phosphorous. That means if those two options are adopted, the lake will continue to get dirtier and more polluted. I asked a question of Tetra Tech to confirm that fact and to make sure everyone understood that and Tetra Tech confirmed it in front of everyone. However, Tetra Tech tried to steer the group to option 2 because it was supposedly the most cost effective and didn’t include any regulations. Tony Miltich, myself, and one or two others spoke up forcefully against any strategy that doesn’t “hold the line” on current water quality. Others in the room didn’t seem so anxious to support option 2 (except the NW Arkansas Property Rights Group) because it didn’t really do the job of protecting the water. It seemed obvious to me that Tetra Tech was producing exactly the kind of options that would allow the good ole boys in the NWA Council to pat themselves on the back and say they are taking action to protect the lake. Lake area JP Frank Winscott spoke up and didn’t even think the Quorum Court would support option 2 because of the cost and certainly was against options 3 & 4 (even though they were the only options that would “hold the line” on current water quality. Option 3 achieved 75% of sedimentation reduction and 95% of phosphorous reduction. Option 4 achieved 95% sedimentation reduction and 121% phosphorous reduction!

The bottom line here is that it will cost money to “hold the line” on water quality. The Tetra Tech study estimated that it will cost about $40 million per year for option 3 and $59 million per year for option 4. I will stick to option 4 which is the best option to protect the lake. This $59 million included about $14 million that property owners would be responsible to maintain post-construction BMP’s on new development. This is not single family, single owner home construction we are talking about but new commercial development such as subdivisions, commercial development etc. The property owners could be businesses, POA’s of new subdivisions, etc. Farmers would only have a very small responsibility of about $1 million that would be for BMP’s such as pasture maintenance. Developers would have a large burden because the new development is what will cause a large percentage of the sedimentation and additional phosphorous in the future. They would have a responsibility for $26 million, which was estimated at $7,700 per 1 acre. Those costs would pay for construction BMP’s like dry retention ponds, or low impact development practices. That cost would be expected to be passed through to purchasers of the property, which in my opinion, is how it should be. Very similar to an impact fee. Local water suppliers like BWD would be responsible for $4 million for BMP’s. Local government’s costs would be $10 million for unpaved road improvements, storm-water program administration, and BMP’s. State government could provide grants estimated to $1 million and Federal government grants could provide an estimated $6 million. Now, if you really dig into these numbers, you would eliminate the grant monies because local people would not be on the hook for those monies, and you could eliminate the developer’s costs because those would be absorbed by new property owners. So, that leaves a total annual cost estimate of $26 million. There are 300,000 current water users in this region so if you do the math, that cost equates to $86 per year for each water user, or $7 a month added to a monthly water bill. Option 3 would cost less but doesn’t provide as much protection as option 4. Keep in mind that these “per user” costs would actually go down over time because the area population is expected to grow.

Is $7 a month too much to protect Beaver Lake? I don’t think so. If you think so, consider that a dirty and polluted Beaver Lake will reduce your property values, as tourists quit coming to the area, which means fewer people looking to relocate to this region. Cost will always be an excuse for not taking appropriate action unless the people make their voices heard. JP Winscott doesn’t think the QC will support this cost because he only hears from a few loud property rights people on a regular basis. All he hears from them is NO to anything the county tries to do. The silent majority needs to become more involved so that we have more say in our futures.

If option 3 or 4 is not adopted by the PAG, you can expect dirtier water in the future, that is beyond dispute now that the science is documented. The study stated that the water quality is good, has gotten worse over the previous years, and will continue to steadily degrade over time unless option 4 is adopted. I view this whole exercise as flawed because they are presenting false choices to the PAG to protect the lake, and calling option two the most “cost effective” option. I reject that because there is nothing effective about a plan that will only do half of what you need it to do. I also do not understand the goal #4 being included, because there are no local regulations that protect Beaver Lake. Voluntary measures are great, but won’t do the job, and some storm-water regulations are badly needed. Of course people want the cheapest possible way to achieve a goal, but if the goal is to protect the lake, to “hold the line” on water quality, then the only options discussed should be those options that actually “hold the line”. Any discussion about cost can occur after the needed actions are defined.

Please contact your JP, especially JP Frank Winscott, and let them know that you expect them to do what is necessary to protect the lake, to “hold the line” on water quality. Let them know it is not acceptable to allow Beaver Lake to become any more polluted. Letter to the editor are very good at communicating public opinion and I would encourage you all to do that. I will attach the copies of the reports that Tetra Tech distributed to the PAG. The reports contain some tremendous information you will find interesting.

Thank you for your support in protecting Beaver Lake!

Doug Timmons
Former ABLE President and current ABLE member

Severed limb budding at end. Birds and squirrels and rabbits may eat them

Here is the caption with the photo of limbs burning in Benton County:
Up in smoke:
Benton County employee Harvey Johnson watched a fire at 10791 Stoney Point Road near Lowell on Thursday. The county is burning limbs and trees broken by this winter’s ice storm. Other burn sites are at 9900 Marchant Road in Elm Springs, 21447 Waukesha Road in Siloam Springs and 19941 Bettis Hill Road near War Eagle. Washington County is also burning ice-storm debris on North 40th Street in Springdale. DAVID FRANK DEMPSEY / Benton County Daily Record

If no one in either county had a fireplace or a wood stove, this might seem slightly less ridiculous.
I hope a lot of people who can use firewood or who would collect it and sell it will be at those sites before more is burned and load it up and take it away.
This wood would save people money, reduce air pollution now and save the carbon in these limbs for actual home heating and reduce global climate change (because people with wood stoves and fire places will be buying wood next fall and reducing the tree cover even more in Northwest Arkansas).
Additionally, birds and squirrels are eating buds on those limbs where they are lying. In fact, many large limbs or trunks lying separated from the main trunk for nearly two months are budding right now! So wildlife are having to search a bit more for food, which may be tough for birds facing nesting season.
Burning material with this much value is WRONG.
It is even worse than chipping it all. This is incredibly wasteful and inconsiderate of people and other living things. I am proud to live in Fayetteville where an effort is being made to separate potential firewood for sharing and where the rest is being chipped rather than burned.
This is an example of the need for cross-training and keeping all environmental enforcement under one big umbrella. Apparently, it would be the responsibility of the EPA to see that FEMA's requirements for subsidizing "cleanup" efforts meet environmental guidelines. But I would bet that the EPA has had no input in the cleanup efforts. Otherwise, they would have required sound environmental use of the downed trees and limbs.
And, if there were any budgetary control of FEMA, their pet contractors would be required to compact and compress the loads of loose limbs in their trailers and trucks before claiming a load is full and counting it on the basis of cubic yards.
If you take waste metal to a steel yard or aluminum-recycling facility, you will have your vehicle weighed and then weighed again after the workers pull off what can be recycled. They don't pay more for half-empty truckloads or uncrushed cans that fill a big bag. The scales tell the story.
Should the taxpayers support a system that rewards only selected contractors and ignores the value of the material being destroyed in the pretense of "cleaning up" after a disaster? And requires the hiring of "inspectors" or whatever from different pet companies to make sure the trucks aren't overfilled?
My questions aren't original. I have heard these questions from residents of Fayetteville who are offended by the appearance of poor management and waste.
The city can't ask these questions because the EPA MIGHT look into the problem and FEMA MIGHT delay reimbursement of the city for the work that took a big chunk out of the city's reserve fund.
But somebody has to ask why they don't just weigh the loads and pay and reimburse on the results. My neighbors have asked.

Beaver Lake Watershed Policy Group weak on true protection of watershed

The Morning News

Local News for Northwest Arkansas


Beaver Lake Policy Group Developing Plan

By Caleb Fort
THE MORNING NEWS
A group dedicated to creating a plan to protect Beaver Lake discussed several options at its meeting Thursday, including voluntary programs and increased regulation on developers.

The Beaver Lake Watershed Policy Advisory Group agreed to look further into a strategy revolving around voluntary land conservation plus a host of other measures to prevent sedimentation and phosphorous pollution of the lake.

The group, which met for the first time in May, is supposed to finalize a plan by midsummer.

The proposed plan would cost at least $15 million per year, paid for by property owners, farmers, developers, water suppliers and the government, according to estimates from Tetra Tech, a California environmental consulting firm that has guided the advisory group.

The conservation program would encourage conservation easements, in which a landowner agrees not to develop certain property.

The plan would also include voluntary measures such as better construction site management, pasture improvements and improvements to dirt roads.

After the group has created a recommended policy, the members will probably try to establish a regional organization to oversee implementation, said Mike Malone, executive director of the Northwest Arkansas Council.

The regional organization could monitor the success of the policies and add more stringent requirements if necessary, said Trevor Clements of Tetra Tech.

Kimberly Brewer, associate director of Tetra Tech, presented four scenarios including combinations of voluntary programs and strict construction requirements around the lake.

The cheapest scenario would cost about $15 million a year, Brewer said. The most expensive would cost about $59 million a year, but would be the most effective at preventing pollution, she said.

Some group members, including Tony Miltich, who represents the Association for Beaver Lake Environment, said Beaver Lake is important enough that the group should pursue the most expensive option.

But others, including Justice of the Peace Frank Winscott, R-southeastern Benton County, said it would be difficult to convince Northwest Arkansans to go along with some of the more expensive and strict regulations.

Doug Timmons shares his view of the planning for the protection of Beaver Lake

Hello to All,
Most of you probably don't know me because I wasn't able to participate with this group as was originally planned. I am a lake property owner and very interested in preserving Beaver Lake, which means I do not want to see the water quality further degraded. The Tetra Tech study is good, good data identifying needed target measures regarding sedimentation, phosphorous and nitrogen.
When the Beaver Lake Watershed Policy Advisory Group (PAG) was first formed, my fear was that the PAG would develop a strategy that would allow further degradation of the water quality. Since the creation of Beaver Lake, our local leaders have not had the foresight to take any actions to protect the lake so I was suspicious that this would be a sham that would allow this PAG and our local leaders to pat themselves on the back claiming they are leading in the effort to protect Beaver Lake.
If you look at page 9 of the Phase 2 cost analysis, Tetra Tech clearly points to Strategy 2 because of the lower cost and lower regulations associated with that approach. Never mind that it only achieves about 50% of the recommended protection targets!!! The Strategy is supposed to be protecting the lake, but it is obvious that keeping the costs as low as possible is more important than truly protecting the lake, and heaven forbid we have to enact any regulations/ordinances! Strategies 1 and 2 will not protect the lake as needed, and will allow further degradation to the water quality. That should not be acceptible to anyone!
I have no idea why a goal of a group developing a lake protection plan includes minimizing additional regulations as a goal (especially considering there are not many existing regulations). That should have never been entered as a goal, maybe a desire, but certainly not a goal. It is not realistic to think voluntary measures alone will achieve the goal of protecting Beaver Lake. While cost is obviously important, when you are developing a lake protection strategy, the emphasis should first be on protecting the lake, not the cost. This study seems to be putting the emphasis on cost and ideology against regulation.

If the PAG is truly interested in protecting Beaver Lake, I would strongly encourage you to recommend strategy 3 or preferably strategy 4 because those are the only strategies that truly protect the lake. The public is going to know the results of this study and will know what the PAG decides so I trust the PAG will do the right thing. I hope I am wrong and worried about nothing, because I know some of you have put a lot of effort into this PAG. Protecting Beaver Lake should be a top priority for this entire region, and taking half measures that won't protect the lake should not be tolerated by anyone. I hope you all feel the same way and will fight for strategies 3&4.
Doug Timmons

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports on the Beaver Lake Policy Group's activities

Democrat-Gazette story on Beaver Lake
watershed planning

More on the watershed

Watershed information

Beaver Lake watershed IDEAS

Beaver Lake watershed solutions

Please click on images to ENLARGE view of Joyce Hale and James Gately at the Beaver Lake Watershed focus-group meeting. Hale represents the League of Women Voters, the Sierra Club and other environmental groups and recently pushed legislation through the Arkansas General Assembly to encourage protection of stream riparian zones in the state. Gately is a strong advocate of protecting Beaver Lake Watershed and is a member of the Association of Beaver Lake Environment.

Group meets today in Springdale to focus on draft of management plan for watershed of Beaver Lake

Mike Malone wrote:
This is a reminder about the Wednesday, March 25, focus group meeting with Tetratech to discuss the status of the Beaver Lake Watershed Management Plan that they have been helping facilitate. This follow-up focus group meeting with conservation and recreational representatives will take place on Wednesday, March 25 at 3 pm in the Chicago Room (room 220) of the Jones Center for Families in Springdale. They want to gather feedback on some of the management options that they have been developing for the watershed.
Mike Malone
387-5590

Focus group to discuss plan for Beaver Lake

On Wednesday, March 25th, you are invited to a focus group meeting with Tetratech to discuss the status of the Beaver Lake Watershed Management Plan that they have been helping facilitate. This follow-up focus group meeting with conservation and environmental representatives will take place on Wednesday, March 25th at 3pm in the Chicago Room (room #220) at the Jones Center for Families in Springdale. They want to gather your feedback on some of the management options that they have been developing for the watershed.

I believe each of you participated in the first focus group meeting Tetratech convened a few months back. If you have suggestions for other folks who should be included in this focus group, please let me know or pass this invitation along to them.

Tetratech has put together a series of newsletters to update you and other focus group members on the status of the project. I will distribute some of the newsletters attached to this message and others attached to another message early next week.

Please let me know if you have any questions and whether you will be able to attend the meeting on Wednesday, March 25th at 3pm.

Thank you!



Mike Malone
387-5590 (cell)