United States Department of Agriculture
Natural Resources Conservation Service		 Arkansas Go to Accessibility Information
Skip to Page Content
 Harvesting a field in Arkansas





156th AWRBIAC Meeting Minutes - Approved

October 17-19, 2006
Eureka Springs, Arkansas

Call to Order and Welcome
Mr. Greg Stanley, Chairman, called the 156th Meeting of the Arkansas-White-Red Basins Inter-Agency Committee (AWRBIAC) Meeting to order on Tuesday, October 17, 2006 at the Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.
Those present were:
  • Mr. Greg Stanley, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Tulsa Forecast Office
  • Mr. Bob Blazs, U.S. Geological Survey, Oklahoma District
  • Mr. John Gage, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Oklahoma
  • Mr. Ken Brazil, Arkansas Natural Resources Commission, Little Rock
  • Mr. Steve Loop, Arkansas Natural Resources Commission, Little Rock
  • Mr. Kerry Wedel, Kansas Water Office
  • Mr. Mike Slifer, U.S. Geological Survey, Missouri District
  • Ms. Lou Klaver, Oklahoma Water Resources Board
  • Mr. Terri Sparks, Oklahoma Water Resources Board
  • Mr. Bo Bolourchi, Louisiana Department of Transportation
  • Ms. Erica Westbrook, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Little Rock
  • Mr. Ryan Mueller, Missouri Department of Natural Resources
  • Mr. Steve McIntosh, Missouri Department of Natural Resources
  • Dr. Reed Green, U.S. Geological Survey, Little Rock District
  • Mr. Ron Redman, Arkansas Natural Resources Commission, Little Rock
  • Ms. Debby Davis, Arkansas Natural Resources Commission, Little Rock
Treasurer’s Report
Due to the fact that Ms. Elizabeth Beat, U.S. Corps of Engineers, was unable to attend this year’s meeting Chairperson Stanley gave the Treasurer’s report stating the balance in the account amounted to $765.04.  Chairperson Stanley brought up the idea since we were paying for 25 attendees, each of us that brought spouses should be invited to come and have breakfast with the members.    Motion was made by Mr. Brazil to invite spouses, and ALL seconded.   Chairperson Stanley emphasized that the continental breakfast would start at 7:30 AM.
Approval of Minutes of the 155th Meeting
Chairperson Stanley asked for the minutes to be approved or asked for any corrections.  Mr. Brazil said the official name of his agency is now called “Arkansas Natural Resources Commission”;  Chairperson Stanley said his last name was spelled incorrectly; Mr. Loop said on the third page of the minutes there was a set of question marks.   This was part of the talk by Mr. Tracy Streeter, Director, Kansas Water Office.   His talk, “Interstate Cooperation and Watershed Based Planning” the question was in regard to how many watersheds were in the District.   The answer came from Mr. Wedel stating there are 12 river basins in Kansas; Ms. Sparks found a misspelled word in the last paragraph on the first page “followed”; Ms. Westbrook stated Mr. Kalvin Trice’s name was spelled incorrectly in the minutes; Mr. Bolourchi stated his name was spelled wrong twice.   Chairperson Stanley asked if there were any more corrections.   Mr. Bolourchi made the motion to accept the minutes as corrected and Mr. Blazs seconded the motion.   The minutes were accepted as corrected.
Agencies Five-Minute Reports 
  • Louisiana Report:   presented by Bo Bolourchi.
  • Arkansas Report:  presented by Ken Brazil.
  • U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Report:  presented by John Gage.
  • National Resources Conservation Service Report:  Erica Westbrook will forward via e-mail NRCS’s report to Chairperson Stanley to be included in the Minutes.
  • Oklahoma Report:  presented by Lou Klaver.
  • Oklahoma Report/Slide Show:  presented by Terri Sparks.
  • U.S. Geological Survey, Oklahoma District:  presented by Bob Blazs.
  • U.S. Geological Survey, Missouri District:  presented by Mike Slifer.
  • Kansas Water Office:  presented by Kerry Wedel.
  • Missouri Department of Natural Resources:   presented by Ryan Mueller.
  • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Report:  presented by Greg Stanley.
Next Year’s Meeting

There was discussion as to where next year’s meeting would be held.   Mr. Blazs, after checking his records, stated the State of Missouri would be the 2007 meeting location.   Chairperson Stanley noted that Mr. Mueller and Mr. McIntosh would set up details for next year.

Conclusion

Chairperson Stanley asked if there was anymore business before adjourning.   Mr. Brazil wanted a “show of hands” as to how many people would be attending the field trip tomorrow and deciding how many vehicles would be needed for the trip.

Adjournment

A reminder that breakfast will be at 7:30 AM tomorrow morning, Wednesday, October 18, 2006, and to bring your spouses.    Meeting was adjourned.

Call to Order Wednesday, October 18, 2006

The Arkansas-White-Red Basins Inter-Agency Committee Meeting reconvened at approximately 8:00 AM on Wednesday, October 18, following breakfast.

Technical Program

Chairperson Stanley asked Mr. Brazil to introduce the speakers for the morning session.  

  • “USGS Activities in the Upper White River Basin” -- Reed Green, Assistant Director, USGS Arkansas Water Science Center 
  • “Streambank Stabilization in Arkansas” -- Ron Redman, Water Quality Specialist, Arkansas Natural Resources Commission
  •  “Taum Sauk Upper Reservoir Dam Failure” -- Ryan Mueller, P.E., Director, Water Resources Center, Missouri DNR

Chairperson Stanley adjourned the meeting for lunch.   Mr. Brazil asked that we all meet in the lobby between 11:45 AM and NOON to load up and travel to tour the Beaver Water District’s facilities.

Tour – Beaver Water District

All Committee Members met at Noon and drove to the Beaver Water District in Lowell, Arkansas.   Mr. Alan Fortenberry, P.E., CEO; and Mr. Bob Morgan, Manager of Environmental Quality, met the members at their arrival.   For a few minutes Mr. Fortenberry talked about the plant and what its qualities are.   He stated that the Beaver Water District is the second largest water provider in the State, provides safe, clean water to more than 200,000 people, more than 7 percent of Arkansas’ population.   He stated it takes 15 hours for one gallon of water from Beaver Lake to be treated and ready for use; there are 10 miles of pipeline in the treatment facility, which employs more than 40 people fulltime and operates 24 hours a day.   We then traveled to the actual plant where he continued to talk with the members about the plant.  Mr. Fortenberry stated that water samples are tested numerous times each day to ensure consistent quality, and water is automatically sampled continuously for adequate disinfection and clarity.   He took us down into the plant and explained the whole process of how the pump station works.

Call to Order Thursday, October 19, 2006

Chairperson Stanley called the Arkansas-White-Red Inter-Agency Meeting to order Thursday, October 19th at approximately 8:00 AM following breakfast. 

Chairperson Stanley called on Mr. Slifer and asked if he was ready to show his presentation on the reconstruction of the Upper and Lower Reservoir of the Taum Sauk Dam Failure.  Mr. Slifer stated that by 1967 design standards it was not built correctly.   The failure happened at 3:00 AM on December 14, 2005, and because of this time of year there wasn’t any loss of life.   He showed aerial view pictures of the erosion, deep gullies and the boulder fields; stating the reservoir went from full to empty in 12 minutes.    

Dr. Green then presented a few minutes of his field trip to Lake Como in Italy the first week of October.   He stated that Lake Como is the deepest lake in Europe, 1200 feet deep – 200 meters below sea level; the town has an estimated 90,000 – 100,000 people; and the experiment was to help improve the lake.  He showed pictures of the City and people he worked with.

Chairperson Stanley read from the last year’s minutes about discussing issues that was brought up regarding the establishing of a list serve.  Mr. Gage said he had check with the Bureau of Reclamation and stated they have no list serve capacity.   Mr. Brazil suggested using the University of Fayetteville, Arkansas, stating it could be put on the server and then it could go out to the list serve. 

There was discussion whether AWRBIAC subcommittees should continue; however, because of issues heard in this meeting, about nutrients and water quality, the Committee should continue.    But, one problem is there is not good participation from all the other Agencies.   A thought thrown out was charging membership fees; plus, there is more participation in New Mexico; more participation when there were two meetings a year; more presentation sharing than just the 5-minute reports.   One thought was the Committee shouldn’t be compelled to just talk about what you are doing in your agency, you should share common issues going on in your State that are interesting to everyone.  The Committee seemed to focus on issues more when it met every six months; should meet with a theme.

More discussion on looking for solutions.  The Committee needs to talk more during the year, getting with the Chairperson about what needs to be on the agenda; how to make the time more meaningful to the Committee.   There was a recommendation to ask for a couple of people to work with the Chairman to get Representatives from ALL States and Federal Agencies.   Mr. Brazil and Mr. Blazs volunteered. 

Chairperson Stanley talked about the Meeting is set-up for two full days and one-half for a tour; with budgets getting tighter, once a year most are more comfortable with;  and the Committee should break away from the Compact Meeting.

Chairperson Stanley says the Committee should be like “outreach” – for making people aware of what the Committee does.   The consensus is generally agreed that we are not going to be “political” but remain informational and promote participation over the coming years.

Chairperson Stanley reminded everyone to send to him in electronic format the 5-minute reports and then he would send them over to Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Chairperson Stanley asked if there was any more business to discuss.    Chairperson Stanley told the Committee he would be the Chair for 2007.

Mr. Brazil made the motion to adjourn.   Mr. Blazs seconded.   

With that, Chairperson Stanley adjourned the Meeting at 10:00 AM.

< Back to AWRBIAC