Norfork Goes With Flow

[Zack Hoyt]

Norfork is going with flow

By Bryan Hendricks

Saturday, November 21, 2009

STUTTGART — The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission voted Friday to implement a minimum flow agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the Lake Norfork tailwater.

The agreement, some 30 years in the making, will provide a national model for other waterways with water quality issues across the country, said Mike Armstrong, assistant director for the AGFC.

Once the agreement is enacted, it will provide a constant flow of water on the lower North Fork River below Lake Norfork. That is expected to eliminate chronic low oxygen problems in warm months and improve the river’s world-famous trout fishery.

The vote was dramatic, passing by a 4-3 margin. During Thursday’s work meeting, Commissioner Emon Mahoney objected to language in the agreement with the Corps that placed the entire risk of all damages on the AGFC. He insisted that the AGFC conduct a risk assessment before approving the proposal. He also said the AGFC did not have the authority to waive the state’s sovereign immunity as the Corps required.

Jim Goodheart, the AGFC’s legal counsel, concurred and said that, as written, AGFC Director Scott Henderson does not have the authority to sign the agreement and, as legal counsel, Goodheart did not have the authority to endorse it.

The only remedy, Goodheart explained, was for Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel to confirmthat the AGFC has the authority to assume such a burden. If the attorney general issued a negative opinion, Goodheart said the AGFC would have to ask the Arkansas Legislature for authority to enter into the agreement.

A long and contentious debate followed, including pointed input from former commissioners Forrest Wood, Jim Hinkle, Mike Freeze and Freddie Black. They and Armstrong argued that the federal government budgeted $6.5 million for the project. If the AGFC failed to approve the agreement by March 31, about $2.1 million would probably beallocated elsewhere, essentially killing the project, and that the opportunity would not arise again.

Mahony proposed two amendments to the proposal Friday. One was to require a written opinion from McDaniel confirming the AGFC has authority to accept the agreement as written. The second amendment required the AGFC to conduct a risk assessment that demonstrates the agency’s potential financial liability.

The f irst amendment failed, but the second amendment passed. The commission voted to accept the proposal as amended. Voting for the proposal were commissioners Rick Watkins, Ron Pierce, Ron Duncan and Brett Morgan. George Dunklin, Craig Campbell and Mahony voted against.

In a wildlife management-related manner, the commission voted 4-2 to eliminate the gauge on the White River at St. Charles as a criterion for opening and closing deer hunting in Flood Prone Zone F. David Goad, chief of the AGFC’s wildlife management division, said the St. Charles gauge has no bearing on actual water conditions in Flood Prone Zone F. He said the gauge at Norrell Lock & Dam is more accurate and should be the sole criterion. The measure goes into effect immediately.

Goad added that the measure does not affect the White River National Wildlife Refuge, which uses its own guidelines to open and close deer hunting.

In fisheries-related business, the commission heard a proposal to allow fishermen to use trotlines on Lake Maumelle according to guidelines set by Central Arkansas Water, which owns and manages the lake.

The commission also approved a budget increase of $110,000 to improve trout habitat in the White River below Beaver Lake. The money will come from a federal grant through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Similarly, the commission approved a $250,000 budget increase, by way of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, to improve a sectionof Crooked Creek at the Fred Berry Conservation Center near Yellville. The money will be used to remove Kelly’s Slab, build part of a new bridge over the creek and to stabilize the stream bank.

The commission also voted to accept a donation of 2 acres on the Little Red River in White County by Mary Womack, D.F. Womack, Bob Monaghan and Patrick Monaghan. The AGFC will use the property for public fishing and boating access.

In other business, the commission approved a $403,000 budget increase to purchase a conservation easement on 119 acres next to the Logan Cave National Wildlife Refuge in Benton County.

Sports, Pages 21 on 11/21/2009