Of this we're certain: 99.9 percent of the people of Northwest Arkansas want their drinking water to be protected from contaminants.
We would say it's 100 percent, but there always seems to be a naysayer when pollsters tally up survey responses. The point is, there's hardly anyone who doesn't comprehend the value of high-quality water to the past success and the ambitions of Northwest Arkansas. Delivering a reliable and clean supply of water was, after all, why Beaver Lake was built. And it was why the Beaver Water District was developed to deliver the lake's water to utility customers in Bentonville, Rogers, Fayetteville and Springdale. And it was why the Benton-Washington Regional Public Water Authority, once upon a time known colloquially as Two-Ton, was built to deliver water to rural areas and smaller cities. Other water districts deliver Beaver Lake water to parts of Madison, Carroll and Boone counties.
What’s the point?
Strong leadership is needed to protect the region’s water supply today and into the future. That should come from local government leaders who can help strike the needed balance between property rights and the public good.
That lake, which marked its 50-year anniversary in 2016, is the water supply to more than 400,000 people, a great deal of whom live outside the Beaver Lake watershed. People from Westville, Okla., to Harrison benefit from the quality of Beaver Lake's water and, naturally, stand to be affected by any course of action that harms the lake's water quality. As advocates for the lake's protection like to say, when it comes to Beaver Lake, we drink it every day in Northwest Arkansas.
If life in the 21st century United States demonstrates anything, it's that even when a goal is universally accepted, there is a diverse collection of ideas about the best way to achieve it. Congress may be able to get away with stalemate after stalemate, but Northwest Arkansas can ill afford to let differences over method thwart preservation of Beaver Lake's water quality. Inaction, in this case, will mean deterioration.
With projections of Northwest Arkansas population growth that are staggering to consider, it's likely protecting Beaver Lake in its second 50 years will prove a much greater challenge than in its first.
The cause of watershed protection is focused today on the 125-lot Meadows at River Mist subdivision at U.S. 412 and Washington County Road 386. The development got its start in 2006, but stalled during the economic recession. Developers today have asked the county to allow a higher density of development than previously planned.
The core concern for advocates of Beaver Lake is sewage treatment and potential leaks of contaminants into the region's water supply. The subdivision, which is about 1,500 feet from the lake, would use a decentralized "community sewer system" rather than one connected to a larger municipal sewer treatment system. Such systems have become popular in areas previously reliant on individual home septic tanks. A community system often can help a landowner develop more lots, increasing profitability.
If all goes well, such systems offer a strong alternative to individual septic tanks. Imagine having 125 separate septic systems rather than one system for all the homes. The question is whether the larger systems can be relied upon as a form of environment protection for the long haul. Properly maintained, it seems they can be. But since they are not owned and operated by a governmental entity that will exist beyond the developers and any home buyers, the concern over long-term maintenance and operation is a real one.
Washington County officials in the past recognized that, creating some regulation, but there has been some effort by operators of decentralized systems to have the county relax that oversight. Concerns among county officials arose after other decentralized systems in the county failed.
As always, there's room for discussion on specifics, but it seems to us county government is exactly the kind of lasting entity that ought to be involved in the regulation of rural sewer systems. Those advocating less local regulation say the state of Arkansas has rules, but is it really the best idea to let some Little Rock-based agency making the decisions about protecting local residents and the region's water supply? We're always being told by Republicans, who now control a lot of Arkansas and local government, that keeping decisions local is far superior than relying on state and federal bureaucracies.
So we hope the local governments in Northwest Arkansas don't try to wash their hands of this problem. This is no time for a hands-off approach from local government.
The Beaver Water district more than a decade ago attempted to convince local governments of the need to create a buffer zone around Beaver Lake in which certain activities -- landfills or junk yards, for example -- would be prohibited and others would be controlled. Today, the buffer zone still doesn't exist. The politics of protecting the region's water supply often clashes with local notions about property rights and how far government can or should go in the name of protecting the public good.
Plenty of room exists for debate over sewer systems, development, property rights and protecting the public interests of a clean water supply. We encourage elected officials and people of influence in all of Northwest Arkansas to recognize a need that extends well past the concerns of their particular political boundaries, whether it's an alderman ward, a justice of the peace district, the county line or a congressional district. As the region's residents were reminded with recent heavy rains, water does not respect man's artificial political boundaries. Neither do pollutants. If left unchecked, they will end up in the water supply.
Northwest Arkansas residents need their county, city, state and federal officials to take up positions of strong leadership when it comes to Beaver Lake. There is no need to stifle development, but without proper planning and, yes, local government regulation, that day may come. Let's not wait until pollution has to be undone. Northwest Arkansas undoubtedly has the brain power and the leadership necessary to find the right balance. The question is whether its leaders can find the political will to do what's needed.
Commentary on 05/28/2017