ADEQ Releases Draft Water Regulations

Thu, Sep 4, 2003

By Scott F. Davis

The Morning News/NWAonline.net

FAYETTEVILLE -- The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality expects some criticism over changes in its water quality rules for nutrients, said Doug Szenher, spokesman for the department.

The state agency has already received complaints about the designation of bodies of water as extraordinary resource waters, or ERW, he said.

The agency released a working draft of the state's water quality standards last week at a Little Rock meeting with an advisory group. The informal group consists of people who provided input during ADEQ's triennial review of the rules.

Several group members argued against the ERW designation, and the agency already has received a dozen resolutions from quorum courts around the state opposing the designation, Szenher said.

Madison County is one of them, officials said.

The ERW designation, which provides the highest level of water quality protection, is often misunderstood, Szenher said. It prohibits in-stream gravel mining and channeling of streams, and it requires advanced wastewater treatment for utilities that discharge into the waterway.

It does not allow the state to acquire private land, prohibit livestock from reach the streams, restrict the use of fertilizer or require additional fencing, Szenher explained.

Greer's Ferry lake is the only new designated waterway in the standards released last week, Szenher said. Portions of the Kings River, Buffalo River, Richland Creek, Mulberry River and Lee Creek are among the Northwest Arkansas streams on the ERW list.

Despite these concerns, the proposed rules are not expected to generate as much controversy as standards that Oklahoma adopted last year. Those include a phosphorus limit of .037 parts per million on Oklahoma's six scenic rivers, including the Illinois River.

Arkansas and Oklahoma officials have not been able to agree on a plan to implement Oklahoma's standards. Arkansas officials argue the phosphorus rule is unachievable and unrealistic.

Beaver Water District and Oklahoma officials said during public hearings in October 2001 that the White and Illinois rivers deserved the ERW designation, but neither stream is so listed in the draft standards.

Ed Fite, administrator of the Oklahoma Scenic Rivers Commission, also wanted a numeric phosphorus limit on the Illinois River itself.

Arkansas' draft rules do not set in-stream phosphorus limits for any of the state's waterways, but they require advanced wastewater treatment for discharges into streams on the state's 303-d list of impaired waters.

The city utilities of Springdale and Rogers are affected by this change because they discharge into Spring and Osage creeks, respectively. Officials of the two cities have already committed to meeting the state's proposed phosphorus limit of 1 part per million for treated wastewater that is discharged into the creeks.

The stream designations have been approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, so the standard is not unexpected, officials said.

Under the new rules, the narrative nutrient standard defines impairment by examining several parameters: dissolved oxygen, water clarity, pH and others.

The rules have also been revised to allow higher levels of turbidity during periods with storm-water runoff. Szenher explained the change is designed to prevent the streams from being out of compliance with the rules every time it rains and streams become muddy.

In October, the agency will present a final draft proposal of the new rules to the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission.

The commission must decide when to initiate the formal rule-making process by authorizing one or more public hearings to allow for comment, officials said.

(note – server problems kept us from sending this out earlier)