Protecting our Streams
David Casaletto
There are many organizations in the Upper White River Basin all working together to protect, maintain and improve our water quality and the environment. One such organization is the Nature Conservancy. As their web site states, "The Nature Conservancy is the leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people."
While the Conservancy is a worldwide organization, they are working here in our watershed to protect our beautiful Ozark streams and rivers. Their latest project and 41st preserve in Arkansas, is their purchase earlier this year of 4,557 acres at the Kings River about five miles southeast of Eureka Spring, AR (see red circle on map).
The Kings River Preserve includes seven miles of frontage along both sides of the river. The site was formerly a family owned cattle ranch. The Conservancy's plans include stream bank restoration and re-forestation of low pastures that now flood which will help prevent erosion and excessive stream sedimentation. Excessive sediment can fill in gravel beds and choke out organisms at the bottom of the food chain and affect those at the top, like smallmouth bass It the primary threat to the Kings River and other upland rivers in Arkansas. Forested river corridors -- or riparian areas -- and well constructed and maintained unpaved roads help reduce the amount of sediment that enters a stream. In-stream gravel mining also produces excessive amounts of sediment as well.
The Conservancy selected this site to help maintain the health of and water quality in the Kings River. If you have not floated the Kings, it is an incredibly scenic place with bluffs, gravel stream beds, forested banks and clear and clean waters. Ernie Kilman of Kings River Outfitters whose land is surrounded by the Conservancy property states, "Knowing that my son will be able to canoe on this river with his children and grandchildren and it will look the same - or better - than it does now is a wonderful thought. It's great knowing that this land remains in good hands."
The State of Arkansas has designated the Kings River an "Extraordinary Resource Waterbody" or ERW. Many of the most pristine and important streams in Arkansas have ERW designations that protect them from potentially detrimental actions such as damming and gravel mining. According to the state, ERWs warrant extra protection because of their "scenic beauty, aesthetics, scientific values, broad scope recreation potential and intangible social values." Of 20,000 stream miles in Arkansas, only 1,500 miles have this designation.
The Kings River is also important as it flows into Table Rock Lake and the White River system and serves as a source of drinking water for dozens of communities Missouri and Arkansas as it makes its way towards the Gulf of Mexico. It serves as the home to 18 fish, crayfish, mussels, turtles and aquatic insects found only in the Ozarks and the forested stream banks are foraging habit for endangered gray bats and a wide range of other terrestrial animals.
Visit the Conservancy's websitefor more information on the King's River Preserve at:
http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/arkansas/preserves/art.30860.html
Quote of the Week
"A Lake carries you into recesses of feeling otherwise impenetrable"
William Wordsworth
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