Federal, State Suits Filed To Stop White River Irrigation Project

The Arkansas Wildlife Federation, the National Wildlife Federation and 16 other groups have filed a state and a federal lawsuit to stop a $319 million irrigation pumping station on the White River. The proposed pumping station at DeValls Bluff would help rice farmers irrigate their fields without having to rely on ancient, underground aquifers that are quickly drying up. The US Army Corps of Engineers has already provided funding for hundreds of farms to build retention ponds to receive the river water. The Bush administration did not fund the project for several years, but Senator Blanche Lincoln recently led Congress to approve $3.5 million dollars to start construction. The wildlife federation and other conservationists say the project endangers one of the country`s prime fishing and duck-hunting zones. The federal lawsuit was filed today in U-S District Court and is against the Corps of Engineers. It alleges that the Corps will violate the National Environmental Policy Act if it builds the pumping station. The state lawsuit was filed today in Pulaski County Circuit Court and names the Arkansas Soil and Water Conservation Commission and the White River Irrigation District as defendants. It alleges that the state commission does NOT have the authority to transfer water from the White River.