“Anyone who knows me knows the War Eagle River is my religion,” said Ron Duncan, a lifelong educator who’s been floating, fishing and introducing young and old alike to the bounties of War Eagle for more than 40 years.  Duncan said as much when he shared his love of the river while fishing in the Emmy-award winning 2011 documentary “Bridge to War Eagle.”  Duncan founded what is now the nationally known “Hooked on Fishing, Not on Drugs” program, which originated with a fishing club he started in 1982 at Springdale Central Junior High School, where he was a civics teacher. Since that time, thousands of similar clubs have formed nationwide. In Arkansas, the program is administered by Arkansas Game and Fish. Duncan was inducted into the Arkansas Outdoor Hall of Fame in 2004. Duncan has twice been honored as the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society Man of the Year and was the National Wildlife Federation Educator of the Year in 1999. Through the fishing clubs he’s championed, Duncan has worked closely with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s education and fisheries divisions. A graduate of the University of Arkansas, Duncan joined the Springdale School District in 1974. Duncan’s term on the AGFC expires on July 1, 2015.

War Eagle Mill, Arkansas’ only working water-powered grist mill, has been grinding fresh organic grains and flours for the community since the 1830s. The mill and its store and restaurant provide an inviting destination for locals and visitors alike, from tourists and motorcycle riders to serious arts and crafts visitors who return each year to this world-renowned and charmed place. The close knit staff at the mill love what they do and their enthusiasm and care for the food and products they market is palpable. War Eagle Mill, the picturesque, historic bridge, and all the environs surrounding it are forever tied to the health and well-being of the water that makes this mill possible. There’s no doubt that the mill is a War Eagle Creek Steward and deserves recognition. For more information, visit www.wareaglemill.com.

War Eagle Appreciation Day occurs the first Saturday in June each year. Event partners and sponsors for 2013 included the William Rufus Stephens Jr. Memorial Fund, Huntsville Chamber of Commerce, Arvest Bank, Beaver Watershed Alliance, Arkansas Game & Fish Commission, Arkansas State Parks (Withrow Springs State Park & Hobbs State Park), Arkansas Master Naturalists, Lewis & Clark, War Eagle Mill, Arkansas Canoe Club, Madison County Search and Rescue, Huntsville Fire Department, Madison County Solid Waste and Recycling, Madison County Record, KTHS Radio, Kiwanis Club, Madison Coffee House, Wal-Mart, Ma and Pa’s Bent & Dent, Audubon Arkansas, Elizabeth Richardson Center, Girl Scouts-Diamonds of Arkansas, Oklahoma & Texas, Ozarks Water Watch, and Beaver Water District.

This year’s War Eagle Appreciation Day is an official event affiliated with 2013 Water Watch Week, coordinated by Ozarks Water Watch. For information, visit http://www.uwrb.org/waterwatchweek.php. War Eagle is a sub-watershed of Beaver Lake Watershed. A watershed is an area of land that drains water, sediment, and dissolved materials to a common receiving body or outlet, which in this case is Beaver Lake, the primary source of drinking water for most of Northwest Arkansas. The purpose of the event is to draw attention to the rich history of War Eagle and the many benefits that War Eagle Creek brings to Madison County and Northwest Arkansas.

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War Eagle Appreciation Day is an official event affiliated with 2013 Water Watch Week, coordinated by Ozarks Water Watch. For information, visit http://www.uwrb.org/waterwatchweek.php. War Eagle is a sub-watershed of Beaver Lake Watershed. A watershed is an area of land that drains water, sediment, and dissolved materials to a common receiving body or outlet, which in this case is Beaver Lake, the primary source of drinking water for most of Northwest Arkansas. The purpose of the event is to draw attention to the rich history of War Eagle and the many benefits that War Eagle Creek brings to Madison County and Northwest Arkansas.

Tentative Agenda

1. Meeting Call to Order
2. Approval of minutes of previous regular meeting
3. Presentation – Stream Study Report
4. Presentation – Leadership Development Program Update
5. Presentation – Water Quality Report and Laboratory In-House Tests
6. Presentation – Generators and Load Shedding Program
7. Other Business
• Legislative Wrap-Up – Arkansas 89th General Assembly
• Generators – Emissions Control Devices Update
• Awards – ENVY Award By ADEQ for District; and Manager of the Year by AWW&WEA for Stacy Cheevers
• Leadership Development Program Guests – Brad Hufhines, Environmental Program Technician; and Kevin Oxford, Maintenance Mechanic II

Ozarks Water Watch (the Foundation) is a 501 (c) 3 not-for-profit organization whose mission is to promote water quality in the upper White River watershed through bi-state collaboration on research, education, public policy and action projects. The focus of the Foundation is on the four major impoundments on the upper White River: Beaver, Table Rock, Taneycomo and Bull Shoals Lakes and the rivers and streams which drain into these impoundments. For more information, visit www.ozarkswaterwatch.org.

The purpose is to keep the West Fork and its watershed clean, since this tributary flows to Beaver Lake, drinking water for more than 400,000 people! Cleanup sites include Riverside Park, Baptist Ford, Dye Creek Road, Woolsey Bridge, Brentwood Mountain Road, Winslow Ballpark, Greenland School, Town Branch and Walker Park.

The annual cleanup is coordinated by the West Fork Watershed Alliance. Sponsors and partners include Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, Arvest Bank, Beaver Water District, City of West Fork, Keep Arkansas Beautiful, Pack Rat Outdoor Center, Tyson Foods, University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service, Washington County Environmental Affairs, the Watershed Conservation Resource Center, Audubon Arkansas, Beaver Watershed Alliance, Ozark Natural Foods, Ozarks Water Watch, Arkansas Earth Day, the Bank of Fayetteville, and Northwest Arkansas Land Trust.

Hot Springs, Ark. – Alan Fortenberry, Chief Executive Officer for Beaver Water District (BWD) serving Northwest Arkansas, has been honored with induction into the prestigious Glen T. Kellogg Water & Wastewater Hall of Fame. The presentation was made at the annual Arkansas Water Works & Water Environment Association  (AWW&WEA) awards dinner in Hot Springs on April 30.

Fortenberry has had one of the more varied careers in the water industry of any recipient ever chosen for this award.  With over 40 years of experience in this industry, he has worked on the state agency regulatory side, the private consulting engineering side, and for the past 22 years has been an important member of the water community working on the public utility side of this profession.

In 1972, he graduated from the University of Arkansas with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Agricultural Engineering.  Out of college he went to work for what is now referred to as the Arkansas Natural Resource Commission (ANRC) which was Arkansas Soil and Water Commission at the time.  Fortenberry worked for ANRC for the next eight years, and achieved his master’s degree in 1977 in Sanitary Engineering while working for the state of Arkansas.  He worked his way up to an engineering supervisor and was highly involved in the development of the State Water Plan, dam safety programs, watershed planning, and the administration of state funding programs. He worked for the ANRC until 1980.

At that time he made the decision to test the consulting waters, and for the next 10 years he worked for the private consulting firm McGoodwin, Williams, and Yates (MWY) in Fayetteville Arkansas.  While at MWY he worked on many design and construction projects that involved wastewater treatment facilities, water treatment facilities, distribution systems, collection systems, as well as master water planning and evaluations for many utilities and cities in Arkansas.

In 1991, Alan began his career at the Beaver Water District as the facilities Plant Engineer.  While in that position he provided oversight for major expansion projects and was involved in the design and construction of multiple project that were related to modifications to existing facilities.  He also supervised the lab department and developed the facilities safety program while in that capacity.  In 2001, Richard Starr, a 1996 recipient of the Kellogg Award,  made the decision to retire and Alan was chosen as his replacement as Chief Executive Officer of Beaver Water District.

Fortenberry was the AWW&WEA chairman in 2002.  He was appointed and then reappointed, through the end of 2013, to the Arkansas Board of Health by Governor Mike Beebe and served as the board president in 2010.  He served on the Northwest Arkansas Council as well as the Northwest Arkansas Planning Commission.  He has served on the board of Ozarks Water Watch, as well as too many committees to list within AWW&WEA, Arkansas Water and Wastewater Managers Association, and the Southwest Section of the American Waterworks Association (AWWA).  He was a SW Section Chair, and has chaired the source water protection advisory workgroup for AWWA, and was on the AWWA Water Utility Council.

He was named manager of the year by the Arkansas Water and Wastewater Managers Association in 2006.  In 2007 he was named distinguished alumni by the University of Arkansas College of Engineering.  In 2007, he was presented the AWWA George Warren Fuller Award, which is a national award, established in 1937, that recognizes AWWA members for distinguished service to the water industry.  In 2010, the SW Section AWWA awarded Fortenberry the Glen T. Kellogg Leadership Award.

WATER MANAGER OF YEAR – STACY CHEEVERS OF BEAVER WATER DISTRICT

Hot Springs, Ark. – Stacy Cheevers, plant manager for Beaver Water District (BWD) serving Northwest Arkansas, was recently named Water Manager of the Year during the annual Arkansas Water Works & Water Environment Association  (AWW&WEA) water awards luncheon in Hot Springs.

Cheevers joined BWD in 1991 and has been involved in the operation and maintenance of the district’s Joe M. Steele and Hardy Croxton treatment plants. He currently serves as the overall plant manager for which he manages a staff of 31 in the areas of operations, maintenance, and electrical/instrumentation departments. Cheevers is responsible for submitting a yearly budget, coordination of  in-house projects, overseeing water treatment procedures, and ensuring water quality requirements are met or exceeded at all times.

Among his achievements with the district, he assisted in the design of the 140 million gallon a day (MGD) intake and 60 MGD water treatment plant expansion including a solids treatment facility. He also coordinated an engineering contract for the addition of a new 13.2 kilovolt switching station and replacement of 12, 000 feet of 13.2 kilovolt distribution line, as well as the installation of two. 1,000-horsepower raw water and one 500-horsepower high service pumps.

Cheevers holds both Grade IV Water Operators Treatment and Distribution licenses and a master electrician license in the state of Arkansas. Among his other personal achievements, Cheevers was named the 2008 Agriculture Leader of the Year, 2005 Water Operator of the Year, 2005 Grower (poultry) of the year and his family was the 2008 Washington County Farm Family of the Year.

Tentative Agenda

1. Meeting Call to Order
2. Approval of minutes of previous regular meeting
3. Presentation – FY 2014 Financial Plan Update
4. Presentation – Legislative Update – Arkansas 89th General Assembly
5. Presentation – ADEQ Regulation 2
6. Other Business
• Leadership Development Program Guests – Ray Avery, Environmental Engineer; and Mike Smart, Plant Relief Operator II
• Introduciton of New Employees – Jared Cobb, Maintenance Mechanic I; Dustin Mayhew, Opeartor I; and Heather Watson, Receptionist

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Beaver Water District, Fayetteville Cooperate to Protect Beaver Lake
• Board Officers Elected; Newest Member Welcomed
• New Board Member-Mary Gardner
• Beaver Lake Watershed Research Focuses on “Nutrients”
• Water & Wastewater Professionals Recognized for Contributions; NW District Officers Elected
• Beaver Water District Offers “WHO WE ARE” Brochure

Tentative Agenda

1. Meeting Call to Order
2. Approval of minutes of previous regular meeting
3. Report – Strategic Plan Metrics Dashboard
4. Presentation – Maintenance and Operation of DCS – E&I Dept.
5. Other Business
• Legislative Update – Arkansas 89th General Assembly
• Leadership Development Program Guests – Damon Hoops and Danny Dearing
6. Tour – Electrical & Instrumentation Areas – Operation Building