Arkansas Agriculture, Forests, and Water Conference

The Arkansas Water Resources Center will co-host its annual conference July 16-18 to address a broad spectrum of water issues including stormwater, source water protection, groundwater, and stakeholder perceptions and education.

The conference will be July 16-18 at the Don Tyson Center for Agricultural Sciences, 1371 W. Altheimer Drive in Fayetteville.

“The conference has expanded in recent years beyond its traditional research focus and our organizing committee has grown, too,” said Brian Haggard, director of the Arkansas Water Resources Center. “This year, our conference has a new name — the Arkansas Agriculture, Forests, and Water Conference.”

The event was previously called the Arkansas Water Resources Conference. Haggard is also a professor of biological and agricultural engineering with the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, the research arm of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.

The Arkansas Water Resources Center collects, analyzes, and provides water quality data to support municipalities, state agencies and watershed groups as they develop and implement management plans and practices. Located in Fayetteville, the center is part of a national network of water research centers investigating irrigation, wastewater disposal, groundwater, erosion, pollution and ecosystem problems.

The conference organizing committee includes representatives from the Arkansas Department of Agriculture, Forestry, and Natural Resources Divisions; the Arkansas Drinking Water and Forests Collaborative; the Beaver Watershed Alliance; the Illinois River Watershed Partnership; and the Arkansas Water Resources Center.

Over the course of two and a half days, the 2024 conference will cover relevant topics for stakeholders statewide, and highlights presentations covering northwest and central Arkansas, as well as the east Arkansas Delta.

Conference session themes include:

• Water myths and disinformation
• Science behind the water stories
• State, program, and watershed updates
• Source water protection
• “Know the Flow” and educational/outreach opportunities
• Conservation efforts, floodplains and forests
• Groundwater, a USGS special session
• Stakeholder perceptions of groundwater risks and their value

A detailed agenda will be released prior to the conference at the Arkansas Water Resources Center website.

The early registration price of $100 includes the popular conference T-shirt. The registration price goes up to $200 after July 1, and conference T-shirts will have to be purchased separately if supplies are available.

Discounted registration of $50 is available to students and county extension agents through the support of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture and to landowners through support from the Arkansas Farm Bureau and Arkansas Discovery Farms.

This article provided by University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture and Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station. Original article may be found here.