Water in the News
Watershed Zoning Code Pleases Water Authorities, Irks Some Landowners
KUAR
This week the Pulaski County Quorum Court voted unanimously to adopt amendments to a zoning ordinance for the Lake Maumelle Watershed, but challenges still remain for those affected by the ordinance. A task force of property owners, stakeholders and conservation groups had met over a course of several months to draft recommended changes for the ordinance. Among the key challenges they faced: balancing the need to ensure Lake Maumelle’s clean water supply for 400,000 Central Arkansans with the desires of property owners in the area.
‘Game-Changing’ Initiative Could Drastically Cut Water Usage For Farming
KUAR
Delta Plastics and a consortium of agricultural interests in Arkansas have launched a new water conservation software initiative that leaders say could reduce water usage by 20 percent by the year 2020. “This initiative is the most important conservation effort we have ever launched,” said Dhu Thompson, Delta Plastics Chairman. “‘Preserving our farmland’ has been our company slogan for nearly 20 years. But conservation and sustainability is so much more than a slogan for us. It is a principle that has driven every major operational decision that we have made.”
Dead zones: Devil in the deep blue sea
OnEarth via LiveScience
A stretch of the Gulf of Mexico spanning more than 5,000 square miles along the Louisiana coast is nearly devoid of marine life this summer, according to a study from the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium. Caused largely by nutrient runoff from farm fertilizer, this oxygen-deprived “dead zone” is approximately the size of Connecticut. Although slightly smaller than last summer’s edition, the Gulf dead zone is still touted by some as the largest in the United States and costs $82 million annually in diminished tourism and fishing yield.
New program supports conservation efforts
AgriNews
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service’s new Regional Conservation Partnership Program drew an overwhelming response from partners across the nation. Of the almost 600 preproposals submitted in July, about 230 have been invited to continue the process by submitting full proposals by Oct. 2.
Congressional reps oppose new EPA water rule
Sedalia Democrat
U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt and U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler spoke out at a press conference on Aug. 14 at the Missouri State Fair against the “Waters of the United States” rule proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers. Many agricultural organizations are opposed to the rule, citing unclear language that could allow federal control of every small tributary in the country including small irrigation ditches that run across farmland. They are calling the measure a “land grab” that dictates how farmers run their farms.
Arkansas Water Sustainability 
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