Becky Gillette – One thing people most enjoy about the Kings River is beautiful, sparkling clear water filled with aquatic life. There is a different scenic vista around every bend. In addition to providing opportunities for boating, swimming and fishing, conservation of the Kings River is also important because the water flows into Table Rock Lake where is it used as a source of drinking water for thousands of people.
The Kings River is more than 60 miles long originating in the Boston Mountains of Madison County. Currently The Nature Conservancy (TNC) owns 5,200 acres of land surrounding the Kings River, preserving both sides of the river for 10.5 miles including most of the area between the Rockhouse Road access operated by the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission and Trigger Gap. In addition to protecting water quality of the Kings treasured by thousands who canoe, kayak, fish or swim, TNC’s work helps protect the wide diversity of wildlife including 18 species of fish, crayfish, mussels, turtles and aquatic insects found only in the Ozarks.
TNC ownership also helps prevent panoramic views turning into golf courses and subdivisions. But it doesn’t restrict public access. In fact, some of its conservation projects help make it friendlier for canoers and kayakers by restoring main channels that have turned into wide shallow areas after flooding.
TNC, with support from FedEx and Tyson Foods, Inc., has planted 120 acres of hardwoods in bottomlands near the river. Roots of the trees stand strong in the face of high floodwaters.
“We are restoring eroded river banks to stop future loss of sediment,” said Carol Wright, a TNC fundraiser who recently moved to Carroll County. “We work with a lot of different groups to plant trees in eroded areas near the river. One time we planted fifteen hundred trees in three hours with fifty volunteers.”
One of the most damaging activities on the Kings has been instream gravel mining. The designation of the Kings as an Extraordinary Resource Water Body has prevented commercial extraction of gravel from the riverbed.
Runoff from unpaved roads can also be a problem. Another big impact comes from clearing streamside land of trees to develop pastures. In one pasture site measured, about 140 feet of riverbank had eroded away dumping the equivalent of 2,000 dump truck loads of sediment into the river.
Wright said deforestation, instream gravel mining and other deleterious activities can disturb a river for miles downstream and take years to heal.
Erosion is particularly bad when there are tremendous amounts of water flowing down the Kings River during floods. A December 2015 flood, for example, resulted in the loss of 62 feet of bank in the Oxbow area of the river. That resulted in the loss of sediment equivalent to what would be held in 1,300 dump trucks. Sediment caused by erosion damages the aquatic ecosystem and can end up filling in downstream streams and lakes.
Excessive sediment that also can fill in gravel beds and choke out organisms at the bottom of the food chain, which ends up harming those at the top, like smallmouth bass. Sediment is considered the primary threat to the Kings and other upland rivers in Arkansas, according to TNC. Forested river corridors (riparian areas) and well-constructed and maintained unpaved roads help reduce the amount of sediment that enters a stream.
Fixing erosion problems isn’t easy. While river conservation projects are expensive, Wright said ultimately it saves money because you have better water quality and fewer downstream impacts.
“People who love the river just want it to stay as pristine as possible,” she said. “Farmers like our projects because it adds to their useable land.”
TNC projects also serve as demonstrations for landowners interested in improving their property and the river’s water quality. TNC has hosted a number of workshops for county road crews throughout the Ozarks to showcase innovative road construction and maintenance techniques that prevent erosion and reduce maintenance costs.
Camping is allowed at the preserve. Anyone coming from the river by boat can camp on the gravel bars, but should not go into the adjacent lands. Anyone coming to the river by vehicle must have permission and should first call TNC offices at (479) 973-9110, 9-5 weekdays.
Anyone interested in donating the Kings River Preserve can contact Wright at (281) 770-1112. Go to nature.org/arkansas for more information on the TNC including the work on the Kings.