Arkansas is known for its far-reaching influence on agriculture and the important role it plays in feeding the world. However, our state’s water resources — a crucial part of our success in this field — face significant challenges. It is a complex issue that requires discussions between many different industries and stakeholders. Water, Agriculture, Technology, Education & Research (WATER) is a new Institute program designed to facilitate those discussions.

“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 So Far

Our goal is to ensure water security for all while establishing Arkansas as a national leader in agriculture and a responsible steward of its natural resources. As of December 2024, 29 interviews with Arkansas producers across 13 counties have been conducted to inform this upcoming program. These discussions have offered invaluable insights into farmers’ experiences, attitudes, and challenges regarding water management and conservation.

However, practical implementation of such management is often hindered by barriers such as financial costs, technical feasibility, and landowner involvement. Although most farmers reported cooperative relationships with landowners, the high costs of implementing conservation measures — particularly on leased land — present significant challenges.

Additional obstacles include inconsistent data tracking and limited awareness of available programs or qualification requirements, which hinder the adoption of effective strategies. Farmers highlighted a pressing need for practical, farm-specific solutions to address these barriers.

Support needs focused on education, collaboration, and financial feasibility. Farmers stressed the importance of peer-to-peer knowledge sharing and farmer-led initiatives to build trust and facilitate collaboration. Many also noted the lack of accessible educational programs tailored to small farms, minority farmers, and landowners who are less familiar with conservation practices. Key concerns included understanding return on investment (ROI) and the time and effort required to implement, maintain, and analyze water management systems effectively.

These findings informed discussions at the Arkansas Ground Water Summit in Stuttgart on increasing affordable access to water, improving agricultural leaders’ understanding of water management, and establishing a farmer-led organization to provide technical assistance.

Notably, only 437 of Arkansas’s 2,800 farmers have received financial and technical assistance for irrigation and drainage improvements in the last five years, underscoring the critical need for expanded support and collaboration.

Program Officer Kimberly Bolin speaking at the Arkansas Groundwater Summit on Nov. 11, 2024.

The Challenge

Arkansas has the third-highest amount of irrigated acres in the nation, with the primary source of irrigation water being the Mississippi River Alluvial Aquifer. Unfortunately, the rapidly declining levels of the alluvial aquifer have led to increased pumping in the Sparta-Memphis aquifer, our state’s water resource for drinking and industrial use.

The Mississippi River Valley Alluvial Aquifer sees a draw of 7.63 billion gallons per day with a replenishment rate of just 44.2 percent. The Sparta-Memphis Aquifer, on the other hand, has a draw of about 160 million gallons per day and a slightly better, but still concerning, rate of replenishment at 55 percent.

Source: 2022 Arkansas Groundwater Protection and Management Report

Background

In March 2023, the Institute had the honor of hosting Securing Water & Food in a Changing World, part of the Winthrop Rockefeller Distinguished Lecture Series. This event highlighted the unique opportunity Arkansas has to maintain our water-rich status in the future while protecting our position as a global food producer.

Following this event, in November 2023, the Institute hosted a topic dinner with 10 educators, researchers, and state agriculture leaders. From that conversation, we learned about the need for a shared understanding that smart water management is a common goal for all Arkansans and that fostering collaboration and knowledge-sharing can yield substantial progress in the implementation of sustainable practices, technology, and resources available to current water management programs.

Join Us

Together, we can ensure the sustainability of our water resources for generations to come. Please submit the form below to be notified of registration information, listening sessions, future dialogues, and other in-person programming at the Institute.

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Contact Person

Kimberly Bolin

Program Officerkbolin@rockefellerinstitute.org(501) 727-6249