Extension hosting local forum to help community identify priorities in the Lower Ouachita-Smackover Watershed
By The Cooperative Extension Service
This event has been cancelled and will be rescheduled
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LITTLE ROCK — People who live, work, recreate or own property in the Lower Ouachita-Smackover Watershed are invited to participate in an April 14 forum on water quality. The forum, hosted by the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, is an opportunity for the public to identify water quality issues or concerns, and their community’s priorities for addressing water pollution.
The Lower Ouachita-Smackover Watershed crosses multiple county lines and includes communities in Bradley, Calhoun, Cleveland, Columbia, Dallas, Nevada, Ouachita and Union counties. The forum, which starts at 5 p.m. and is expected to end at 8 p.m., will be at Sam Jones Senior Center in Hampton.
The forum is an extension of an annual stakeholder meeting that the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s Public Policy Center holds each year in Little Rock in partnership with the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission. Extension is hosting forums across the state as an additional opportunity for people to get involved in local water issues.
“It’s important for people who live or work in the Lower Ouachita-Smackover Watershed to get engaged and participate in conversations about local water quality priorities,” said Kristin Higgins, a program associate with the Public Policy Center. “Improving and maintaining water quality requires the commitment of people from different organizations and perspectives working together.”
The Lower Ouachita-Smackover Watershed was added to the state’s list of priority watersheds for nonpoint source pollution in 2011. High levels of ammonia, nitrates, minerals and metals have been found in waterways near El Dorado, and mercury consumption advisories exist for several local waterways. The long-term goal of ANRC’s priority watershed program is to reduce pollutants to levels that will restore all of a waterway’s designated uses.
Comments or strategies identified during the three-hour forum could help communities begin to address local water quality issues. The forum is open to the public. RSVP by e-mail to publicpolicycenter@uada.edu or call 501-671-2228. The Sam Jones Senior Center is located at 1122 Prestress Dr. in Hampton.
The Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service is an equal opportunity/equal access/affirmative action institution. If you require a reasonable accommodation to participate or need materials in another format, please contact your County Extension office (or other appropriate office) as soon as possible. Dial 711 for Arkansas Relay.
The Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service offers its programs to all eligible persons regardless of race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
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Media Contact: Ryan McGeeney
Content specialist
U of A Division of Agriculture
Cooperative Extension Service
501-671-2120
rmcgeeney@uada.edu
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