News Taffy

You never miss your water until the well runs dry. Benjamin Franklin made that observation years ago, but if we're not careful, the wells could run dry in Arkansas. As the population of Arkansas increases, the amount of water needed to sustain it also increases.

From 1965 to 2005, total water usage in Arkansas increased by 435 percent, while total groundwater usage increasing by 510 percent. Arkansas is the fourth largest user of groundwater in the United States after California, Texas, and Nebraska. Most of this groundwater comes from the Alluvial Aquifer. Now that aquifer is being depleted. Several counties in the Grand Prairie region of Arkansas have been designated as "Critical Groundwater Areas."

This means that the aquifer levels have dropped below 50 percent of their original saturated thickness. One major reason for this decline is that groundwater is being withdrawn for agricultural production. Each type of agricultural crop uses different amounts of water. The crops that use the most water are rice, soybeans, and cotton, in that order. While rice is a valuable crop, it also uses a substantial amount of water. About 4,583 million gallons of water per day were used to irrigate rice fields in Arkansas in 2005. This, combined with irrigation for other crops, is placing an unsustainable strain on aquifers in Arkansas.

The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that certain counties in the Delta region of Arkansas need to reduce irrigation pumping rates, or the rate at which water is being withdrawn from the aquifer for irrigation, by as much as 67 percent in order to bring groundwater usage back to a sustainable level. A sustainable level is one at which we can be sure that we will have water for future generations.

There are several programs designed to manage and protect Arkansas' groundwater resources. For instance, the Arkansas Groundwater Protection and Management Act recognizes the need to reduce groundwater use so it will be available for future use. To achieve this, the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission works to monitor groundwater usage and implement best management practices to protect water resources. Also, in order to reduce the amount of groundwater used for irrigation, which is the largest user of groundwater in Arkansas, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began the Grand Prairie Development Project in the central part of the Arkansas Delta.

The project is designed to divert a small part of the White River for irrigation use, thus lessening the amount of groundwater needed. However, this project has been controversial. Some believe the negative impact on the river outweigh the positive effect on groundwater. Proponents of the project contend that the river will not be negatively impacted and that the project provides a cost-effective way to alleviate groundwater problems in a Critical Groundwater Area. In addition to depletion of groundwater, Arkansas' aquifers are also in danger of contamination from such pollutants as pesticides, industrial waste, and leachate from landfills.

However, there are also programs designed to protect the quality of water in Arkansas, including the Arkansas Wellhead Protection Program, which works to protect groundwater from contamination. It does this by defining environmentally protected areas around municipal well fields. Once this is done, all identifiable sources of contamination within the protected area are identified. Currently, about 50 percent of these wells are being monitored through this program and are receiving some kind of protection from contamination. The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality also monitors groundwater to assess water quality. It randomly monitors wells in all Arkansas counties every three years. As Arkansas' population continues to grow, the need for more water also will continue to grow. We need to work now to conserve our water resources. Otherwise, we will learn the wisdom of Franklin's words.

For more information contact the ASU Dept. of Biological Sciences at biology@astate.edu. This article (#258) was written by Jonathan Stanley, a graduate student in the Environmental Sciences program at Arkansas State University. This article was written as part of the assignments for the Global Water Issues and Environmental Policy and Administration classes. In order to communicate its research to the public, ASU's Department of Biological Sciences has produced a series of articles about various aspects of science, including research and opinions. The department shares faculty with the Arkansas Biosciences Institute (ABI) at ASU.

Contact the department by telephone at (870) 972-3082, by e-mail at biology@astate.edu, or see http://biology.astate.edu/Outreach/outreach.htm for more information.