Some of us have been wondering if all the rain over the past year has helped restore the aquifers under Arkansas. Yes, under Arkansas. Those underground lakes are an important part of the geology around here.
The other day, the paper answered a few questions. Notably: The rain has helped, but the aquifers are still drying up.
Ashton Eley's story Monday (re)told the tale. The most recent report by state officials says Arkansas' use of its groundwater is still unsustainable. The two most used aquifers in the state (the Mississippi River Valley Alluvial Aquifer and the Sparta/Memphis Aquifer) are being depleted.
It's called the Tragedy of the Commons: A farmer turns his sheep into the community's common pasture during the day. The commons can handle a certain amount of grazing, so a limit on the number of animals grazing is agreed upon. But if every farmer decided it wouldn't hurt anybody if he increased his herd by only four or five animals, soon the commons would be ruined, and nobody could profit.
The modern-day Arkansas commons is below ground. Believe it or not, the news story says that Arkansas is second in the nation in groundwater usage. That's behind only California, and you see what's going on in California. The drought out west has only compounded the problems there.
Also, Arkansas is fifth in "total water use," so we assume we're getting a lot of river water, too. According to the paper, "Much of the 9.3 billion gallons a day Arkansans use goes towards agriculture, the top industry in the state, according to 2015 data."
But there is good news on the horizon.
In 2020, 126 projects were approved through the Water Conservation Tax Incentive Program, which offers different tax credits depending on the groundwater area. Again, from the news account: "Earlier this year, the General Assembly passed House Bill 1314 to amend the incentive program, increasing the credit dollar limit and expanding the areas that could qualify for the 50 percent credit.
"The new law opens eligibility from parts of 20 eastern counties in the designated critical groundwater area to also include bordering counties, effectively applying to the entire eastern half of the state. 'This is not only going to help those surrounding counties, it's going to help the critical groundwater areas, because there will be more water to run back into the aquifer and fill those cones of depression,' said Rep. David Hillman (R-Almyra), the sponsor of HB1314."
Also, increasing the amount of surface water is key. So there are several projects currently in the works to get water from the state's big rivers further inland to dry farms. The state will use canals, natural streams and even pipelines. It may take a few years, but it seems like there is a lot of money being spent on water management projects.
If the government of Arkansas is looking for a place to spend federal infrastructure dollars, especially on worthy one-time projects, and which approval would be easy considering the environmental impact, we'd give them a hint: Ashton Eley's story Monday.
The story of this commons doesn't have to end in tragedy.