A Beaver Believer’s Blog | Beaver Water District

How to Build a Rain Barrel and Start Saving Water at Home

Ranking 8th in the nation for annual rainfall, Arkansas is a very water-rich state. Northwest Arkansas gets an average of 46 inches of rainfall a year. Using a rain barrel to water your landscape is an effective way to save on water bills and give Beaver Lake a little break! Before setting up a rain […]

July 30, 2026 View Article

Inside Bentonville’s Water System: A Beginner’s Guide to SCADA

Whenever you turned on your sink or flushed your toilet, have you wondered how that water got there? Believe it or not, that was not magic. It is one of the great quiet feats of human engineering! Water distribution has existed for thousands of years, beginning as crude canals built to bring water to crops, […]

May 13, 2026 View Article

Water Smarter, Not Harder

by Wendell Hutchens, PhD Assistant Professor of Turfgrass Science University of Arkansas As spring arrives, grasses are beginning to grow and flourish with the warmer weather and longer days. Just like humans, grass requires food and water. Food for grasses comes in the form of sunlight and nutrients, whereas water for grasses comes in the […]

April 23, 2026 View Article

Incorporating Native Plants Into Your Landscape

Natives in the Landscape For years, each spring, I eagerly explored local garden centers and filled my cart with plants that captured my eye with glorious colors. As summer wore on, the water bill soared as I persevered to keep my beauties alive. By fall, those beauties had grown sad and scraggly. (Thinking back now, […]

March 31, 2026 View Article

Sprinkler water irrigation on grass © Angelo DeSantis (https://www.flickr.com/people/78023771@N00)

Winterizing Irrigation

Winterizing your irrigation system is all about stopping the water supply and getting the water out of the pipes so next year your sprinklers work when you need them. The reason we need to do winter prep is because freezing temperatures, particularly freezing water, can cause serious damage to pipe systems and potentially introduce unhealthy […]

November 13, 2025 View Article

Two Arkansas Conservation Corps volunteers posing with landscaping project

Leadership in Landscaping

Native Plant Demonstration Garden at BWD There’s been a lot of buzz around BWD’s water feature, lovingly named “Baby Beaver” by employees. The buzz is coming from an increase in pollinators from the addition of hundreds of native plants. Volunteers from the Benton County Master Gardeners, Master Naturalists, the Arkansas Conservation Corps, and BWD staff […]

October 17, 2025 View Article

Water-Wise Landscaping

Echinacea paradoxa Harnessing the Power of Native Plants As climate patterns shift and water resources become increasingly strained, homeowners, businesses, and municipalities are turning to water-wise landscaping as a sustainable solution. This is especially relevant in rapidly growing regions like Northwest Arkansas, where population growth is placing added pressure on local water supplies. With more […]

August 29, 2025 View Article

Flowing and Flourishing

Smarter Water Use for a Growing Northwest Arkansas “We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.” — Chief Seattle Northwest Arkansas is buzzing with growth. From the $700-million Alice L. Walton Foundation health campus to the new Walmart headquarters, the region is capturing national attention. Add to that […]

July 15, 2025 View Article