Little Red River Irrigation Project to Provide Water for Agriculture, Wildlife

Little Rock, Ark. — A proposed irrigation project in White County east of Searcy will provide a long-term, reliable source of water for agriculture without depleting the alluvial aquifer.

“The Little Red River Irrigation Project will take a minute proportion of water from the Little Red River to be used for irrigation,” said Kalven Trice, state conservationist with the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. “In turn, irrigated crops make agriculture feasible, which generates revenue for the entire community. The water will also be used to enhance fish and wildlife habitat in the area.”

Water will be pumped from the Little Red River and piped through flumes, canals and pipes to landowners who wish to receive water.  The use of river water by many farmers in the project area will take the pressure off the alluvial aquifer, allowing the aquifer to replenish itself at a sustainable level.  At times when the river is low, water will not be pumped from the river.

Since the early 1990s a special project has been underway to address the problem of inadequate irrigation water supplies by installing on-farm measures such as reservoirs, tail-water recovery systems, pipelines and land leveling.  “While this project has helped, it has also served to show that this alone has not and cannot solve the problem,” Trice said.

In 2000, 82 percent of all irrigation water in Arkansas was ground water.  To put it another way, 7,913.37 million gallons per day of ground water was used for irrigation -- 94 percent of all ground water use.

“Groundwater supplies cannot continue to meet the irrigation needs,” Trice said.  “And, continuing to withdraw water from the alluvial aquifer at the current rate will diminish the amount of water in the aquifer to the point of it being unusable.”

 The benefits of the project are both direct and far reaching.  Directly, landowners will be able to continue to irrigate their fields and the alluvial aquifer will not be pumped dry.  Comprehensively, the longevity of the aquifer will be protected, thus providing water for the future.

“The ability of farming to continue in the area affects the entire livelihood and sustainability of the surrounding communities.  For example, if farming became economically unfeasible, the money that was brought into the community will be lost, the expenses paid out by the agriculture lost, and the businesses that support agriculture and farming families will be displaced,” Trice said. “Farming keeps the small towns of America alive. Water keeps farming alive. This project supplies the water.”

Public hearings and open public meetings on the project have been on going since the 1990s.  “Attendance at the 2005 meeting showed unanimous support for the project with more than 40 attendees,” Trice said.  “The Little Red River Irrigation District has made extensive efforts to be involved with and inform non-government organizations, environmental groups, and government agencies in all aspects of the project.  The result is the proposed project to supplement existing irrigation water supplies with water from the Little Red River.”

The project is grass rooted, and includes the landowners, the Little Red Water Irrigation District, NRCS and the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission. The district is the local sponsor of the project and will be the long-term manager and operator.

< Back to News