Tracing & Protecting Underground Waters at Hobbs State ParK

Where:        Hobbs State Park – Conservation Area visitor center located on U.S. Hwy 12 just east of the Hwy 12/War Eagle Road intersection.
     When:    Sunday May 18, 2014
     Time:     2:00 p.m.
     Cost:      FREE

The public is invited.  This program is a continuation of the Friends of Hobbs monthly Speaker Series.  For more information call:  479-789-5000 or go to the web site:  www.friendsofhobbs.com.

“Karst” is a word that many of us in Northwest Arkansas use daily.  It describes geological features made by dissolving limestone – caves, sinkholes, pits, crevices, disappearing streams, etc.
 

Rocky, karts environments, like that of Northwest Arkansas, are tricky.  As a starter, our karst environment, with all of the rock, has little or no ability to filter pollutants.  Also in a karst environment, underground water movement is unpredictable.  A creek could disappear underground and come out as a spring hundreds of feet where the water was last seen.

World renowned ground water expert Thomas Aley has conducted dye tracings at Hobbs State Park with surprising results.  Vast amounts of water used in the tracings rapidly disappeared on steep slopes.  Other dye tracings showed up in unexpected places.  Aley’s program entitled “Tracing and Protecting the Underground Water at Hobbs State Park” will be of interest to anyone concerned about the ground water of Northwest Arkansas.