Search Our Site
Ways to Protect our Drinking WaterNews Articles and Letters to the Editors CAW Commission Resolutions 2003 CAW Commission Resolutions 1998 Water Quality Assessment Lakes Maumelle and Winnona 1991-2003 Analysis - Lake Maumelle 1991-1992 Water Quality Assessment Lakes Maumelle and Winona May 1989- October 1992 Arkansas Department of Pollution Control and Ecology Report The Benham Group Report Pulaski County Quorum Court Resolution

Watershed Project

The quality of our drinking water begins with the source. Lake Maumelle, the primary drinking water supply for Central Arkansas Water customers, provides us with some of the best-quality drinking water at the lowest cost in the United States. However, it is not by happenstance and it is important that we protect the lake from pollution and other sources of contamination in every possible way.

The lake is shallow in depth and vulnerable to pollution. Erosion, pesticides, fertilizers, chemicals, trash, animal waste, sewers, wastewater, and other types of pollution from lands surrounding the lake all pose a serious threat to the quality of water in the reservoir.

When the drinking water supply was constructed in 1956-1958, it was surrounded by forestland and located far from urbanized areas. Since that time, like many drinking water supplies around the country, community expansion has narrowed the distance between the lake and new roads, homes, and commercial/industrial development.

A watershed protection plan is in place to protect our highest community interest - public health - and address the threat of pollution. The plan prohibits land development on acreage closest to the "intake structures," where CAW initially draws water for treatment (Zone 1) then distribution into the public system, and calls for buffering and restrictions on land-uses in other areas of the watershed (Zone 2).

Land-use changes are forever and many times the resulting damage to the drinking water supply occurs over time. However, after damage is done, the only recourse is additional treatment requirements and higher costs for service to customers. In some cases, the damage may even be permanent and irreversible at any cost.

Numerous studies show that failure to protect Lake Maumelle , our vulnerable drinking water supply, will result in a loss of water quality and higher costs for customers due to the need for advanced treatment or a replacement supply. By preserving a crucial 1,300 acres in a natural state and allowing controlled land-development on acreage in other areas of the watershed, we are protecting our asset of quality and low-cost drinking water while investing in our future. The 1,300 acres in Zone 1 are less than 2% of total watershed lands.

We must remember that Lake Maumelle is not just a lake; it's the primary source of the drinking water that the families of Central Arkansas depend on each and every day. We need the lake for generations to come.