Public hearing process begins for Pine Mountain Dam project

The public input process related to the potential construction of Pine Mountain Dam in northern Crawford County is about to begin, with the Army Corps of Engineers holding meetings and accepting written comments as they evaluate long-term water supply needs and solutions for the River Valley Regional Water District (RVRWD).  

Both meetings will be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. The first meeting will be Monday, Oct. 26, at the Concord Baptist Church, 6105 Alma Highway in Alma. The second will be Tuesday, Oct. 27, at the Botanical Gardens of the Ozarks, Carl Totemier Center, 4703 N. Crossover Road, in Fayetteville. The Corps was recently authorized $381,000 in federal money for the Pine Mountain Dam Reevaluation Study.

An environmental impact statement is being prepared in conjunction with a study called the Pine Mountain Dam Reevaluation Study, according to a press release from the Corps. The study is exploring whether a proposed lake on Lee Creek in Crawford County is the best approach to meet the long-term water supply needs, or whether other alternatives would do the same.

The RVRWD was formed in June 2000 for the purpose of building a long-term water
supply for western Arkansas. While initial engineering studies have identified Lee Creek (Pine Mountain Dam) as a suitable location, federal environmental rules require a thorough analysis of all “reasonable alternatives.”

A potentially fatal kink in an effort to build Pine Mountain Dam is Arkansas’ Extraordinary Water Resource designation that has been placed on the upper portion of Lee Creek that would be dammed to create Pine Mountain Lake.

According to the ERW regulation, lifting the designation requires two triggers: “(1) the sole purpose for the funding and construction of the reservoir is to provide a domestic water supply; and (2) there are no feasible alternatives to constructing a reservoir in order to meet the domestic water needs of the citizens of the State of Arkansas.”

More than 35 bodies of water in Arkansas are named Extraordinary Resource Waters, which prevents mining, construction, dams and other activities that would alter the quality or nature of the water. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, The Nature Conservancy, the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Arkansas Heritage Commission and the Sierra Club are on record opposing Pine Mountain.

Mark Yardley, project manager for RVRWD, has said that building Pine Mountain will require the legally and politically cumbersome and costly task of removing the ERW designation on upper Lee Creek.

A May 7, 2009 memo from Brigadier General Kendall Cox, U.S. Army Engineer Division Southwestern based in Dallas, to the Corps commander in Little Rock provides provides a hint of the problems facing those who would like to see the construction of Pine Mountain Dam.

“Project risks are assumed to be high since there is a large amount of public controversy in Arkansas and Oklahoma,” Brig. Gen. Cox noted in the memo. “In Arkansas the project must meet stringent standards set forth in Regulation 2.310 before it would be approved by the state Pollution Control and Ecology Commission. Oklahoma maintains that no dam is permissible in the State of Arkansas on Lee Creek regardless of its design features. The River Valley Regional Water District disputes this claim. Regardless, this project is highly controversial and will likely end up in court.”

Questions or written comments from the public should be addressed to:
Laura Cameron
Little Rock Engineer District,
P.O. Box 867,
Little Rock, AR  72203-0867
(501) 324-5601
[email protected]

PREVIOUS STORIES FROM THE CITY WIRE ON PINE MOUNTAIN
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• Pine Mountain Dam opponents fear rule changes during study