Water Authority Considers Changing Focus
Official: Wastewater Service Greatest Need In Benton County
Last updated Wednesday, August 10, 2005 10:43 PM CDT in News
By Richard Dean Prudenti
The Morning News
CENTERTON -- Providing water service is not enough for the Benton County Rural Development Authority.
Officials indicated Wednesday they also want to form a county wastewater collection system that meets demand and protects Beaver Lake, the water source for service areas No. 4 and No. 5 of the Benton County Rural Development Authority.
"Our priority is Beaver Lake," noted Bobby Fanning, authority board member. "We're talking quality of life issues in Northwest Arkansas. We have to protect our water supply."
Authority members considered researching the feasibility of a county sewer system because they believe leaky septic tanks in the area are contaminating Beaver Lake.
Increased development beside the lake intensifies their concerns.
"We probably contributed to this growth because of our water projects," noted Cassie Elliott, chairwoman of the authority.
"I'm not anti-development, but at the same time ... we don't want to create more development that makes it (the environment) worse. It's obvious to me that in the last 15 years Beaver Lake went down hill," she said.
County residents frequently ask for a sewer system to replace the use of septic tanks on their properties, according to Ron Holloway, representing service area No. 5 in the Coppermine area.
"We've got to do something quick. It's costly, but it's also cost-effective to do it," Holloway said.
Roger Norbeck, a member of the Bella Vista Property Owners Association, said three septic tanks in his neighborhood recently collapsed leaving a depression in the landscape.
"If they collapsed, how long have they been leaking?" said Norbeck, who participated in a discussion on the future of the Rural Development Authority.
County government officials are proposing an ordinance requiring property owners regularly inspect and pump their septic tanks.
Bella Vista would benefit from a sewer system because houses close together leave little or no room for a second septic tank as a backup, Norbeck said.
Federal and state agencies, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality, are keeping a watchful eye on the environmental impact of growth in and around Bella Vista, Norbeck added.
"It's better to be proactive. I'd rather have us take care of (the problem)," he said.
Gary Black, Benton County judge, recognizes that families with fixed incomes may wish to keep using their septic tanks because of sewer service costs.
"But it's a time bomb out there just waiting to explode. The problems are not just going to go away," Black said.
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