Why we needed Fayetteville's newly approved streamside ordinance many years ago: A few photos of stream abuse witnessed March 21, 2011

Please click on individual images to ENLARGE views of pollution headed directly to Spout Spring Branch without the polluted water being allowed to soak in and be cleansed before heading to Beaver Lake.

Unpleasant looking runoff from storm drain on north edge of Fifteenth Street. Is it caused by naturally occurring algae or by whatever a homeowner on South College Avenue dumped from a bucket shown in photo below?

Drain entrance still wet two hours after I watched a guy dump a bucket there. Material appeared to be white paint chips and thick plastic-like goo that could be material from a paint can.

Flow from storm drain above enters Spout Spring Branch on north side of 15th Street.

The gel-like material at first glance looked like icicles but the the temperature hadn't been below freezing for more than a week.

Seeds from pod of vine milkweed knocked down by Arkansas Highway Department machines dredging ditch the routes water from a storm drain on the south side of 15th Street directly into Spout Spring Branch. Milkweed plants of all varieties provide foliage to the caterpillars of monarchs and a few other species of butterfly and logically would be protected by a state highway department whose Web site touts its wildflower program.

Back on the northside of 15th Street, which is a state highway at that point, the water polluted by something but at least there is a remnant of vegetation including the same milkvine and a few other native species.

The highway workers dredged out part of the business owner's landscaping and widened and deepened the ditch. And hauled away the good soil to its dump in south Washington County.

Both the dumping of ANYTHING into a storm drain and the dredging of the ditch and allowing erosion violate best-management practices for watershed management and were already illegal before Fayetteville's new streamside ordinance was passed. If the ADEQ and the AHTD and the US Corps of Engineeers won't protect our water supply, maybe this new ordinance will embolden city officials to see that such things don't happen so often in the future.

March 17, 2011, video on Community Access Television with Aubrey Shepherd's photos from Fayetteville's two-river watershed

2010 February short video on curb and gutter and tree protection during sidewalk construction and the value of organic soil in riparian zone of Tanglewood Branch in Fayetteville, Arkansas

Invitation to atend Earth Day 2011 at World Peace Wetland Prairie and present all information on environmental and natural-resource conservation

Cedar rose vine destroyed for development that never was built

Night before it was passed by Fayetteville City Council, riparian protection ordinance discussed at Ward 4 meeting

A couple of shortakes on CAT channel from January 24, 2011

Trail planning continues through one of Fayetteville's most impaired urban stream corridors

Please click on image to ENLARGE aerial view from Fayetteville, Arkansas, GIS mapping system of Tanglewood Branch at Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. The city trail-planning team visited with the owners of the Agricultural Co-op about how to take the Frisco that runs along the old railroad right of way from downtown Fayetteville past the district and directly through the co-op's property. The most scenic way to cross the Tanglewood Branch south of MLK would be on the abandoned trestle but the easiest way would be along the south side of MLK. Both sides of Tanglewood Branch have parking areas right to the streamside with no protected riparian zone beyond the lip of the stream bank. Even under the proposed streamside ordinance being considered by the Fayetteville City Council, the owners of the land would not be required to remove existing structures unless a totally new project were to be built on the land. However, the Co-op's plan to add a fuel storage tank on the property has presented the opportunity for the trail right of way to be obtained by the city.
For hundreds more images of this and other stream corridors in Fayetteville, please see the following set on Flickr streamside.
For these and more trail images, please see the following Flickr set on NWA trails.

Aubrey James Shepherd shares WPWP big poster the week before 2010 Earth Day at WPWP

April 20, 2010, video clip of passage of low-impact development ordinance by Fayetteville Council after public and council comments

Fayetteville's proposed streamside-protection ordinance to be discussed as Tuesday, January 24, 2011, City Council: Passing and enforcing it on future projects near streams can prevent many problems

Streamside Protection Ordinance

The Nutrient Reduction Plan, completed in April 2009 by Geosyntec Consultants as part of an Agreement with the Beaver Water District and the City of Fayetteville, recommends the development and implementation of a riparian buffer ordinance. This ordinance is part of a series of recommendations designed to reduce non-point source loadings of total phosphorus in the Beaver Lake Watershed and would ultimately reduce the non-point source loadings of total phosphorus in all the City’s waterways.

The City of Fayetteville hosted two public education and input sessions on streamside protection in early March, as well as an online survey during March and April, in order to get citizen input in the development of the ordinance.  Questions asked of participants included input into which streams should have buffer protection and what activities should be allowed or prohibited in the protected areas.   

A question and answer session for property owners who might be affected was held on October 12 at the City Administration building.  The question and answer slide show from this meeting can be found HERE.

The Planning Commission forwarded the Streamside Protection Ordinance to the City Council with a recommendation for approval on November 8, 2010 with a vote of 7-2-0. The ordinance will go to City Council on February 1, 2011.

View a draft of the current proposed Streamside Protection Ordinance that goes before the City Council for review on 2_01_11.
View a draft of the City's Streamside Protection Best Practices Manual.
View a draft of the City's Streamside Protection Zone Map.
View a draft of the City's Streamside Protection Ordinance that was forwarded by the Planning Commission on 11_08_10.

The Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service published a Streamside Protection Ordinance Fact Sheet which also offers information on protecting riparian zones.

Images from March 6 Input Session and field trip to College Branch at Martin Luther King Boulevard
(March 6 Images courtesy of Aubrey Shepherd)

        
         

Images from March 10 Input Session and field trip to College Branch 

        

 For more photos of areas where riparian zones (the vegetated area adjacent to stream banks including flow areas too far upstream to be protected by this proposed ordiinance) are NOT properly managed as well as places where wetland and riparian areas of streams have been protected, please see the following sets of photos on Flickr:
Limestone and sunken wetland
Streamside management
Government Avenue at Prairie Street floodplain of Tanglewood Branch
 Red Oak Park in Ward 4
 Aspen Ridge/Hill Place project in Ward 1's Town Branch Neighborhood
 Baum Stadium detention pond and fence construction on 15th Street
 Illinois River watershed
 Watershed of the West Fork of the White River
 Town Branch Watershed
 Ruskin Heights in Illinois River watershed
 Park West Wetland
Audubon Wilson Spring wetland and adjacent sites
Prairie plants lurk under former pastures
 Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department
 Trails in Northwest Arkansas
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Earth Day to May 2, 2005, video includes local-food advice from an expert, sponsored by OMNI Center

March 30 to April 13, 2007 video of water & sewer work on South Duncan Avenue and other outdoor activities in Fayetteville, Arkansas

Audubon's Wilson Spring wetland nature area on Jan. 19, 2011: 185 photos from a 2-mile walk with Mike Mhlodnow

Wilson Spring nature area: Tagging along with one of Northwest Arkansas' most dedicated and talented birders.

Please click on image to ENLARGE and use link above to view more photos of Mike and the scenes along the way.

September 18, 2006, video of eroded fill dirt washing off the Aspen Ridge (now Hill Place) construction site at 11th Street and South Duncan Avenue

Please speak up now: Full disclosure of chemicals used in fracking is open for comment to the Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission

To those interested in the natural gas development in Arkansas:

Pittsburgh stands first in the country to have banned the fracking process from their city.  Attending the rally before the vote was Josh Fox giving a spirited speech.  I thought you would be interested to hear the passion he displays even after the long involvement he has had with this project.

Update on Arkansas activity:

Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission - 

Jan. 10th is the cutoff date to make comment requesting full disclosure of all fracking chemicals by CAS identification.  While there have been improvements made to the Oil & Gas Commissions rule on disclosure, it is incomplete by failing to incorporate the Federal standards for proprietary secrecy.  A simple request that they finish to the job of disclosing chemicals for public safety and land owner consideration is in order.  Request that all comments be extended to the commissioners as well.  Use the following information to make comment:

EMAIL:  Larry.Bengal@aogc.state.ar.us

Copy to:  Commissioners - Chad White, Chairman, W. Frank Morledge, Charles Wohlford, Bill Poynter, Mike Davis, Kenneth Williams, William L. Dawkins, Jr., Jerry Langley, and Chris Weiser

Mr. Lawrence C. Bengal, Director

Production and Conservation

Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission

301 Natural Resources Drive, Suite 102

Little Rock, Arkansas 72205

Subject:  Full disclosure of chemical constituents used in natural gas fracking

Issue:  The current B-19 ruling is incomplete in providing limited claims for proprietary formulas.  The best approach would be full disclosure of every constituent by CAS identification, but at minimum the Federal guidelines for trade secrets should be included in the rule in their entirety.  The current wording is incomplete and does not provide how secrecy would be granted or what percentage would be allowed.

Thank you for assisting with this important comment, if you are able to help.  Pass the word.