The Beaver Watershed Alliance has received $37,711 from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to improve water quality in the Town Branch watershed, a sub-watershed of the West Fork of the White River.
The White River flows into Beaver Lake, the regional drinking water source for one in six Arkansans. The west fork is an impaired river impacted by sediment and nutrients and has lost one-third of aquatic species on record since 1894, the alliance said in a press release.
The alliance plans to conduct on the ground restoration activities that will include development of an ecological restoration plan for 97 acres of upland urban forest, removal of invasive species from 108 acres, enhancement of 20 acres of riparian habitat and removal of 6,000 pounds of bulky waste and trash from 15 miles of waterway.
The ecological restoration plan for the 97 acres of upland forest will be for Mt. Sequoyah in Fayetteville, which will include 97 of the 108 acres slated for invasive plant removal. In 2003, Theo Witsell with Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, surveyed the property and noted invasive plant species.