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SENATOR: FUNDING FOR BAYOU METO IN THE WORKS

By Wes Clement/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Saturday, October 10, 2009 7:44 PM CDT

A project to improve Bayou Meto may soon get a boost, according to U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.). Pryor announced Wednesday funding of $100,000 and a “new start” designation for the Bayou Meto Basin Project are included in the Energy and Water Appropriations Bill to be voted on soon.

Much of the project will be focused on controlling the bayou’s water level.

“It will help improve the quality of timber, help the aquifers and the bayou,” U.S. Rep. Marion Berry (D-Ark.) said. “It’s just one of those things that has no negative sides.”

Roger Milligan of Arkansas Game and Fish Commission said flooding of the bayou often affects the fields of nearby farmers and the excess water can harm trees within the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s Bayou Meto Wildlife Management Area.

Maintaining healthy waterfowl habitats is important, Milligan said, since many area residents use Bayou Meto for duck hunting.

He said it has been estimated if present conditions and irrigation practices continue, the Sparta Aquifer, used by area farmers, will be dry by 2020. The bayou project would give farmers access to excess bayou water to reduce dependence on the aquifer.

Berry, credited by Pryor for being a champion of the project since the early 1990’s, said a pumping station at Reydell would be able to move excess water from the bayou to the Arkansas River, and during dry times, water from the river could be let into the bayou.

He said most of the studies and engineering required for the project are completed and the “new start” designation included in the appropriations bill would make the project eligible for stimulus funding.

Pryor commended Berry and residents of the Bayou Meto area for working to improve the bayou for years.

“This is a good example of local people working to get their act together to speak with one voice,” he said, “They’ve been working on this for years and it’s really a big moment for the Bayou Meto area.”

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Pryor said, would be responsible for doing much of the project work.

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