David Casaletto, Executive Director, Ozarks Water Watch

I am happy anytime I get the chance to visit Eureka Springs. The hills, the springs, and old buildings are all so special! My visits to this Ozark town started long ago as a small child and continued with my own family. The visit last week was special because it fell on my 36th wedding anniversary and it brought back memories of a visit with my wife sometime before our first daughter was born in June of 1978. We went in a shop where the owner specialized in stained glass. We bought a stained glass angel to represent our soon to be born daughter that we had decided would be named Angela (if it was a girl). Good memories....

Harding Spring on Spring Street in Eureka Springs, AR

My trip to Eureka Springs last week was to help with the city's Arbor Day Celebration. It had been postponed for rain and snow but last Tuesday was the perfect spring day. The event was held at Cardinal Spring and we were also dedicating the just completed Cardinal Spring Rain Garden Demonstration Project. Ozarks Water Watch helped sponsor this project by providing funding for an interpretive sign and a rain garden brochure.

Interpretive sign with the new rain garden in the background.

Cardinal Spring is not one of the more celebrated springs but is tucked away on a back street near Harmon Park. The project features a 70 square foot rain garden planted with perennials that will thrive in the Northwest Arkansas climate. Bruce Levine, the project coordinator, explained that to help slow the velocity of stormwater during a rain event, they placed two check dams consisting of large rocks and filtering material to slow and filter the water before it reaches the rain garden. Bruce hopes this first city rain garden will start them towards his goal of 60 rain gardens throughout the city.

A rock check dam to slow stormwater velocity.

Another feature of the project is a trail that leads back to Cardinal Spring constructed by Nathan Wilkerson for his Eagle Scout project.

In addition, to help with the planting of Dogwood Trees for Arbor Day and to learn more about rain gardens and stormwater protection, Elementary and Middle School students from Clear Spring School were  in attendance.

Eureka Springs is celebrating 31 years as a Tree City USA, making this community the oldest Tree City USA in Arkansas. Eureka Springs has also received the prestigious Growth Award five times. This award recognizes Eureka Springs for providing the highest level of tree care and education.

Next time you visit Eureka Springs, make a point to visit the Cardinal Spring Rain Garden. And get a rain garden brochure and learn how you can do your part to protect our precious waters!

Quote of the Week

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Late change in bill would exempt City Utilities (Springfield, MO) from certain MDNR checks 

Springfield Newsleader
May 15, 2013

JEFFERSON CITY - After early environmental checks barred sites where City Utilities wants to store coal ash, lawmakers - in the last days of the session - have passed a bill exempting CU from such site checks in the future. An environmental omnibus bill that passed the General Assembly on Wednesday night exempts City Utilities from the requirement that any site under consideration for a coal ash landfill receive approval during a "preliminary site investigation."

The exemption, which was revived Wednesday, has not been heard in committee and has not had a public hearing because of the way it has been put forward. But Rep. Lincoln Hough, R-Springfield, defended the exemption as simply allowing City Utilities to keep doing its job.

In September, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources reviewed six different sites under consideration by City Utilities and found each of them have potential environmental problems. The sites are close to each other and the existing landfill. Each site was rejected because it contains porous limestone and therefore has "the significant potential for catastrophic collapse due to the presence of subsurface voids," according to a department document.

To read more, Click HERE.

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