Beaver Lake Watershed News
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Beaver Lake Watershed News Being Thankful for Landowner Involvement and Interest Hello Beaver Lake Watershed Resident, Landowner, or Manager, Wow, we are making some progress toward maintaining and improving the water quality of Beaver Lake and its watershed! This progress is largely Winter 2016 due to your interest in taking care of natural resources and your participa- This newsletter is being sent tion in learning more and establishing to you because our records show that you own or reside best management practices on your on streamside property in property. To you, the Beaver Water- the Beaver Lake Watershed. shed Alliance gives thanks. If you are If you would prefer to re- just a casual reader of this newsletter ceive a digital copy only or up to this point, and have not yet have your name removed entirely from this mailing list, checked in about how we might be please notify the Beaver able to work together, I hope that you Watershed Alliance by call- will continue to read and will check in with us at some point. Chances are that you have ing 479-750-8007. some forest, pasture, streamside, lakeside, lawn and garden, landscape, construction site, wildlife or other management goals or needs where best management tips can not only Inside this issue: save you some money, but also produce healthy wildlife, and clean water. We‟ll be here when you are ready to check in, and hope you keep reading along until that time comes! Being Thankful 1 for Landowners Beaver Lake Watershed Volunteer Spotlight War Eagle 2 Watershed News Connecting with 3 War Eagle Landowners Streamside 3 Landowner Workshop Set for March 5th Land Conservation: 4 What Are Your The Greenland High School EAST Program The Northwest Arkansas Master Naturalists assist Options? monitors a stream restoration sight on the in preparing our newsletter to be mailed out to West Fork White River you. They are a helpful bunch! Beyond Traditional 4 Development Work Planned in 5 West Fork & Lakeside Watersheds Community By Design and the Ecological Design Group volunteered to share their Lakeside Opportunity 5 knowledge of low impact development and walkable communities to municipal deci- Assessment Wraps sion makers and watershed landowners in Huntsville at a Watershed Lunch ‘N Learn. Up Special thanks to sponsors and partners: Upcoming Events 6 And Streamside Mt Olive Water Assessments Association Page 1 War Eagle Creek Watershed News Dear War Eagle Creek Watershed resident, landowner, or land manager, Winter is upon us! It seems to happen every year: by the time I get used to the summer heat, fall comes along with pleasant weather...then suddenly it‟s winter! Behind those harsh, freezing temperatures is actually a season great for fishing, hunting, and exploring what nature has to offer. Winter is also a good time to plan ahead for spring and summer. We will still be providing free tree and shrub seedlings to landowners in the War Eagle Creek Watershed. If you are interested in planting a new riparian buffer or enhancing an existing one, schedule a free site assessment with us! I would love to visit with you on your property about which trees might work best where you would like to plant. Increasing the width of your riparian buffer can significantly decrease your chances of experiencing streambank erosion and loss of land later on. Removing vegetation from riparian areas is a leading cause for increased streambank erosion. Sometimes these issues can get exponentially worse over time, and we have seen cases where landowners have lost acres of good bottomlands over the course of Our Watershed Lunch ‘N Learn series has been very informative for landowners, residents, and officials a few years. from Huntsville and Madison County. In other news, the Watershed Lunch „N Learn series was a big success! We had several members of the community in and around Huntsville attend these meetings and learn about topics such as floodplain management, low impact development, and stormwater management on construction sites. We will be hosting more workshops in the coming year, so keep up with our newsletter to find out more about those events. We have continued to work with the Huntsville High School EAST Program on a water quality monitoring project in Holman Creek and Town Branch in Huntsville. These students have done a great job collecting and analyzing samples over the last year, and we look forward to continuing our work with them! Please don‟t hesitate to contact me if you are interested in learning more about best management practices you can implement on your property to help improve land and water quality, such as increasing your riparian buffer with our free trees and shrubs! I look forward to hearing from you! The Huntsville High School EAST Program continues Bryant Baker to monitor water quality in Holman Creek and Town Branch in Huntsville. Program Coordinator [email protected] Cell: 479-769-4266, Office: 479-750-8007 Page 2 Connecting with War Eagle Landowners It has been a little over a year since we started work- ing on the War Eagle Creek Riparian Management Education and Demonstration Project. In that time we have connected with over 100 different landown- ers in the War Eagle Creek Watershed! From War Eagle to Witter, we have met landowners through countless focus group meetings, community events, educational programs, site visits, and volunteer events. These 100 landowners collectively own ap- proximately 10% of the land in the War Eagle Creek Watershed! Even more exciting is that over 50 land- owners have invited us onto their property for a site visit, half of which resulted in BWA assisting in the implementation of a new best management practice such as planting trees along streams. We are so glad to get to work in such a beautiful ar- ea as the War Eagle Creek Watershed. The people who live or manage land in this watershed have been very welcoming and eager to learn about im- portant land and water quality issues. This project will continue until September 2016, so if you live in the War Eagle Creek Watershed and haven‟t checked in with us to see how we might be able to help you achieve your land management goals, give us a call at 479-769-4266 or 479-750-8007. We would love to hear from you! Streamside Landowner Workshop Set for March 5th Our annual Streamside Landowner Workshop is set for Saturday, March 5th at Carroll Electric in Huntsville. This has been a great workshop the past two years, with topics such as stream work permitting, stream restoration, streambank stabilization, riparian buffers, and how to plant trees in riparian areas covered. This year will be no different! We plan to have guest speakers from the Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Watershed Conservation Resource Center, and U of A Cooperative Extension Service present on the topics most rele- vant to your goals and concerns as a streamside landowner. The exact times of the workshop have not been set, but it generally lasts from 9 am until lunch (which is provided) followed by a hands-on demonstration of streamside planting in the early afternoon. Please contact Bryant baker at 479-769-4266 or [email protected] if you would like to go ahead and RSVP. Page 3 Land Conservation: What Are Your Options? Interested in conserving your land even after you are no longer around to manage it? Would you like to know that your land will always be a farm or forest and be properly managed by capable hands to best steward land and water quality? In this area either the Northwest Arkansas Land Trust (NWALT), Natural Resource Conservation Service, Nature Conservancy, Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, or Ozark Regional Land Trust can potentially help you with your conservation goals. A local option for donating or selling your land, entering into a conservation easement, or bequeathing land to a group who will manage and conserve it permanently is NWALT. The mission of NWALT is to “protect and enhance the quality of life in Northwest Arkansas through the permanent protection of land.” It is the only local and accredited land trust in the state of Arkansas. The primary service area of NWALT includes Benton, Washington, Madison, and Carroll Counties (including the Beaver Lake Watershed). If you are interested in finding out more about conserving your land with the Northwest Arkansas If you would like to ensure that your land is properly man- aged and conserved after you are no longer around, con- Land Trust, contact them at 479-966-4666 or sider donating, selling, or bequeathing it to a land trust. [email protected]. Beyond Traditional and Into Conservation Development Development of urban areas is an important topic here in exponentially-growing Northwest Arkansas. Over the years we have learned about the implications of urban development for stormwater runoff, pollution, water quality, and wildlife habitat. Key points include: 1) more 40% evapotranspiration 30% evapotranspiration impervious surfaces (concrete, asphalt, roofs, etc.) increase runoff and decrease groundwater infiltration, 10% 2) sprawling urban areas can greatly diminish habitat runoff 55% runoff for wildlife, and 3) there are types of development that have a much smaller impact on a watershed. 25% shallow 10% shallow Low impact development (LID), or development that 25% deep 5% deep utilizes techniques aimed at not altering how much Natural Ground Cover 75%-100% Impervious Surface water flows away has become increasingly utilized When an area becomes urbanized, there are substantial increases in around the country. This includes using detention runoff and decreases in groundwater infiltration due to the amount of new impervious surfaces.