Water Resource Inventory and Assessment (WRIA): Cache River National Wildlife Refuge Jackson, Monroe, Prairie, and Woodruff Counties, Arkansas U.S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Region Atlanta, Georgia August 2015 Water Resource Inventory and Assessment: Cache River National Wildlife Refuge Jackson, Monroe, Prairie, and Woodruff Counties, Arkansas Lee Holt U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Southeast Region Inventory and Monitoring Network Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge 2700 Refuge Headquarters Road Decatur, AL 35603 Atkins North America, Inc. 1616 East Millbrook Road, Suite 310 Raleigh, NC 27609 John Faustini U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Southeast Region 1875 Century Blvd., Suite 200 Atlanta, GA 30345 August 2015 U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Please cite this publication as: Holt, R.L., K.J. Hunt, and J. Faustini. 2015. Water Resource Inventory and Assessment (WRIA): Cache River National Wildlife Refuge, Jackson, Monroe, Prairie, and Woodruff Counties, Arkansas. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Southeast Region. Atlanta, Georgia. 117 pp. COVER PHOTO: Bayou DeView, Cache River National Wildlife Refuge. Photo credit: Jonathan Windley, Deputy Project Leader, Cache River National Wildlife Refuge. i Acknowledgments This work was completed through contract PO# F11PD00794 and PO# F14PB00569 between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Atkins North America, Inc. Information for this report was compiled through coordination with multiple state and federal partners and non-governmental agencies. Significant input and reviews for this process was provided by staff at Cache River National Wildlife Refuge and specifically included assistance from Richard Crossett and Eric Johnson. Additional review and editorial comments were provided by Nathan (Tate) Wentz. The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. ii Table of Contents 1 Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Findings ......................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Key Water Resources Issues of Concern ....................................................................................... 5 1.3 Needs and Recommendations ...................................................................................................... 7 2 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 9 3 Facility Information ............................................................................................................................. 11 4 Natural Setting .................................................................................................................................... 14 4.1 Region of Hydrologic Influence (RHI) .......................................................................................... 14 4.2 Topography and Landforms ........................................................................................................ 16 4.3 Geology and Hydrogeology ......................................................................................................... 18 4.4 Soils ............................................................................................................................................. 23 4.5 Hydrology and Geomorphology .................................................................................................. 30 4.6 Anthropogenic Landscape Changes ............................................................................................ 30 4.7 Climate ........................................................................................................................................ 34 4.7.1 Historical Climate ................................................................................................................ 34 4.7.2 Climate Change Projections ................................................................................................ 41 5 Inventory Summary and Discussion .................................................................................................... 43 5.1 Water Resources ......................................................................................................................... 43 5.1.1 Streams ............................................................................................................................... 43 5.1.2 Canals and Drainage Ditches ............................................................................................... 43 5.1.3 Lakes and Ponds .................................................................................................................. 43 5.1.4 Springs and Seeps ............................................................................................................... 49 5.1.5 Wetlands ............................................................................................................................. 49 5.2 Infrastructure .............................................................................................................................. 52 5.2.1 Impoundments .................................................................................................................... 52 5.2.2 Roads ................................................................................................................................... 52 5.2.3 Dikes and Levees ................................................................................................................. 54 5.2.4 Dams ................................................................................................................................... 54 5.2.5 Water supply wells .............................................................................................................. 54 5.2.6 Other infrastructure ............................................................................................................ 54 5.3 Water Monitoring ....................................................................................................................... 54 5.3.1 Surface Water ..................................................................................................................... 54 iii 5.3.2 Groundwater ....................................................................................................................... 66 5.4 Water Quantity and Timing ........................................................................................................ 71 5.4.1 Historical Streamflows ........................................................................................................ 71 5.4.2 Historic Groundwater ......................................................................................................... 78 5.4.3 Current and Projected Future Groundwater Resources ..................................................... 79 5.4.4 Hydrologic Alterations ........................................................................................................ 82 5.4.5 Arkansas Minimum Flows and Levels ................................................................................. 85 5.5 Water Quality .............................................................................................................................. 87 5.5.1 Federal and State Water Quality Regulations ..................................................................... 87 5.5.2 Other Surface Water Quality Information .......................................................................... 90 5.5.3 Groundwater Quality .......................................................................................................... 91 5.5.4 Land Use Activities Affecting Water Quality ....................................................................... 91 5.6 Water law/water rights ............................................................................................................... 92 5.6.1 State Water Law Overview ................................................................................................. 92 5.6.2 Legal or Regulatory Issues Potentially Affecting the Refuge .............................................. 95 6 Assessment ......................................................................................................................................... 96 6.1 Water Resource Issues of Concern ............................................................................................. 96 6.1.1 Urgent/Immediate Issues ................................................................................................... 97 6.1.2 Long-term Issues ............................................................................................................... 102 6.2 Needs/Recommendations ........................................................................................................ 104 6.2.1 Immediate ......................................................................................................................... 104 6.2.2 Long-term .......................................................................................................................... 104 7 Literature Cited ................................................................................................................................