Rain A Mixed Blessing

Paul, Shad and Sarah Gibson, all of Carbondale, Ill., make their way into the Buffalo National River from the low water bridge at Ponca. The river is at its highest levels after several years of drought condition.
Paul, Shad and Sarah Gibson, all of Carbondale, Ill., make their way into the Buffalo National River from the low water bridge at Ponca. The river is at its highest levels after several years of drought condition.

Robert Seay wants the rain to lay off for about 10 days, then return. Casey Murray would prefer constant, soft rain, preferably at night.

Angel Ritz just hopes it keeps falling.

“We’ve extended our season two weeks beyond normal already, and we’re at perfect levels for the holiday weekend,” said Ritz, a cashier at Turner Bend Store and Outfitters on the Mulberry River. “It’s been a godsend, and if it keeps coming, we’ll have floatable water even through next weekend.”

Spring rain has cured most of Northwest Arkansas of the drought that dominated the last two springs and summers, said Joe Sellers, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Tulsa, Okla.

That’s caused joy in some circles and consternation in others.

Line after line of storms forced Barry Lunney to juggle schedules and created challenges for his athletes.

“It stopped our spring scrimmage after just 12 plays. We had to call it for safety reasons, and it had already been rescheduled because storms had delayed the girls state soccer tournament the week before,” said Lunney, the football coach and athletic director at Bentonville High School.

“It was raining and in the upper 30s when we hosted the state track meet, probably the toughest state meet in my memory from a weather standpoint.”

For Murray, the general manager at The Creeks golf course in Cave Springs, timing is as important as quantity.

“The tees, greens and fairways look great. We’ve gotten plenty to keep things green,” Murray said. “Obviously, I’d prefer rain at night, because daytime rain pretty much kills our revenue for that day, but as long as it doesn’t all come down at once, I’m all for more.”

While overall precipitation isn’t that off from recent years, it’s coming in smaller doses without the flash flooding that typified spring downpours in 2011 and 2012, Sellers said. The 2013 precipitation has climbed steadily, totalling 21.8 inches so far. In 2012, only 11 inches had fallen by this time, five inches of that in just two days in March.

More rain fell in spring 2011, but the total jumped from six inches to 21 inches in one week in April, causing widespread flooding.

Slow and steady is fine with Murray as the two creeks winding through his course can only drain so much water.

“If it gets up out of the banks, we’ve got trouble. A couple of holes get covered up in mud and gravel, and it takes about a week to repair,” he said. “Too much water really tears stuff up.”

The rain has left Beaver Lake at a perfect level for recreational activities as the summer lake season begins, said Alan Bland, a ranger with the Army Corps of Engineers. At 1,124 feet, the lake is four feet above conservation level and six feet below flood stage.

“We’ve got good access to all the boat ramps and marinas, and pretty much all of our campsites are open,” Bland said. “There’s only one low road we’ve had to block off, and it only affects two campsites.”

The lake level also means no extra water being released from the dam aside from regular power-generation releases, keeping conditions on the White River below the dam ideal for trout anglers, he said.

Seay, a Benton County extension agent, is still keeping his fingers crossed. While spring rain has pumped up what looks like a bumper crop of first-cut hay, farmers need a window of a week or more for the grass to dry before it can be cut and baled. Rain anywhere in that process greatly reduces the quality of hay, a hot commodity after two years of weak yields.

“A few nice, dry days would allow folks to get out there and get the first cut put up,” Seay said. “After that, more rain would be ideal to help get the summer-season grasses going good for the second cut of the season. Even with a good first crop, we could use the rain so that the second round doesn’t just stunt and burn up in the pastures.”

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