Clean water at stake

Tale of two rivers

I suspect the legal and ideological debates between agriculture and regulators over animal waste seeping into designated scenic rivers in Northwest Arkansas will continue for decades.

Whether it's potential contamination from the hog factory our state so wrongheadedly permitted in 2012 to operate in the Buffalo National River watershed, or the long-running legal fights over phosphorus pollution in the scenic Illinois that feeds into Lake Tenkiller in eastern Oklahoma, there's much at stake for ensuring the purity of both precious streams.

Ed Brocksmith of Talequah, Okla., a founder and officer of Save the Illinois River, is keeping me abreast of two crucial watershed studies under way with that stream. Each will have significant impacts on future development in Northwest Arkansas and quality of life for all of us who live here.

One of those analyses is by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Its title sounds to me like it originated in a Maytag factory: The Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) study is required under the U.S. Clean Water Act.

"Arkansas and Oklahoma were to have completed a TMDL for the Illinois River decades ago but they failed to," said Brocksmith, who's among the wiser heads in the decades-long dispute over cleaning up the Oklahoma scenic river that happens to wind through the westernmost part of Washington County, Ark. "Scientists are reviewing the results of that study now," he added.

The second watershed examination is the bi-state study by a Baylor University team. "Arkansas requested and financed that study in an attempt to prove that Oklahoma's scenic river phosphorus limit of 0.037 (mg/L) is not a viable limit," said Brocksmith.

"These two studies ... will pinpoint the problem that excess nutrients like phosphorus have on water quality and safety and very likely force changes in the way people in the watershed do business," he said.

"Cities may have to increase the level of sewage treatment," he said. "The poultry industry and production agriculture will be on the hot seat for their contribution of algae-producing phosphorus. The cost of water, now priced too cheaply, will increase. New regulations will add to the cost of home construction, roads and more."

He contends recent water-quality reports cited by Arkansas point to a decrease in phosphorus level in the Illinois River, "but phosphorus entering Oklahoma from Arkansas exceeds Oklahoma's scenic rivers criterion of .037 mg/L by more than 90 percent, according to 2014 reports to the Arkansas-Oklahoma Arkansas River Compact Commission."

If the results go as Brocksmith believes, he said we can expect cities that already are weary of paying the brunt of the costs for water-quality improvement to allow their exasperations to flow downhill to their local poultry industries to do an even better job in managing millions of tons of poultry waste.

Nonpoint source pollution from stormwater runoff, at about 65 percent, constitutes the major cause of degradation in the Illinois River watershed. "Until Tulsa and Oklahoma sued the poultry industry, very little was being done about the nonpoint source pollution," Brocksmith said. "The point sources of pollution (such as sewer treatment plants) are tightly regulated. That translates to a lesser degrading impact on the Illinois River."

What I take away from my visit with Brocksmith about the Illinois studies is pretty straightforward. Big changes are on the horizon for us in Northwest Arkansas, my friends. Those will include more expensive water costs that result in cleaner natural waters.

Many will see this as a good thing for the people and responsible businesses of our region. Said Brocksmith, "What respectable business doesn't want a good quality of life including clean water recreation for its employees? What industry that is a good citizen determines where it will locate based on how much it can pollute streams and lakes?"

"It's really too bad there's not a numeric phosphorus limit for the Buffalo, or for the Illinois River in Arkansas, similar to Oklahoma's 0.037 limit," he said.

Celebrating Hogs

I'm joining those Hog fans still basking the afterglow of such a satisfying and unexpected 2014 season. Whoda thunk as the season neared its end with Ole Miss, LSU and Missouri looming that the Razorbacks would wind up not only bowl-eligible but prove itself among the nation's toughest defensive teams? Then they put an exclamation point on the achievement with a dominating win over Texas in the Texas Bowl.

Our former coach Bobby Petrino used glittery passes and able receivers to create offensive-minded victories and a high national standing in his final year before meltdown. Today's coach Bret Bielema and his assistants have recruited and worked diligently to construct a solid house of brick and mortar. Their efforts prove that reasoned approach is gelling into something special for 2015 and beyond. Congrats to the coaches and the team for root hogging to the end.

------------v------------

Mike Masterson's column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Email him at [email protected].

Editorial on 01/04/2015

Upcoming Events