Planning for the future growth and development of Northwest Arkansas is the main topic of almost all meetings and discussions at Beaver Water District. While infrastructure needs for that growth can be seen everywhere around the district’s facility in Lowell, there is so much more going on than just building/construction. The Mission of the District is simple: to sustainably provide our customers with safe economical drinking water. Our vision statement is less familiar to people but equally important: “Beaver Water District will support the quality of life and economic growth of Northwest Arkansas by preserving the quality of our drinking water source, Beaver Lake. We will promote public confidence through education and outreach, and we will cultivate an environment of integrity, excellence, trust, and respect for our employees and customers.” We do this too. Using our natural resources wisely while protecting Beaver Lake is always part of our discussions. When we do outreach events, we often get feedback from the public and questions about water usage. All of these factors and conversations with our customer cities about a desire to discuss water conservation along with protecting the lake led to a new working group. This group, with representatives from all four customer cities, met over the last several months to produce a brand-new campaign. The district and the customer cities would be asking individuals to “Become a Beaver Believer!”
The Beaver Believer program highlights a lawn irrigation schedule that includes guidance for watering days and times to both keep your lawn healthy and to help preserve Beaver Lake, the drinking water source for most of Northwest Arkansas.
How does one become a Beaver Believer? It is easy. Whether a homeowner, renter, business, or property owner, we are asking those that irrigate their lawns to follow these 3 recommendations.
- No watering after 9:00 AM-prevent water loss to evaporation.
- Water every other day according to your house number
- No Water Wednesday! As a throwback to an earlier campaign by Beaver Water District to “Give Beaver Lake a Break” and not to water lawns on Wednesdays
Overwatering is a large issue in urban areas, and summer is the time that highest drinking water sales occur. Kevan Inboden, Chief Operating Officer with Beaver Water District, notes the impacts of irrigation on water usage. “During the summer irrigation season, Beaver Water District’s water sales increase by about 50%, and a tremendous amount of expensive infrastructure is required by the district and our customer cities to meet these summer demands. According to experts, many customers irrigate more than is necessary, leading to waste of our precious resource, Beaver Lake, and higher bills for the customers. While the lake is expected to meet our region’s source water needs for decades to come, it’s up to all of us to protect it for our children and grandchildren, so we encourage customers to water wisely to conserve Beaver Lake and to save them money.”
There is a new stewardship page on Beaver Water District’s website where individuals, homeowners, and businesses can use a watering estimator to help understand the amount of water currently being used for irrigation, as well as find out more about smart water use usage for Northwest Arkansas. A blog has also been added and a list of resources. Read the blog here.
Beaver Water District along with their customer cities are asking all those with irrigation systems in northwest Arkansas to believe that their actions can make a difference and help preserve Beaver Lake for future generations. Irrigate smarter, save money, save water, be the change, become a Beaver Believer!