LOWELL -- Officials with the Beaver Water District plan to develop a plan for the district and its customers to coordinate water conservation measures in case the area finds itself in a serious drought.
Larry Lloyd, chief operating officer for the water district, said the National Weather Service considers Northwest Arkansas to be experiencing "moderate drought conditions." Other parts of the state and different areas in the region may have varying levels of drought conditions, Lloyd said, which was part of the impetus for the state to begin work in 2014 on a drought contingency response network.
Arkansas water use
Crop irrigation will account for about 80 percent of the water used in Arkansas by 2050, with thermoelectric power generation and industry accounting for another 12 to 13 percent. Municipal drinking water systems will account for about 4 percent of the water used and waterfowl management another 2 percent.
Source: Arkansas Water Plan
"Who defines what a drought is, and who declares that we're in a drought?" Lloyd asked. He discussed work to develop the drought contingency plan at the state level with the Beaver Water District's board on Thursday.
The state has formed a "drought council" under the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission. Other state agencies included in the council are Arkansas Department of Emergency Management, Arkansas Department of Health, National Weather Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Geological Survey.
The 2014 Arkansas Water Plan update "noted a lack of coordination among agencies in how to respond to drought," according to a state report. The update recommended developing a network among groups including state, regional and local entities with water management duties, federal agencies, drinking water utilities, other organizations and institutions. Those groups could alert the public about impending droughts, share consistent messages and information and provide information on voluntary conservation measures to reduce water use.
Lloyd has participated in workshops to develop a drought contingency plan. He plans to work on a local plan that will involve the Beaver Water District and its four major customers -- Bentonville, Fayetteville, Rogers and Springdale -- to coordinate drought responses.
Alan Fortenberry, the district's chief executive officer, said coordination is a key. He said the district found itself in a situation some years ago when two cities shared a common water line that had reached capacity. One city wanted to institute conservation measures while the other city didn't, Fortenberry said, and there was no mechanism for coordination between them. The four cities have begun working together on some issues since but not on drought contingency and water conservation planning, he said.
Lloyd said he hopes the cities will address the issues before there is an emergency.
"The time to plan for droughts is not when you're in the middle of one," he said.
Also Thursday, board members agreed to proceed with plans for about $704,000 in phase 1 of improvements to the solids processing facilities of the water treatment plant. The phase 1 work is set to be completed early in 2019.
In other business, the board voted to increase the per meeting compensation for board members from $100 per meeting to $150* per meeting. The six board members now donate their pay to a scholarship program set up by the district for students in the civil engineering, bio-agriculture, crop soils and environmental science fields at the University of Arkansas. The program provides $1,000 scholarships each semester to three students from the area served with drinking water by the district's customers.
Fortenberry said the amount donated annually by the board now is just under $6,000 and with the increase would be between $8,000 and $8,500. Fortenberry said the increase will help reach the goal of having a $50,000 endowment for the scholarships.
NW News on 06/22/2018
*CORRECTION: The Beaver Water District Board of Directors voted to raise its per meeting pay from $100 a meeting to $150. The amount of the increase was incorrect in a previous version of this story.