The Reagan family has owned the land for many years and Bill said that he has bought it from his mother and will keep it in the family. The farm is prairie that has been used for cattle grazing and other agriculture over the decades. It is an example of a heritage farm of the sort identified in the Fayetteville Natural Heritage Association's Green Infrastructure plan. Its rich soil captures water where falls and does not cause flooding downstream with its limited stormwater runoff entering the Town Branch of the West Fork of the White River without causing siltation or pollution. See Google map with view of Fifteenth Street area in a preceding post on this subject.
Democrat-Gazette on widening of Arkansas 16
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Please use controls and cursor to move the image, zoom in or out and trace the whole route discussed at the meeting yesterday. The Reagan property is near the middle left part of the image above.
If you use your cursor to travel north of the open Reagan property between Washington Avenue and Wood Avenue from 11th Street up to near 9th Street you can see the 7 wooded wetland acres that the Partners for Better housing board is trying to buy to dredge and fill for a low-income housing development. Water drains from north of Jefferson School, all the way from north of MLK Boulevard (former 6th St.) down to 15th St. and into the Town Branch of the West Fork of the White River and is slowed and purified by the moist-soil area where the tiny branch overflows.
This portion of the Beaver Lake watershed is under extreme threat. Thanks to the Reagan family and others for keeping a bit of green infrastructure intact and allowing a small part of the rainwater to stay it falls.
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3 comments:
Aub, a lot of land shown as undeveloped on those old aeral photos is already developed at this point. I'm sure you know that, but some people who see this will believe that lots is still natural there. But plenty of parcels in that view and nearby are now paved over, "dredged and filled" wet prairie and wooded parcels as well.
What I am saying is that the situation is a lot worse for the watershed than your google map shows. But there is much there to try to save.
The Reagans are fine old family in south Fayetteville.
But what is wrong with removing that line of trees and the fence and putting a sidewalk and curb and gutter on their property? They will get some money in exchange.
What is wrong? They might not want the money or to remove the trees; the situation might be forced on them. And the amount of money they receive will not nearly equal the value of the effects of the tree line on area drainage.
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