BENTONVILLE — Benton County is being asked to join in the interstate battle over water quality in the Illinois River and provide money to oppose Oklahoma’s proposed restrictions.
The Quorum Court’s Legislative Committee was to hear a presentation on the Illinois River situation from Jeff Hawkins, director of the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission, on Monday.
Hawkins sent a letter to the county asking the Quorum Court to consider joining the effort to influence the water quality standards being considered for the river.
Hawkins said the Northwest Arkansas Inter-governmental Working Group on Water and Wastewater Issues was formed about a year ago by Bentonville, Fayetteville, Rogers, Siloam Springs and Springdale to address water quality and protection issues in Northwest Arkansas.
Hawkins said the group is asking for $40,000 from each of its member cities and alsofrom both Benton and Washington counties.
Issues involving the Illinois River watershed have dominated the group’s activities so far, and the group remains focused on those issues, Hawkins said.
Oklahoma set maximum allowable levels for phosphorus in the Illinois River of 0.037 milligrams per liter. High levels of phosphorus promote algae growth, which can affect water quality, fish and other wildlife. For Oklahoma’s monitoring purposes the level of phosphorus in the river is typically measured at the Arkansas 59 bridge across the Illinois River south of Siloam Springs.
Hawkins said Oklahoma is reviewing its standards and Northwest Arkansas has a stake in how the levels are set.
“We know the Illinois River has made remarkable improvement and carries far less phosphorus than it did a decade ago,” Hawkins said in his letter, “but it remains the strong belief of many people in Arkansas that the phosphorus standard of 0.037milligrams per liter is unattainable in such a well developed, highly populated watershed.”
Benton County Judge Bob Clinard agreed most people in Northwest Arkansas have an interest in how the water quality standards are set.
“Everyone in Benton County could be affected if Oklahoma gets their wish to lower the phosphorus level,” Clinard said. “Wastewater treatment plants would have to spend millions of dollars trying to meet those levels and that cost would be passed on to the ratepayers.”
Clinard said environmental regulations are necessary, but have to make sense. He said some have argued Arkansas rivers couldn’t meet the proposed standards if the two counties were stripped of people and animals.
“I believe in clean water,” he said. “I believe in clean streams and in protecting the environment. But the restrictions and regulations have gotten out of hand with no thought to how it affects our economy and our citizens.”
Justice of the Peace Dan Douglas, chairman of the Quorum Court’s Legislative Committee, said Arkansas’ efforts to improve water quality are succeeding and the proposed lower limit needs to be reconsidered. Douglas said it’s important Arkansas have its own information and not just rely on Oklahoma and other sources. He said the working group is proposing an Arkansas study of the issue.
“There at the highway 59 bridge the phosphorus levels are about one-third what they were 10 years ago,” Douglas said. “These EPA figures are based on models using information from streams in other places. I read of one EPA model on the Chesapeake Bay where they left out an area the size of the state of Delaware. We need to make sure their models are correct and to do that we need good science. We don’t need to be overburdened by a lot of excessive regulations.”
News, Pages 1 on 12/14/2011