Posted on September 28, 2015
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Little Rock District recently opened a public comment period through Oct. 15 regarding the development of a draft feasibility study and environmental impact statement on the Three Rivers area in southeast Arkansas.
The Three Rivers study, a $3 million U.S. Corps of Engineers project to seek a permanent fix for a flood-prone area of the lower Arkansas and White Rivers, was approved for funding at both the federal and state levels in April. The study is being done to best control the flooding and keep the navigation system reliable for ports upstream, including the ports at Fort Smith and Van Buren.
A matching $1.5 million was put up by the Arkansas Legislature during the 90th General Assembly earlier this year to protect navigation on the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System (M-KARNS). Gov. Asa Hutchinson told the Times Record in April at the time of funding approval that it was “vitally important to protect our navigation system and river commerce, which has an enormous economic impact on Arkansas.”
The Corps is looking for comments from interested parties relating to navigation and ecosystem restoration opportunities within the confluence of the Arkansas, White and Mississippi Rivers in Arkansas and Desha counties. The area is prone to flooding due to the close proximity of all three rivers.
Submit written comments to Craig Hilburn, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Little Rock District, Planning and Environmental Division, P.O. Box 867, Little Rock, AR 72203-0867. For additional information, contact Hilburn at (501) 324-5735 or via email at David.C.Hilburn@usace.army.mil.
