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

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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

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Connecting with War Eagle Landowners It has been a little over a year since we started working on the War Eagle Creek Riparian Management Education and Demonstration Project. In that time we have connected with over 100 different landowners 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 landowners 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 area 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 important 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.

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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 managed 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. basins, rain gardens, bioswales, and pervious pavement to reduce runoff and increase groundwater infiltration. Another type of development that often includes LID techniques is high density development. It sounds counterintuitive, but high density development actually minimizes the impact that new structures and surfaces have on water quality by placing more housing units on less space. For instance, a subdivision with one house per acre takes up more land, all of which is impacted by roofs, driveways, sidewalks, and roads. A subdivision with eight houses per acre, however, uses less space and reduces the environmental impact per housing unit. High density development, when done correctly, can help keep the city out of the country and money in the pockets of developers and home buyers! This is vital to the long -term stability and health of our watershed. If the urban area can stay smaller and more concentrated, that leaves more land for forests and pastures, which can positively impact and conserve water quality for future generations.

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Work Planned in West Fork and Lakeside Watersheds A 4.3 million dollar request to the Natural Resources Conservation Service for the West Fork White River Water- shed Restoration Initiative has been submitted, and we should be hearing back soon whether or not we will have 4.3 million more dollars to assist landowners with stabilizing streambanks and establishing pasture and forest best management practices. The request, being headed up by the Watershed Conservation Resource Center and BWA, is part of an extensive team of partners offering 4.3 million matching dollars for a total of 8.6 million on the project. The West Fork of the White River is a high priority tributary to Beaver Lake as is the Lakeside Area, so a fairly intensive follow-up after our opportunity assessments is in order. While the Lakeside and West Fork Water- sheds are high priority areas where a lot of resources will be devoted over the next year, the rest of the Beaver Lake Watershed is also important, and BWA will be providing staff to assist landowners in the Richland Creek Wa- tershed and the East and Middle Forks of the White River Watersheds. Please contact us at 479-750-8007 or by emailing [email protected] to find out more! Lakeside Opportunity Assessment Wraps Up The Lakeside Watershed Opportunity Assess- ment recently ended. Over 2,316 individuals including hundreds of landowners around Bea- ver Lake and along the Lower White River par- ticipated by attending community input meetings, inviting BWA to visit their properties, im- plementing best management practices (BMPs), or attending an educational program or volunteer event. Almost 200 BMPs were imple- mented on nearly 100 properties and included controlled grazing, dirt road maintenance, development of a forest management plan, removal of an illegal dump site, removal of invasive plants, implementation of a no mow zones next to creeks, outlet scour protection, self- assessment of property, rain garden installation, reforestation, riparian buffer creation or en- hancement, septic system maintenance, and soil testing for fertilizer recommendations. Because of this project, we were able to identify several landowners who are interested in imple- menting larger-scale stream restoration or other projects. This helps us focus our efforts during future grants to best serve those who need resources and want to improve land and water quality in the Beaver Lake Watershed. Just because the project is over doesn‟t mean we will stop working in this area, however! For those of you who live in the Lakeside and Lower White areas, you can still qualify for free tree and shrub seedlings to improve or create riparian buffers or reforest your property. If you are interested in finding out more about how we can help, give us a call at 479-750-8007 or email [email protected].

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NONPROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE PAID FAYETTEVILLE, AR PERMIT #34

614 E. Emma Ave., Ste. M438 Springdale, AR 72764

: Inside Free trees, shrubs, and grasses are available!

Beaver Lake Watershed Meetings & Volunteer Opportunities Program Time Date Location Rain Garden Maintenance 3:00 pm 12/21/15 Madison Co. Water Facilities Board, Huntsville Rain Garden Maintenance TBD 12/22/15 Madison Co. Recycling near St. Paul Adopt-A-Highway Cleanup TBD 01/27/16 Valero Station (17410 E. Hwy 412, Springdale) Forest Management Workshop TBD 01/30/16 Hobbs State Park Richland Creek Cleanup 9:00 am - 1:00 pm 02/27/16 Goshen Community Bldg. (244 Clark St, Goshen) Streamside Landowner Workshop 9:00 am - TBD 03/05/16 Carroll Electric, Huntsville Riparian Planting Event 9:00 am 03/12/16 Various locations War Eagle Creek Cleanup 9:00 am - 1:00 pm 03/19/16 Withrow Springs State Park RSVP is requested and encouraged. Some programs have a small maximum capacity, others may need to be changed due to weather, and some still have times to be determined. Checking in with us before a program will ensure that you do not show up for an event that has been moved or rescheduled. Please call us at 479-750-8007 or send an email to [email protected] to RSVP or request more information. Free Landowner Property Visits

If you are a landowner that is currently interested in finding out more about how you can help maintain and improve the water quality of Beaver Lake and the health of its watershed while also saving some money or improving wildlife habitat and other natural resource values on your property, then call 479-750-8007 or email [email protected] today to arrange a FREE appointment. We will be more than happy to meet with you at your convenience about your particular concerns, goals or interests. We look forward to hearing from you!

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