Discussion opportunity for L'Anguille water quality concerns, priorities
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- Watershed program aims to reduce pollutants
- Forum is opportunity for people to get engaged in water quality discussions
WYNNE, Ark. — People who live, work, recreate or own property in the L’Anguille River Watershed are invited to participate in an August 20, 2015 forum on water quality. The forum, hosted by the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, is an opportunity for the public to identify water quality issues or concerns, and their community’s priorities for addressing water pollution.
The L’Anguille River Watershed crosses multiple county lines and includes communities in Craighead, Cross, Lee, Poinsett, St. Francis and Woodruff counties. The forum, which starts at 5 p.m. and is expected to end at 8 p.m., will be at Wynne Fire Station at 1111 North Falls Boulevard in Wynne.
The forum is an extension of an annual stakeholder meeting that Division of Agriculture’s Public Policy Center holds each year in Little Rock in partnership with the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission, the state agency responsible for developing and implementing programs to address nonpoint source water pollution. Extension is hosting forums across the state as an additional opportunity for people to get involved in local water issues.
“It’s important for people who live or work in the L’Anguille River Watershed to get engaged and participate in conversations about local water quality priorities,” said Kristin Higgins, a program associate with the Public Policy Center. “Improving and maintaining water quality requires the commitment of people from different organizations and perspectives working together.”
The L’Anguille River has not supported aquatic life uses because of very high levels of turbidity. Streams in the larger watershed, which is mostly used for agricultural purposes, also have high turbidity and lots of sediment brought into them from runoff water. The long-term goal of ANRC’s priority watershed program is to reduce pollutants to levels that will restore all of a waterway’s designated uses.
Comments or strategies identified during the three-hour forum could help communities begin to address local water quality issues. The forum is open to the public. RSVP by e-mail to publicpolicycenter@uada.edu or call 501-671-2228.
Pursuant to 7 CFR § 15.3, the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs and services (including employment) without regard to race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, sexual preference, pregnancy or any other legally protected status, and is an equal opportunity institution.
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Media Contact: Kristen Higgins
Public Policy Center
U of A Division of Agriculture
Cooperative Extension Service
(501) 671-2160
khiggins@uada.edu
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