Upper White River Watershed Management Plan: H2Ozarks Announces Extension of Comment Period

H2Ozarks announced that the public comment period has been extended through April 22nd for the Upper White River Watershed Management Plan (“Plan”).

The organization states that it is seeking community feedback to “ensure that this plan aligns with public priorities and interests”.

A watershed management plan might generally be described as a strategy and work plan for achieving water resource goals that provides assessment and management information for a geographically defined watershed. It typically includes the analyses, actions, participants, and resources related to development and implementation of the plan. Watershed planning processes also typically utilize a series of cooperative, iterative steps to describe existing conditions, identify and prioritize problems, list management objectives, and implement protection and remediation strategies.

The Upper White River Watershed is stated to include:

• Beaver Lake.
• White River.
• West Fork White River.
• War Eagle Creek.
• Kings River.
• Long Creek.

H2Ozarks notes that:

…increasing pressures from urban development and land use changes, a strategic plan is essential to protect these waters for generations to come. 

The Watershed is stated to have been identified as a priority in the Arkansas 2024-2029 Nonpoint Source Priority Watersheds list. Its importance is due in part to:

• Supplying drinking water to over 500,000 people.
• Supporting recreation.
• Sustaining diverse wildlife.

The components of the Plan include:

• Introduction.
• Watershed Description.
• Watershed Assessment.
• Management Plan.
• Implementation Strategy.
• Implementation Costs, Benefits, and Available Assistance.
• Appendix A.
  • Summaries of Public Meeting Attendees.
• Appendices B-F.
  • Appendix B Land Cover Changes for Subbasins of the Upper White River Watershed.
  • Appendix C Characterization of Current Surface Water Quality in Upper White River Watershed.
  • Appendix D FTN Evaluation of Long-Term Water Quality Trends and Annual Pollutant Loads.
  • Appendix E Characterization of Current Groundwater Quality in Upper White River Watershed.
  • Appendix F Estimation of Septic System Numbers for Upper White River Watershed.
• Appendices G-M.
  • Appendix G Ranking of Upper White River HUC12 Sub-watersheds for Management and Protection.
  • Appendix H Data Used for Calculation of Sediment Yield Target for Category 1 Sub watersheds.
  • Appendix I Development of Nutrient Load Targets for Category 1 Sub-watersheds.
  • Appendix J Calculation of Load Reduction Targets for Category 1 Sub-watersheds.
  • Appendix K Evaluation of historical TDS data at WHI0100 and WHI0009A.
  • Appendix L SWAT Model Yield Output.
  • Appendix M Erosion risks from 2015 State Resources Assessment for Upper White River HUC12s.

A link to the Plan can be found here.