NEWPORT — Sixty years after the formation of a large logjam on the Cache River near Grubbs, farmers who grow crops along the meandering river in northeast Arkansas are expecting to see relief from the annual flooding the blockage causes.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ final approval of a plan to remove the blockage could come early next week, Gene Sullivan, a consultant for the Cache River Nonprofit Association, told group members during a meeting Monday in Newport.
Work could begin on clearing the river channel by June, Sullivan said.
“This began 60 years ago,” Sullivan said. “It’s finally going to happen.”
Farmers who grow soybeans and rice along the river’s banks often see their crops washed away when spring rains flood the river. Runoff flows down the Cache River, which begins in southeastern Missouri and runs through northeast Arkansas before joining the White River in Clarendon, but backs up once it hits the logjam south of Grubbs.
Rising waters also routinely cross Arkansas 18 and Arkansas 37, cutting off access to the Jackson Countytown of Grubbs from the north, east and south.
The logjam, called a “drift,” began in the 1950s and continues to grow, Sullivan said. Flood waters pool up behind the blockage and kill trees, which then topple and add to the blockage. Trash, such as tires, appliances and - locals say - even old junk cars, are part of the jam.
Corps officials have said the blockage has grown to nearly four miles in length, and some locals have said the blockage is so thick that people can drive across it.
“I don’t know about that,” Sullivan said of the claim. “But I know you can walk across the river on the drift.”
The Cache River Nonprofit Association plan calls for clearing two major portions of the blockage this summer.
“It’s taken us a lot of miracles to get this done,” said Kenny Clark, the vice president of the Cache River Nonprofit Association.
“I think we’ll see this thing done,” he said. “I think we’re there.”
It’s not the first time farmers have been optimistic the river would be cleared. In the late 1990s, the Corps studied plans to remove some of the blockage but deemed them too expensive to implement because of flood-control issues, Sullivan said.
In 2003, a state legislative committee voted to initiate another study on alleviating the flood problems on the Cache. Again, financial restraints quashed any work.
Earlier plans also were hindered by state agencies’ concerns about any environmental impacts from the cleanup, Sullivan said. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has said the Cache River wetlands are a premier site in Arkansas for migratory birds.
Even last month, association members were given a brief setback.
A Jackson County resident balked at selling about 25 acres of his land along the Cache River for mitigation use to preserve wetlands.
“I thought we were finished,” Clark said. “The Corps told us what [the landowner] wanted wasn’t possible. I kept hoping and praying.”
The landowner later changed his mind and agreed to sell his land.
“I’ve not lost faith and hope,” said Jackson County Judge Jeff Phillips, who also serves as president of the Cache River Nonprofit Association. “This is moving forward. We’re finally going to get something done.”
The latest plan awaiting approval calls for the removal of about 15,000 cubic yards of logs and brush. The debris will be place in several designated areas and, after sufficient drying time, will be burned.
The plan also requires a monitoring system to measure the project’s environmental impact, Sullivan said. The results of the monitoring will dictate future projects to clear any blockage.
“We want to show [the Corps] that the sky won’t fall when we take out that logjam,” Sullivan said. “It’s taken a long time to get here.”
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 8 on 02/20/2013