Teresa Marks, Director
5301 Northshore Drive
North Little Rock, AR 72118-5317 
(501) 682-0744

(CLICK HERE to go to the Water Division Home Page)

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Arkansas is blessed with some of the finest waters in the nation. Vital for recreation and tourism, agriculture, and citizens’ health, water quality has been a priority within Arkansas. The Water Division works in many ways to analyze, protect, and restore Arkansas’ water resources. They also address environmental issues that have not been traditionally addressed by conventional environmental protection programs through Watershed Education and Outreach.

The Water Division's staff of 87 work within these areas to protect and enhance the state's water quality.

• Water Quality Planning deals with issues related to water quality standards development, groundwater, and wasteload allocations.
• No Discharge Permits Section issues permits relating to “no-discharge” waste disposal systems (those that do not discharge directly to waters of the State) and salt water disposal systems.
• National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) approves all permits relating to water discharge within the State of Arkansas, and initiates enforcement activities for violations.
• Field Services investigates citizen’s complaints concerning water pollution matters, conducts routine inspections of facilities with water permits (state and NPDES), responds to emergencies, investigates fish kills, and collects samples from various water quality monitoring stations.
• Wastewater Licensing certifies the knowledge and experience of people responsible for operating and maintaining wastewater systems.
• Watershed Outreach and Education engages the public in the Department’s mission by developing and promoting local watershed groups to take responsibility for environmental protection in their community.
   

Statewide Response

Fourteen of eighteen ADEQ water inspectors live and work outside of Pulaski County so that the Department can quickly respond to environmental emergencies and concerns.

Permit Programs

ADEQ's permit programs track, set pollution limits, and set reporting and compliance requirements for those facilities whose activities could harm the waters of the state.

NPDES Permits

National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permits are issued to municipalities, industries or others who discharge wastewater from a "point source", like a drain pipe, into the waters of the state. These facilities are required by their permit to monitor their discharge for parameters limited in their permit and report these results to the Department on a monthly basis. The permit also has other monitoring and reporting requirements for the permittee.

Individual NPDES permits are typical for facilities like municipal sewer systems, chemical factories, food manufacturers, paper mills, large-scale animal feeding operations, schools, and mine quarries.  General NPDES permits are common for laundromats, car washes and certain stormwater activities that have similar operations and pollution characteristics.

Stormwater Permits minimize the amount of pollutants washed by stormwater runoff into local waterbodies. Stormwater permits are issued for construction, industrial, activities, and municipalities. Examples of facilities permitted for stormwater include lumberyards, paper mills, mine quarries, airports, and construction sites. Agricultural, oil and gas, and silvicultural activities are exempt from stormwater permitting.

NPDES Enforcement

The NPDES Enforcement section is responsible for enforcing the provisions of the NPDES permits. The section reviews over 1,300 Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMRs) each month and associated noncompliance reports (NCRs) from permittees; receives, reviews, and tracks inspections and responses; and reviews and tracks sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) reports from approximately 360 municipalities. The section also receives, reviews, and logs upset reports, 24-hour reports, and bypass reports required by permits. All formal enforcement actions (CAOs and NOVs) originate from the NPDES Enforcement Section. These actions are initiated for violations of the NPDES permit and for violations of the Arkansas Water and Air Pollution Control Act by unpermitted facilities.

State Permits

The No Discharge Permits Section issues permits for some activities that use waste disposal systems that do not directly discharge waste into the waters of the state but could adversely impact water quality.

Animal Waste Permits are issued for confined animal operations that use a liquid waste management system. Dry waste management systems are not required to obtain a permit from ADEQ, but are subject to enforcement for improper waste handling, storage or disposal.

Land Application Permits are issued for application of waste that provides enrichment or is beneficial to the land, such as crop nutrients, soil conditioning or crop irrigation. Such wastes typically include restaurant grease trap wastes and wastewater treatment biosolids (sludge).

Subsurface Wastewater Disposal Permits are issued by ADEQ for large residential developments that use subsurface disposal systems such as drip irrigation systems. Subsurface disposal systems for individual residences are permitted by the Arkansas Department of Health and Human Services. ADEQ also issues permits for subsurface disposal of non-domestic wastes from facilities such as car washes and laundromats.

A permit from ADEQ is required for some oil and gas field activities. These include disposal of drilling fluids, construction and operation of reserve pits, and for the surface facilities of saltwater disposal systems.

Underground Injection Control (UIC) Well Permits regulate the disposal of hazardous and non-hazardous wastes through underground wells.

401 Water Quality Certifications from ADEQ are required prior to the issuance of federal wetland permits by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to ensure that proposed construction and development projects will not violate the state's water quality standards.

Compliance Assurance

Permitted facilities are regularly inspected, as are complaints referred to the Water Division. Federal law requires an annual inspection of these facilities

• Major NPDES Industrial Permits
• Major NPDES Municipal Permits
• NPDES pretreatment compliance inspections

ADEQ additionally conducts regular, unannounced inspections of these facilities:

• NPDES construction stormwater permits
• Other Individual NPDES permits
• Animal waste management systems
• State permitted facilities

Water Quality Monitoring

The Water Division monitors the chemical constituents in the water and sediment in rivers, streams and lakes across the state, and the biological communities and physical habitat within selected waters.

Watershed Outreach And Education

The Watershed Outreach and Education section helps ADEQ, other environmental agencies, local governments, businesses, agricultural interests, and the public coordinate and customize environmental protection efforts within watersheds. The section help local watershed groups address water quality issues, and helps develop and promote local voluntary management practices that protect water quality. This section founded the Arkansas Watershed Advisory Group.

The Watershed Education specialists help teachers and schools develop local Water Education Teams, and they help grassroots environmental groups organize, understand environmental issues, and interact with other environmental stakeholders including ADEQ and other environmental agencies.
 

Wastewater Licensing

The Wastewater Licensing Programs travels the state to test and license operators of municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants. The staff works to keep licensees informed of changes in wastewater requirements for training, classification, and qualifications.