Natural Resources Division Interstate Activities in Arkansas Arkansas’ Nickname “The Natural State” • 9,700 square miles of river and stream miles • 53,179 square miles of total land area • 52,036 square miles of actual land area • 1,143 square miles of waer area • 2.1 % water area • 3rd in the nation for inland rivers and streams • Eastern border is composed almost entirely by the Mississippi River Natural Resources Division July 21, 2020 ICWP Interstate Water Management Committee , Insterstate Activities • Arkansas River Basin Compact • Arkansas –Oklahoma, 1970 • Red River Compact • Arkansas-Louisiana-Oklahoma-Texas, 1975 Natural Resources Division July 21, 2020 ICWP Interstate Water Management Committee , Arkansas River Basin Compact Article I The major purposes of this Compact are: A. To promote interstate comity between the States of Arkansas and Oklahoma; B. To provide for an equitable apportionment of the waters of the Arkansas River between the States of Arkansas and Oklahoma and to promote the orderly development thereof; C. To provide an agency for administering the water apportionment agreed to herein; D. To encourage the maintenance of an active pollution abatement program in each of the two states and to seek the further reduction of both natural and man-made pollution in the waters of the Arkansas River Basin; and E. To facilitate the cooperation of the water administration agencies of the States of Arkansas and Oklahoma in the total development and management of the water resources of the Arkansas River Basin. Natural Resources Division July 21, 2020 ICWP Interstate Water Management Committee , Arkansas River Basin Compact The term "Arkansas River Basin" means all of the drainage basin of the Arkansas River and its tributaries from a point immediately below the confluence of the Grand-Neosho River with the Arkansas River near Muskogee, Oklahoma, to a point immediately below the confluence of Lee Creek with the Arkansas River near Van Buren, Arkansas, together with the drainage basin of Spavinaw Creek in Arkansas, but excluding that portion of the drainage basin of the Canadian River below Eufaula Dam. Natural Resources Division July 21, 2020 ICWP Interstate Water Management Committee , Arkansas River Basin Compact The Arkansas River Basin is composed of 5 subbasins: 1) Spavinaw Creek Subbasin 1 2 2) Illinois River Subbasin Oklahoma 3) Lee Creek Subbasin 3 Arkansas 5 4) Poteau River Subbasin 5) Arkansas River Subbasin 4 Natural Resources Division July 21, 2020 ICWP Interstate Water Management Committee , Arkansas River Basin Compact Apportionment The States of Arkansas and Oklahoma hereby agree upon the following apportionment of the waters of the Arkansas River Basin: A. The State of Arkansas shall have the right to develop and use the waters of the Spavinaw Creek Sub-basin subject to the limitation that the annual yield shall not be depleted by more than fifty percent (50%). B. The State of Arkansas shall have the right to develop and use the waters of the Illinois River Sub-basin subject to the limitation that the annual yield shall not be depleted by more than sixty percent (60%). C. The State of Arkansas shall have the right to develop and use all waters originating within the Lee Creek Sub-basin in the State of Arkansas, or the equivalent thereof. Natural Resources Division July 21, 2020 ICWP Interstate Water Management Committee , Arkansas River Basin Compact Apportionment D. The State of Oklahoma shall have the right to develop and use all waters originating within the Lee Creek Sub-basin in the State of Oklahoma, or the equivalent thereof. E. The State of Arkansas shall have the right to develop and use the waters of the Poteau River Sub-basin subject to the limitation that the annual yield shall not be depleted by more than sixty percent (60%). F. The State of Oklahoma shall have the right to develop and use the waters of the Arkansas River Sub-basin subject to the limitation that the annual yield shall not be depleted by more than sixty percent (60%). Natural Resources Division July 21, 2020 ICWP Interstate Water Management Committee 8 , Arkansas River Basin Compact Water Quality and Joint Principles •Timeline • December 2003 - the states agreed to interim actions to improve river and substrate quality in designated Scenic Rivers and their watersheds through the reduction of phosphorus with a total phosphorus criterion of 0.037 mg/l by 2012. • December 2013 - a Second Statement of Joint Principles and Actions extended the 2003 agreement. • Created a 6 member Joint Committee to undertake a study that resulted in specific recommendations Natural Resources Division July 21, 2020 ICWP Interstate Water Management Committee , Arkansas River Basin Compact Water Quality and Joint Principles • State of Arkansas and Oklahoma agreed to be bound to findings of the joint study if new Phosphorus Criterion was significantly different from the current 0.034 mg/L standard. • December 2016 - the Joint Study Committee approved and issued the final report which recommended phosphorus levels not exceed 0.035 mg/L. • Joint Study Committee unanimously recommended the 0.035 mg/L criterion was not necessary. • Finalized November 2018 Natural Resources Division July 21, 2020 ICWP Interstate Water Management Committee , Red River Compact The principal purposes of this Compact are: (a) To promote interstate comity and remove causes of controversy between each of the affected states by governing the use, control and distribution of the interstate water of the Red River and its tributaries; (b) To provide an equitable apportionment among the Signatory States of the water of the Red River and its tributaries; (c) To promote an active program for the control and alleviation of natural deterioration and pollution of the water of the Red River Basin and to provide for enforcement of the laws related thereto; (d) To provide the means for an active program for the conservation of water, protection of lives and property from floods, improvement of water quality, development of navigation and regulation of flows in the Red River Basin; and (e) To provide a basis for state or joint state planning and action by ascertaining and identifying each state's share in the interstate water of the Red River Basin and the apportionment thereof. Natural Resources Division July 21, 2020 ICWP Interstate Water Management Committee 11 , Red River Compact Article VII of the Red River Compact contains provisions for apportionment of water in Reach IV.Sections 7.01 - 7.03, as contained in Article VII, are included below. Reach IV of the Red River is divided into topographic subbasins, and the water therein allocated as follows: Section 7.01 Subbasin I - Intrastate streams - Arkansas. This subbasin includes those streams and their tributaries above last downstream major dam sites originating in Arkansas and crossing the Arkansas-Louisiana state boundary before flowing into the Red River in Louisiana. Those major last downstream dam sites are as follows: Lake Catherine (Ouachita River), DeGray Lake (Caddo River), Lake Greeson (Little Missouri River), and Lake Winona (Saline River). b) Arkansas is apportioned the waters of this subbasin and shall have unrestricted use thereof. Natural Resources Division July 21, 2020 ICWP Interstate Water Management Committee , Red River Compact Section 7 .02 Subbasin II - Interstate Streams -Arkansas and Louisiana This subbasin shall consist of Reach IV less subbasin I as defined in Section 7.0l (a). The State of Arkansas shall have free and unrestricted use of the water of this reach subject to the limitation that Arkansas shall allow a quantity of water equal to forty (40) percent of the weekly runoff originating below or flowing from the last downstream major dam site to flow into Louisiana. Where there are no designated last downstream dam sites, Arkansas shall allow a quantity of water equal to forty (40) percent of the total weekly runoff originating above the state boundary to flow into Louisiana. Use of water in this subbasin is subject to low flow provisions of subparagraph 7 .02(b ). Natural Resources Division July 21, 2020 ICWP Interstate Water Management Committee , Red River Compact Section 7 .03 Special Provisions Arkansas may use the beds and banks of segments of Reach IV for the purpose of conveying its share of water to designated downstream diversions." The State of Arkansas shall not guarantee to maintain a minimum low flow for Louisiana in Reach IV. However, on the following streams when the use of water in Arkansas reduces the flow at the Arkansas-Louisiana state boundary to the following amounts: Ouachita River -780 cfs Bayou Bartholomew - 80 cfs Boeuf River-40 cfs Bayou Macon - 40 cfs Natural Resources Division July 21, 2020 ICWP Interstate Water Management Committee , Red River Compact USGS Stream Gages USGS 07364078 Ouachita River at Felsenthal L&D (lower) 10/01/2011 - current Latitude 33.056111, Longitude - 92.120833 NAD83 Union County, Arkansas, Hydrologic Unit 08040202 Datum of gage: 0.00 feet above NGVD29. Section 7.03 (b) (2): Arkansas-Louisiana state boundary flow: 780 cfs USGS 07364200 Bayou Bartholomew near Jones, Louisiana 10/01/1995 - current Latitude 33.990278, Longitude -91.655556 NAD27 Morehouse Parish, Louisiana, Hydrologic Unit 08040205 Drainage area: 1,187.00 square miles Datum of gage: 79.21 feet above NGVD29. Section 7.03 (b) (2): Arkansas-Louisiana state boundary flow 80 cfs Natural Resources Division July 21, 2020 ICWP Interstate Water Management Committee , Red River Compact