Integrating conservation in Arkansas state water policy

Excerpt

There are abundant water resources in the State of Arkansas consisting of rivers, lakes, reservoirs, wetlands, and aquifers. A 30-year annual rainfall in the state ranges between 813 and 1,981 mm (32 and 78 in). According to the Arkansas Geological Survey, the average daily flow of five major river systems (White River, Arkansas River, Ouachita River, Red River, and the Mississippi River) and other streams in Arkansas totals approximately 1.06 km³ (280 billion gal) (AGS 2011). Also, there are numerous reservoirs with total storage capacity of about 18.93 km³ (5 trillion gal) of water, and 12 major aquifers are used for water supply in Arkansas. The largest groundwater sources are the Mississippi River Valley Alluvial Aquifer (Alluvial Aquifer) located in eastern Arkansas and the Sparta/Memphis Sand Aquifer (Sparta Aquifer) located in eastern and southern Arkansas.

The main water resource issues in Arkansas include increased water demand in agricultural, municipal, and mining sectors; increased numbers of water shortages in many parts of the state; and declining water tables and lower stream flows (USACE 2009). Water withdrawals in Arkansas increased by 60% since 1980 and have reached 0.043 km³ d^-1 (11.4 billion gal day^-1), of which 0.028 km³ (7.5 billion gal) is…