Illinois River's phosphorus on decline, water meeting told

CAVE SPRINGS -- Arkansas and Oklahoma researchers discussed the past, present and future of water quality in the Illinois River watershed during a meeting in Cave Springs Wednesday.

The public meeting, at the Illinois River Watershed Partnership Learning Center, was attended by about 50 people interested in water quality including city and county employees.

The presentations showed water phosphorus levels in the Illinois River Watershed have been decreasing since about 2002. Phosphorus is a nutrient that affects algae growth in the waterway. Contributing sources include chicken litter spread in the watershed and area wastewater treatments plants, among others.

Officials with Arkansas and Oklahoma have disputed phosphorus levels in the Illinois River for decades. Oklahoma imposed a 0.37 milligram-per-liter limit on phosphorus concentration as a standard for the river.

Attention in recent years has been focused on Flint Creek in Oklahoma, said Dr. Brian Haggard, director of the Arkansas Water Resources Center at the University of Arkansas. Haggard said Flint Creek was one of the few areas in the watershed that didn't see a decrease in phosphorus levels between 2002 to 2008. Yet, efforts in recent years have decreased levels in Flint Creek as well.

Phosphorus levels were 0.284 milligram per liter in 1983. It dropped to 0.156 in 1993, 0.107 in 2012. The latest data show it at 0.093 milligram per liter in 2013, a year that had a high water flow. High water flows include higher loads of phosphorus.

"We still are not quite achieving .37 but we are seeing improvements in water quality," Haggard said.

Haggard said the recent decrease in Flint Creak could be contributed to a new wastewater management facility in Siloam Springs. The facility discharges treated effluent into Sager Creek which flows into Flint Creek. Phosphorus levels in Sager Creek decreased at about the same time as Flint Creek, he said.

Testing for phosphorus levels in Arkansas just south of Siloam Springs dropped between 2002 and 2008 but seem to have stabilized, Haggard said. He said the drop seems to be related to regulation changes at larger water treatment facilities such as Springdale and Rogers in 2002.

The levels are stabilized at around 0.04 milligram-per-liter in the spring and 0.1 in the summer, Haggard said.

"We made a lot of improvement in 2002," Haggard said. "Now we are going to have to do additional things."

Delia Haak, Illinois River Watershed Partnership executive director, said efforts by landowners and urban developers have also played a part in improving water quality.

"Since about 2004 most poultry litter has been trucked out of the watershed," Haak said. "It now has a higher value as fertilizer and farmers have been able to sell it."

Landowners have also implemented nutrient management plans on their properties, Haak said.

Cities and businesses also have started to realize the importance of low-impact development, Haak said.

Developers have begun looking at roof and parking lot designs to meet these demands, Haak said. She said they also have started using more green space.

"Ten years of work has caused dramatic improvements to water quality in the Illinois River watershed," Haak said. "We want that to continue."

Garey A. Fox, director of the Oklahoma Water Resources Center at Oklahoma State University, said participants at a 2014 Illinois River Symposium held in Oklahoma were asked what research and education efforts were needed for the future.

Participants thought urban development's affect on stream flow was the most important issue researchers needed to focus on, Fox said. They also said that a report card needed to be developed addressing the status of the watershed. He said the report would be designed in a way that the general public could understand the data.

NW News on 12/18/2014

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