Five state agencies will participate in the formation of a watershed management plan for the Buffalo National River, Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced Friday.
The state departments of Environmental Quality, Health, Parks and Tourism, Agriculture, and the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission will form the Buffalo River Action Committee. That committee, with the help of a $107,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, will hire an engineer to assist in analyzing existing data and developing a plan to protect the Buffalo River, Department of Environmental Quality Director Becky Keogh said.
The watershed protection plan will not regulate development in the watershed but would be a guide for development and a catalyst for obtaining additional grants for landowners in the watershed who want to implement protective measures, Keogh said.
A watershed is the area surrounding a body of water in which materials can drain into the body of water.
Read Saturday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.