Ozarks Water Watch

The Foundation supports projects to monitor & report on Water quality in the entire Upper White River Basin region. These projects provide information to the general public in response to the question, "how is the Water?". The Foundation has worked with volunteer monitoring programs in both Arkansas and Missouri for field work and analysis of Water quality. Volunteer monitoring programs in both Arkansas and Missouri partnerships include stream team programs in Arkansas, lakes of Missouri volunteer program, secchi day on beaver lake, beaver lakesmart, and various other state agencies, ngos and governmental agencies.

The Foundation entered into a sub-grant agreement with the Arkansas natural resources commission to perform and complete a soil and Water assessment tool (swat) model for the Upper White River watershed in Arkansas (huc 11010001). This project began 12/1/2021 and is scheduled to complete 11/31/2022. The objective of this project is to apply the swat model for the Arkansas portion of the Upper White River watershed so that the sub- watersheds (huc12s) that are partially or completely within Arkansas can be ranked based on sediment and nutrient loads, which helps prioritize the sub-watersheds to assist in developing nonpoint source (nps) investment strategies that will have the greatest impact on Water quality objectives.

As of december 1, 2020, the Foundation entered into a grant agreement with the Arkansas natural resources commission to establish a septic tank remediation program for continued protection of the Upper White river/beaver reservoir watershed in Arkansas. The Foundation is to receive an amount up to 254,000 from the Water development fund for the administration of a 1,000,000 construction grant from the clean Water state revolving fund for a three-year project period. In 2022, this srf septic remediation project replaced or repaired 17 failing septic systems in the beaver reservoir watershed in northwest Arkansas totaling 180,598 in project costs; of which 127,269 were grants to homeowners, and 53,329 were 0% interest loans to homeowners.

On september 9, 2022, the Foundation entered into a grant agreement with the Arkansas natural resources commission to establish a septic tank remediation program for protection of the buffalo River watershed in Arkansas. The Foundation is to receive an amount up to 278,400 from the Water development fund for the administration of a 1,000,000 construction grant from the clean Water state revolving fund for a three-year project period. The program offers financial and technical assistance to homeowners in need of septic repair or replacement within the buffalo River watershed. Funding is a combination of grant and/or zero-interest loan based on household income. Up to 90% of the total project cost may be covered by the grant, which requires zero payback by the homeowner. The Foundation entered into an agreement with beaver Water district to conduct research on the impact of septic systems on Water quality in streams across the beaver lake watershed. This project includes geospatial analysis and Water quality sampling. The goal is to collect data that can relate septic system density, proximity to streams, and other metrics to Water quality indicators. This project can inform future policy decisions related to the maintenance and functioning of septic systems. This project period is from october 2022 through september 2023. The Foundation entered into a subgrant agreement with the Arkansas department of agriculture natural resources division through a section 319 grant from the u.s. environmental protection agency to develop and prepare an epa-accepted nine-element watershed-based plan for the Upper White River Basin, a huc-8 (11010001) priority watershed in Arkansas. Part of this project is to engage stakeholders and generate local support for the plan and its implementation. The overall goal is to prioritize subwatersheds, identify projects to reduce pollutants, and help ensure that waterways meet their designated uses. The project began on october 1, 2022 and the final plan and report will be completed by march 30, 2024. The Foundation entered into a subgrant agreement with Ozarks environmental and Water resources institute (oweri) to develop a watershed management plan for lake taneycomo watershed. The Foundation formed and facilitates an advisory committee to share information and input to guide the watershed management planning, nonpoint modeling, and demonstration project for lake taneycomo - White River watershed writing process. The Foundation facilitates stakeholder meetings that include, but is not limited to, the Foundation staff, oweri staff, Missouri department of conservation staff, officials and/or staff from all cities along lake taneycomo, dam operators, and other community leader and members. The goal of this project is to develop a 9-element watershed-based plan for the lake taneycomo-white River watershed, as well as implement two demonstration projects within the watershed. The Foundation will keep local stakeholders informed of the plan writing process and garner input and buy-in with the plan and demonstration projects. The Foundation will also tour the demonstration projects during the process to provide information to stakeholders on project progress. The Foundation applied for and received a 3,000 grant throught the table rock lake community Foundation to administer a pump-out rebate program for homeowners around table rock lake. This program provides a financial incentive to homeowners to have their septic tanks pumped out. The Foundation publishes an email newsletter distributed to over 2,500 subscribers dealing with Water quality issues in the Upper White River Basin watershed. In addition, the Foundation's website and social media presence provides access to Water quality information for the general public, regulators, and elected officials. The Foundation continues an outreach initiative that has 3 objectives: 1. Provide support to other Water quality groups; 2. Sponsor other Water quality groups events such as cleanups and public education; 3. Provide Water quality information to the public. The Foundation continues to support public policy which promotes and protects Water quality in the Ozarks region. Although the Foundation does not engage in lobbying activity, staff keep up to date on both legislative and regulatory issues and offers both opinion and recommendations to policymakers. The Foundation stays abreast of the discussions between Arkansas and Missouri pursuant to the bi-state agreement which the Foundation facilitated during 2008. The Foundation attended the triennial review stakeholder workgroup to review Arkansas's Water quality standards in regulation no. 2. Prepared and conveyed comments and suggestions to help ensure well-balanced Water quality standards and rules. The Foundation attended watershed research workgroup, a meeting that facilitated discussion among research scientists about the current status and future needs for Water resource research in northwest Arkansas. The Foundation administers annual shoreline cleanups on table rock lake, lake taneycomo, and bull shoals and assists with numerous other cleanup and environmental events. Over 2,000 volunteers participate in these events removing tons of trash and debris from the shoreline and protecting our environment. The Foundation holds quarterly meetings for Water quality groups in which a speaker and topic are selected to present to the groups and to gather and discuss Water quality issues, partnership opportunities, and projects and events that are occurring. The Foundation organizes learning opportunities for the group to partake in through partnerships with participating organizations such as the ozark underground lab.