Caddo River Watershed Habitat Enhancement: One Landowner at a Time
Matthew M. Irvin
Arkansas Game & Fish Commission
Russellville, Arkansas
Arkansas is blessed with an abundance of water. The USGS high resolution identifies 137,224 miles of rivers and streams in Arkansas; that’s enough to circle the earth 5 ½ times. Sediment is the number one water pollutant in the United States. Our native fish, crayfish, and freshwater mussels depend on clean, cool water for reproduction and survival. Like many natural resource agencies, Arkansas has a limited amount of resources for fisheries and wildlife habitat improvements. Our Stream Habitat Program consists of five biologists, two technicians, and one program supervisor. With limited resources, we are able to accomplish large scale restoration by utilizing a priority watershed approach versus a shotgun approach, one landowner at a time. The Caddo River, a priority watershed in Arkansas, is home to several federally listed threatened and endangered species, species of greatest conservation need, and game species such as smallmouth bass Micropterus dolomieu. This watershed is also heavily utilized by recreationists in a variety of forms. Our goals are to reduce streambank erosion, improve stream channel stability, overall water quality, and aquatic habitat. Over the past 14 years the AGFC West Central Stream Habitat Coordinator has surveyed and developed streambank stabilization construction plans and cost estimates for more than 40 landowners in the Caddo River watershed. Those plans total 21,270 feet or a little over 4 miles of proposed restoration. Of 42 plans, 25 streambank stabilization/aquatic habitat restoration projects have been implemented restoring 12,696 feet (approximately 2 ½ miles) of eroding streambanks. The presentation will demonstrate the accumulation of success in the Caddo River watershed.
About Matthew M. Irvin
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