The White River Basin Section 729 Watershed Study is a collaborative effort between the USACE and Arkansas State University (A-State) of Jonesboro (Sponsor), and Arkansas and Missouri State water resource agencies.
The overarching goal and objective of the Study is to provide a comprehensive water resource management strategy for the White River Basin. This strategy is intended to provide sustainable water resource management while taking into consideration flood risk management, environmental protection, water supply, hydropower generation, and agricultural practices.
The Study will focus on five primary areas:
- System Operations: Reservoir operations (departure from original design standards, current and future opportunities, etc.).
- Flood Risk Management: Including but not limited to categorizing flooding (past vs present); storage reallocation impacts to FRM (water supply, hydropower, FRM, ecosystem); land use changes (encroachments/development, population shifts); impacts/changes due to reservoir operations; climate variability; FRM economics; aging infrastructure; hydropower impacts.
- Hydropower Generation: Including but not limited to negative impacts (ecosystem {dissolved oxygen, temperatures}) and positive impacts (economic benefits, ecosystem {cold water source}); impacts due to changes in marketing plan; aging infrastructure.
- Water Supply: Including but not limited to water quality, current and future M&I water storage, groundwater, aquifers.
- Ecosystem: Including but not limited to ecological impacts (cold water fisheries, warm water fisheries), environmental flows (cold water fish), invasive species, Green Tree Reservoirs.
Watershed studies are not project implementation documents. The level of detail in a watershed study is adequate for making watershed-level resource assessments and recommendations. If specific USACE projects (reservoirs) are identified as needing further analyses (i.e., operational changes), the use of other existing USACE authorities (for example, flood damage reduction or ecosystem restoration) will be required. This is where additional detailed engineering and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documentation will take place. USACE envisions implementing the relevant study findings through collaborative stakeholder involvement and, if necessary, making water control manual updates following USACE and NEPA procedures. The Study will provide the scientific data analyses and interpretation that are necessary for sound engineering decisions required when seeking reservoir operation changes.
The Study is anticipated to last 5 years and approximately $5M and will be cost-shared at 75% Federal, 25% Sponsor. Once the Study concludes and operational changes are sought, depending on the number of changes and at which reservoir(s), the timeline can range anywhere from 2-5 years and cost an additional $2M-$4M (100% Federal).