From lake water to drinking water: New book aims to educate public
Posted on Thursday, July 31, 2008
The Beaver Water District has released “ Beaver Lake and Its Watershed, ” a 42-page book co-authored by researchers with the Arkansas Water Resources Center and district staff.
The book, released July 24 at the district’s monthly board meeting in Lowell, focuses on fundamental facts about Beaver Lake and its watershed — including the importance of maintaining a plentiful, high-quality and economically viable source of drinking water to Northwest Arkansas for years to come.
“ This is the first time it has ever been done, ” Amy L. Wilson, director of public affairs for Beaver Water District, said of the book.
She said staff is distributing copies to stakeholders and policymakers this week.
A small quantity has already been printed, she said, and the book is available to the general public via the district’s Web site, www. bwdh 2 o. org.
Alan D. Fortenberry, district CEO, said “ Beaver Lake and Its Watershed” helps explain how the lake is a reflection of activities that occur in the watershed, adding that the water quality in the lake is partly dependent on the actions of individuals, industries, businesses, governments and property owners that affect the lake’s tributaries and surrounding areas. The district’s plants can produce up to 100 million gallons per day of drinking water, and the district provides water to more than 250, 000 people and industries in Northwest Arkansas. Fortenberry’s letter in the book states that Beaver Lake’s watershed is rapidly changing and that economic forecasters predict that more than 800, 000 people will populate Benton and Washington counties by the year 2025 and as many as 1. 2 million people by 2050. With that growth comes increased pressure on the watershed and lake, he states. Fortenberry said in an interview Monday that the population estimates do not take into account possible increases in Madison and Carroll counties.
Is there enough ? Sometimes when the lake gets low, Fortenberry said, people ask questions such as, “ Are we going to run out of water ?”
“ There is plenty of water in the lake for multiple uses, ” he said.
He said the book is “ just for the general public to gain a better understanding of that. ”
Several years ago, the water district stepped up its educational effort in regard to drinking water, he said.
“ We’re trying to explain how we treat the water, what we do to it, ” he said. “ It’s our job; we understand it, and we’re just trying to get others to get a greater understanding of it. ”
He said he thinks the book will be “ a very useful tool to us and to everyone, and I hope a lot of people read it. ”
It is not a one-time primer.
“ This is simply the first document that we’ve put together, ” he said. “ We’ll try to update it as we go through time. It was a major chore to put all the information together. ”
He said having the initial book will make it easier to update the information. He said education is a component of the long-term effort to protect the watershed. “ That’s what we’re trying to achieve out of this: public awareness and education, ” he said.
Watershed pressures Fortenberry said one of the biggest pressures on the watershed is change in land use, which includes roads or urbanization or even conversion of forestland to pastureland. As that changes, there are more pressures introduced to streams and the lake. One of the biggest assets of the watershed is that “ we still have a tremendous amount that is forested, ” Fortenberry said. “ That would produce your better water quality. “ I think the lake is a beautiful lake. I think it’s a clean lake for the most part. I don’t want it to deteriorate over time. We want it to look good for swimming or recreating on. We don’t want to pollute it. One of the biggest things to me is getting everybody to understand that they’re a player in this situation. ” He also said he thinks enforcement of certain regulations is important. In addition, he said, if there is a need for new regulations to address some gaps, then “ hopefully people would be amenable to accepting those regulations that would better protect the lake. ”
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