Arkansas Canoe Club Forums

I have just spoken with ACC member George Locke who was just contacted by Mark Yardley of
the River Valley Regional Water District. The RVRWD has just met today and has withdrawn
their request to use Lee Creek as a water supply!! They have contacted the Corp of
Engineers and asked that the Environmental Impact Study be halted!

I also spoke briefly with Mr. Yardley and he said that the studies from Lake Fort Smith
show that there is no need for another water source for many years to come and the Corp
has told them that a radial collector well would be the best choice for them if they
should need water in the future.

Mr. Yardley also cited the economic downturn and slowing of growth in the region as
reasons for withdrawing the proposal.

Yes! Sometimes good things DO happen!

Wow - that is fantastic!

I guess all our "Keep Lee Free" bumper stickers are collector's items now!!!

Heck yeah, that is definitely some good news, I think I'll head to the fridge and drink a few cold ones in celebration.
Big thanks to all who have worked so hard to help keep this from happening.

Great news!! Thanks for all of your efforts on this and thanks for the update.

A silver lining to the Recession !!!!!!!!!

Big time high five, Debo! I know a lot of folks put a lot of time in on this issue, keeping up the pressure over several years. Amazing just how much the eventual conclusions matched what most of us were saying from the beginning. :-)

Well, I live far away now, but Lee will always be my hometown creek. I essentially learned to paddle there, surfed there, swam there, hiked there, fished there, launched off the rocks there, stuck a couple of 4WD's there... I have so many great memories and stories. Sometimes you don't notice how much a thing means to you until it's almost taken away forever. Hopefully the feeling that Lee is a special place that should be taken care of will continue in the years to come. And hopefully the ACC will continue to be a leader in taking care of all the rivers and creeks we paddle.

I'm gonna celebrate!

- Fish

Bravo. Good be on all who worked to stop it.

This is very gratifying. I'm impressed that the RVRWD has come to this conclusion and made the effort to contact George to let him know.

We need to make sure we continue to educate the general public about the need to seek alternatives and, most importantly, to conserve and appreciate the fresh water sources we currently have. The lives of all of our water supplies could be extended if we implement meaningful conservation efforts. Thus preserving our wild and scenic rivers!!!

I'm really suprised that this worked out this way but extremely reassured that the system worked and that good judgment prevailed.

Dave

This is awesome news! A big thanks to DeBo and George for the incredible job you guys do. Also, a big thank you goes out to Jim Wood. The passion you show toward environmental stewardship is tremendous. Keep up the great work!

Congratulations! And thanks to all who worked on this.

Wonderful News!!!!!!!

I can't say enough to thank all those from the ACC as well as the many other like minded organizations that kept up the good fight on this for so long.

This decision to remove Lee Creek from the fate which had been hanging over it is a testament to what concerned citizens can achieve when they join together.

For all of us who live near this creek, let me say thank you for all the letter writing, e-mails, public attendance of hearings and all that so many of you did to keep this issue in the public eye.

Well done!!!

AWESOME!

I have to say that I will be celebrating for a while. Since I first attended that RVRWD several years ago to try to convince them that they didn’t need Lee Creek, fighting Pine Mountain consumed a lot of my life.

It was really frightening to see them try to change the regulations which protect all the best creeks in the state.
I attended every hearing and testified, wrote OpEds in the paper and managed to get myself on the taskforce to write the new reg. so that it would be as protective as possible. I even worked to find a different cheaper source of water for Crawford County and promoted the idea of collector wells.

But the best thing that happened was when I asked all of you to write comments and attend meetings, you did it and it made a huge impression.

The records officer who took your comments said that in 30 years of office he had never seen so many; over 300 for one issue!

ADEQ worked hard to protect Lee Creek and all the other ERWs but the only thing that can give state agencies the power to do the right thing even against their own commission is the will of the people and we gave it to them!

We also had reason and the facts on our side. It was only a matter of time before the RVRWD realized that a dam on Lee Creek was not going to happen.

So, thanks to all of you! This is a shining example of what can happen when people get together to make a statement.


Let’s all go to the Lee Creek clean up in OCT. and celebrate and never forget that there are precious things out there that we can save if we just fight for them together.