Arkansas has long been recognized for its outsized impact on agriculture and its vital role in feeding the world. Central to that success has always been WATER. However, Arkansas’s water resources — critical to agricultural productivity, economic growth, and community well-being — faced growing challenges that required coordinated, statewide action.
To address these challenges, the Institute launched Water, Agriculture, Technology, Education & Research (WATER), a collaborative program designed to bring together producers, researchers, innovators, educators, and policymakers. The WATER program facilitated cross-sector conversations and laid the groundwork for more strategic, sustainable water use across Arkansas. The program officially concluded in January 2026.
“This program will bring together the Arkansans feeding the world – producers, researchers, innovators, and future agriculture leaders – to create a collaborative effort for strategic, coordinated water use.”
WATER Mission Statement
The Work Completed
The WATER program focused on ensuring long-term water security while positioning Arkansas as a national leader in agriculture and responsible natural resource management.
By December 2024, the program team had conducted 29 in-depth interviews with agricultural producers across 13 Arkansas counties. These interviews captured firsthand insights into farmers’ experiences with water management, conservation practices, and irrigation challenges. Farmers consistently identified several barriers to effective WATER management:
- High implementation costs, especially on leased land
- Technical feasibility challenges tied to existing infrastructure
- Limited landowner involvement in conservation decisions
- Inconsistent data tracking and measurement tools
- Low awareness of available water programs and eligibility requirements
Although many producers reported strong relationships with landowners, the financial risk of investing in long-term conservation measures on rented land remained a major obstacle. Farmers also emphasized the need for practical, farm-specific water solutions, rather than one-size-fits-all approaches.
Identified Support Needs
Many farmers reported limited access to educational programs tailored to:
- Small and mid-sized farms
- Minority and underserved producers
- Landowners unfamiliar with conservation practices
Understanding return on investment (ROI) and long-term cost-benefit outcomes of water systems was a recurring concern.
Producers stressed the importance of:
- Peer-to-peer knowledge sharing
- Farmer-led initiatives that build trust
- Regional collaboration to share data, tools, and success stories
Farmers needed clearer pathways to funding and technical assistance. Over the previous five years, only 437 of Arkansas’s 2,800 farmers had received financial or technical assistance for irrigation and drainage improvements, underscoring a critical support gap.
These findings directly informed discussions at the Arkansas Ground Water Summit in Stuttgart in November 2024, where leaders, producers, and policymakers explored strategies to:
- Increase affordable access to water
- Improve agricultural leaders’ understanding of water management
- Establish a farmer-led organization to provide technical assistance
The WATER Challenge in Arkansas
Arkansas ranked third in the nation for irrigated acres, relying heavily on groundwater resources to support agriculture.
- The Mississippi River Valley Alluvial Aquifer served as the primary source of irrigation water, with withdrawals reaching 7.63 billion gallons per day and a replenishment rate of only 44.2%.
- As water levels declined, pumping increased from the Sparta-Memphis Aquifer, the state’s key source of drinking and industrial water. This aquifer experienced withdrawals of approximately 160 million gallons per day, with a replenishment rate of 55%.
These trends highlighted the urgent need for improved water management practices to protect both agricultural and public water supplies.
Source: 2022 Arkansas Groundwater Protection and Management Report
Background & Program Origins
The WATER program grew out of a series of high-level conversations focused on the future of water and food security in Arkansas.
- November 2023: A topic dinner convened 10 educators, researchers, and state agriculture leaders. Participants identified the need for a shared understanding that smart water management was a common goal for all Arkansans and that collaboration could accelerate the adoption of sustainable practices and technologies.
- March 2023: The Institute hosted Securing Water & Food in a Changing World as part of the Winthrop Rockefeller Distinguished Lecture Series. The event emphasized Arkansas’s unique opportunity to remain water-rich while continuing to sustain its role as a global food producer.
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