Overview of the Bayou Meto Project
The Bayou Meto Water Management Project was authorized by the United States Congress to provide flood control, wildlife habitat, and surface water irrigation benefits to several hundred thousand acres of Lonoke, Prairie, Jefferson, and Arkansas counties.
The Memphis District of the US Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), is the lead federal agency for project planning and construction. The State of Arkansas, through its Department of Agriculture's Division of Natural Resources, is the non-federal sponsor, responsible for approximately 35% of the project cost.
The United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is partnering with the Bayou Meto Water Management District to help finance design and construction in the Indian Bayou Watershed. This has brought additional federal money into the project. Bayou Meto must match 25% of costs of construction done with NRCS grant money.
Surface Water
Through a system of new canals, existing ditches, and pipelines, the Bayou Meto Project will provide surface water to approximately 300,000 irrigated crop acres. Groundwater withdrawals from the alluvial and Sparta aquifers within the Bayou Meto Improvement Project Area (IPA) boundaries are unsustainable. The alluvial aquifer is less than 50% saturated in much of the area to be served and continues to decline at an alarming rate.
Pumping Plants
In the initial phases of project construction, two pumping plants were completed. The Marion Berry Pumping Plant at Scott, Arkansas, will be able to move up to 1,750 cubic feet of Arkansas River water into the proposed surface water delivery system every second. The Little Bayou Meto Pump Station at Reydell, Arkansas is intended to be used to evacuate excess water from the lower end of the drainage basin back into the Arkansas River. Once operational, the Little Bayou Meto Pump Station will benefit the Bayou Meto Wildlife Management Area (WMA), which is often inundated well into spring, when high-quality hardwood trees come out of dormancy. Removing water from the WMA earlier in the season will improve tree health and save a valuable source of wildlife habitat.
Approximately 170 miles of bayou and ditch cleanout are necessary to move water through the system. With the financial and technical assistance of NRCS, the Bayou Meto Water Management District has cleaned obstructions from much of Indian Bayou and Indian Bayou Ditch. Three pumps and over 8 miles of pipeline have been installed. The remaining pumps and pipes will be constructed as the Corps of Engineers completes the canal to reach the Indian Bayou system.
Improvement Project Area
The Bayou Meto Project will not supply 100% of irrigation water demand. The estimated safe yield via continued pumping from the alluvial aquifer in the area is approximately 150,000 acre-feet per year. This is the total sustainable volume over the entire 300,000 acre Improvement Project Area (IPA) and the plan is to ultimately reduce groundwater pumping to that amount. The surface water delivery project is designed to provide a supplemental 1 acre-foot of water to each crop acre in the Improvement Project Area (IPA). Farm conservation improvements, water storage and reuse, and sustainable groundwater withdrawals will make up the balance of the irrigation water demand.
The federal government, the State of Arkansas, and the Bayou Meto Water Management District have all invested substantial amounts of money to date on planning, land acquisition, and pumping plant, canal, and bridge construction. Portions of the main canal continuing to the east are currently under construction. The Corps of Engineers, State of Arkansas, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Bayou Meto Water Management District are working to deliver water to "Phase 1" along Indian Bayou and Indian Bayou Ditch through completion of 15,000 feet of canal, bayou cleanout, and the construction of pumps and pipelines to reach non-riparian farms.
Bayou Meto Water Management District
The Bayou Meto Water Management District was formed in 1991 and is participating in financing for the Bayou Meto Project by borrowing most of the non-federal share through Division of Natural Resources financing programs. The District also acquires rights-of-way for project construction and is building portions of the project, including bridges and roads. The District will operate the project when complete.
For more information, please contact the project team using the information below.
Bayou Meto Water Management District
1300 North Center Street, Suite 9
Lonoke, Arkansas 72086
Phone Number: 501-676-7420
