— In many ways, Northwest Arkansas leads Oklahoma in water quality protection.

The city of Fayetteville is active in streambank stabilization, creating green spaces, parks and trails. Siloam Springs is taking steps to develop and protect Sager Creek, an Illinois River tributary, as it flows though the city. The newest sewage plant in Northwest Arkansas will remove 10 times more polluting phosphorus than does Tahlequah. Northwest Arkansas newspapers seem to devote much greater attention to water and to watershed issues than Oklahoma’s press.

What drives this? Perhaps it’s purely the need. Northwest Arkansas’ population has grown so rapidly that it has dramatized the need for more environmental protection. No small factor is the growth of the poultry industry and the huge amount of damaging waste it generates for the entire watershed. Oklahoma has pressured Northwest Arkansas to do more to protect the Illinois River watershed. This controversy is good as it has prompted a closer look at how we manage water resources.

This being said, Northwest Arkansas city leaders and politicians continue to lobby the Environmental Protection Agency and pander to agricultural interests in an effort to preserve the status quo. In order to protect the Illinois River watershed, we will have to pony up and pay more realistic rates for the technology our health and our quality of life require.

Many cities have adopted controls on fertilizers containing phosphorus chemicals used to control weeds and pests. Perhaps we should consider similar rules? In contrast, Oklahoma road crews and utility companies routinely hose down vegetation next to the Illinois River and tributaries. Sewage sludge containing large amounts of phosphorus and bacteria has been spread near streams leading to the Illinois River and Tenkiller Lake.

Tahlequah has so much at stake. We live in an area where half of the state’s designated scenic rivers are located. We have to do a better job of protecting our ground water and surface water.

I urge you to pay particular attention to these things as you follow local government agencies and programs and to watch what is happening in other cities, especially to our east.

Ed Brocksmith

Tahlequah