NEAFF Conservation page
Clean water is the obvious beginning of excellent fish habitat. Habitat loss is always one of the
principal factors responsible for wildlife decline. NEAFF members believe conservation may entail
many aspects. Ensuring fish are returned through catch and release techniques, avoid disturbing
spawning fish, and minimizing watershed ecological disturbances all play important roles. Fly
anglers endeavor to conserve fisheries by understanding the importance of limiting their catch.
"Catch and release" is an important component of sustaining premium fisheries that are being over-
harvested. By using barb-less hooks fly anglers release fish properly and with minimal harm.
A delicate balance exists in nature between a stream and its watershed. As water moves through the watershed, the water dissolves parts of the watershed and carries those pieces downstream. Some of the dissolved materials are invisible, such as oxygen, while others are quite visible such as gravel.
Water is frequently referred to as the universal solvent because it will dissolve virtually any material on earth. Any material found in a particular watershed will usually be detectable in its water. Thus a stream becomes its watershed. In the Ozarks, watershed implications range from excess nutrients, such as phosphorus and nitrogen to riparian cover loss from over-development, and in-stream gravel mining. While Arkansas generally enjoys plenty of water, low summer stream flows frequently provide water quality and optimal fish habitat challenges. Click on this link for more information on Arkansas water quality measures:
http://www.adeq.state.ar.us/
http://www.americanrivers.org/site/PageServer
http://www.friendsofthenorthforkandwhiterivers.com/
Different fish species have a wide range of tolerability requirements for dissolved substances. All fish require dissolved oxygen, and many desirable game fish have high oxygen needs. Good water quality is equally as important to the food groups game fish feed upon such as stream dwelling insects, crayfish, scuds, sowbugs, and minnows.
Dissolved oxygen is frequently at critical levels below Bull Shoals and Norfork dams. The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality recently placed both the White and Norfork rivers on their 303d list. This list is known as the "impaired waters list". Both rivers were placed on this list due to low dissolved oxygen levels. The Army Corps of Engineers have installed devices in the power generating systems to help this problem with some success. Currently the COE along with many other interested parties is studying "minimum flows" below both dams to help improve dissolved oxygen and high temperature problems while improving macroinvertebrate habitat immediately below the dams. As you might expect, when several competing constituencies vie for the same resource (in this case dam water releases) politics may take over. For more information on these important proposals click on these links:
http://www.whiteriverminimumflow.com/
http://www.swl.usace.army.mil/planning/wrminflows.html.
Karst, a geologic formation term, describes much of the Ozarks where porous limestone formations allow surface water to quickly become groundwater only to return to the surface at some other location as a spring. Mammoth Spring near Mammoth Springs, AR is a perfect example, but many smaller examples occur across multiple watersheds in the Ozarks. Many southern Missouri streams lose surface water to the Mammoth Spring formation and the water returns to the surface forming Spring River providing trout habitat several miles downstream. To learn more about karst and its effect on our streams click on this link: http://geology.er.usgs.gov/eespteam/Karst/projects/project1.htm.
Stream gravel mining continues to be an issue for certain Arkansas Ozark streams. Gravel is an important component of Ozark stream beds providing a natural filtering system and homes for many macroinveterbrates which begin the food chain for game fish. Chert gravel is naturally found within Ozark limestone. When water passes through air (rain) it forms a weak carbonic acid that dissolves limestone formations. This frees the harder chert gravel from the limestone and heavy rain/high water events move the gravel downstream. The heavier gravel falls out of the current where the current slows in the inside bends of rivers and streams forming the Ozark trademark "gravel bars".
Two forms of gravel mining are allowed by Arkansas law and both forms require a permit from the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality. The first form, in-stream gravel mining means removal of gravel deposits within the ordinary high water marks of a stream. Generally this is the most economical means of gravel removal because the natural stream actions help sort the gravel and deposit it in an area where it is easily accessible. It is also the most damaging to the stream.
Ozark streams have a natural order of riffles and pools. When a large portion of gravel is removed from a stream the stream attempts to replace that amount of gravel at the next high water event. Frequently the high water allows the stream to take gravel from the immediate stream bank (upstream and downstream) to replace the mined gravel. This de-stabilizes the banks resulting in a loss of streamside vegetation (riparian). This causes the stream to become wider, shallower, with longer lengths between riffles and fewer pools. The riparian vegetation loss allows more solar radiation to heat the stream water. There is no known instream gravel removal method that prevents this subsequent damage.
The second form of gravel mining is "open cut" mining. This type occurs outside the stream ordinary high water mark. It is generally less damaging to the stream habitat but may be more expensive as it can require removal of sand, soil, and vegetation to access the gravel. Regulations require a minimum of site restoration after gravel removal. To learn more about gravel mining click on these links:
http://www.adeq.state.ar.us/mining/noncoal.htm
http://mdc.mo.gov/conmag/2001/10/50.htm
