Arkansas project plants trees to protect drinking water sources

A CommuniTree pilot program in Arkansas is uniting the forestry and drinking water sectors toward a common goal of improving floodplains and riparian areas.

“The more healthy forests we have, the cleaner our drinking water is,” said Joy Wasson, coordinator of the Arkansas Forests and Drinking Water Collaborative. She leads one of 13 such groups in the southeastern United States, joined under the Southeastern Partnership for Forests and Water, focused on maintaining and improving forests in drinking water source watersheds.

“Riparian zones are one of the best places to invest to protect our source water quality,” added James McCarty, environmental quality manager at the Beaver Water District, which is partnering with the Collaborative on this project. “A well-established riparian zone maintains streambank stability and is the last line of defense for filtering rainfall and runoff before entering our drinking water supply.”

However, for many agricultural landowners, eroding streambanks can be costly and time intensive to maintain. Under the U.S. Department of Agriculture, there are Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) programs that support reforestation efforts along floodplains, but they often come with a cost share and tax burden that are sometimes difficult for landowners to absorb.

“A project like [CommuniTree] removes some of those barriers,” McCarty said.

The Arkansas CommuniTree Project, the first community-assisted tree bank in the state, began last year. The program grows bare-root seedlings into potted trees, which are more able to withstand the floods and droughts common in the upland streams of the Ozark and Ouachita Mountains.

Through the project, trees are offered to riparian landowners at no cost. When possible, landowners are encouraged to provide in-kind services, such as equipment to prepare the site for planting. Once trees are planted, the project also provides technical and financial assistance, where needed, toward irrigating trees in the first year.

The project seeks to identify up to six riparian landowners within drinking water watersheds. To do so, the Collaborative has partnered with the three largest drinking water utilities in the state: Beaver Water District, Central Arkansas Water and Conway Corporation. Together, they manage water sources that serve more than 1 million Arkansans.

Volunteers from master naturalist groups and local high schools already potted over 3,000 trees this spring. The three utilities are host sites for growing the seedlings into potted trees. The focus is on native varieties that will prosper locally. This also avoids ordering trees, which saves on shipping costs and avoids any stress on the plants caused in transport. If everything goes to plan, Wasson expects some of them will be ready to transfer to landowners this winter.

All in all, partners are hopeful: The seedlings are taking off, landowners are excited, and industry partners envision better water quality as a result.

“It is important that we do everything we can to protect this amazing resource,” McCarty said.