Eroding Streams and Confidence in Developers

Erosion and incision due to unchecked storm water runoff has scoured parts of an ephemeral stream that runs through Red Oak Park in west Fayetteville and feeds Hamestring Creek. The usually dry stream bed has eroded six feet deep to bedrock, and several trees are hanging on the edge of the banks with roots exposed. Downstream, the creek is being filled with silt and debris, making any storm water filtration or drainage difficult at best.

The problem is that the City has generally ignored storm water management. Consequently, unrestrained developers built Bridgeport, Fieldstone and Willow Springs subdivisions with no intention to spend an extra nickel nor any plan to control the runoff resulting from rooftops, driveways, and streets where natural vegetation and filtration systems had been before. We’re talking bottom line, not public trust.

On August 21, the City Council will consider approval of a $10,000 grant from the Arkansas Forestry Commission and a project design proposal submitted by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Region 1 Stream Team. It would plant additional vegetation, stabilize the stream bank, and create a floodplain to slow the rapid runoff to address the problems affecting the stream and the surrounding city park.

The Council will be looking at spending about $78,000 to correct the problems created and left by developers that are ruining the nine-acre public city park. We all know what to expect from the Ward One and Ward Three aldermen when west Fayetteville competes for scarce resources with their wealthier neighbors on the eastern side of town. At the same meeting, the Council will be considering spending about $70,000 on a no-bid contract to dredge a private lake for private property owners in the upscale Boardwalk subdivision on Crossover Road.

Mayor Coody is known to support using public taxpayer funds to make the private lake nicer for the benefit of the private landowners. The little public Red Oak Park will likely get what’s left. If they ignore the ongoing erosion there much longer, it would be appropriate to rename it Gully Park.