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The Beaver Watershed Alliance (“BWA”) issued a news release stating that it had received a Section 319 Clean Water Act grant totaling $523,120 to:
- Develop programming for watershed management in urban areas.
- Install three low impact development features within the Beaver Lake watershed area.
The Section 319 grant is stated to be matched by local support of $460,936 for a total available funds of $984,056.
The grant is provided by the Arkansas Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Division and the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
The 1987 amendments to the Clean Water Act established the Section 319 Nonpoint Source Management Program. The intent of the program is to help focus state and local nonpoint source efforts. Under Section 319, states, territories, and tribes receive grant money that supports a wide variety of activities including technical assistance, financial assistance, education, training, technology transfer, demonstration projects and monitoring to assess the success of specific nonpoint source implementation projects.
BWA describes “Smart Growth for Source Water Protection” as covering:
. . . a range of development and conservation strategies that help protect our health and natural environment and make our communities more attractive, economically stronger, and more socially diverse (citing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency).
Low impact development features are described as including:
- Rain gardens
- Bayou swells
- Pervious pavers
- Other storm collection features
The intent of the grant is to increase low impact development in communities by:
- Installing larger low impact development features for demonstration purposes
- Alleviating stormwater challenges onsite
Two locations are stated to have been selected for low impact development. They are West Fork library parking lot and a site along South Huntsville Avenue in South Fayetteville. A third site is to be determined.
BWA describes itself as a non-profit organization focused on maintaining high quality drinking water in Beaver Lake and improving water quality within the Beaver Lake Watershed by working with a diverse stakeholder group representing agriculture, recreation, conservation, water utility, business, and private landowner perspectives who all work together for the benefit of Beaver Lake and its watershed.
A copy of the news release can be located here.
