Planning Commission To Study Habitat

by Talk Business & Politics ([email protected]) 104 views 

The Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission is sponsoring an environmental study of how development is affecting the Cave Springs Cave Recharge Area, which runs southwesterly from Rogers to Cave Springs.

The study will determine the extent of damage development and transportation has had on the karst recharge area, home to the federally protected gray bat and Ozark cavefish. A karst, a land formation punctuated by caves, sink holes and underground streams, feeds the recharge area.

The study will test existing water quality, include recommendations on protecting the area, and put safeguards in place to ensure that conservation efforts are effective.

Completed road projects like Interstate-540 and planned road projects like the widening of Arkansas 112 are cited as threats to the habitat. Industrial, residential and commercial development has also put stress on the karst, according to results of past studies of the area.

Once the commission has received letters of interest, a scope of work will be sent to a short list of candidates, and then the candidates will respond with a proposal, said Tim Conklin, the commission’s transportation programs planner.

The commission has $625,000 budgeted for the study.