Regional water supplier warns of ‘dire situation’ across 17 Northwest Arkansas communities as demand nears the system’s ceiling

ROGERS, Ark. – The wholesale water provider serving 17 communities in western Benton and Washington counties is warning its customer systems that demand is on pace to consume nearly all of the water it can physically pump this month, and is asking cities to immediately curtail lawn irrigation and halt lawn installations in new subdivisions.

Scott Borman, general manager of the Benton Washington Regional Public Water Authority, laid out the numbers in an email to customer systems this week. Through the first 10 days of August, the authority was on track to sell roughly 600 million gallons over the 31-day month. Its current maximum pumping capacity is approximately 621 million gallons for the same period.

That leaves a margin of about 3 percent, before accounting for peak demand. Borman said hourly demand during peak periods is running at a rate of 29 to 30 million gallons per day, concentrated in two windows: roughly 6 a.m. to 8 a.m., and around 5 p.m.

Borman stopped short of a formal conservation order, characterizing the request as a curtailment of lawn irrigation and of lawn installations in new subdivisions rather than a “full-blown” conservation order. But he said customer systems need to take steps immediately to slow demand.

Drought expected to deepen

Northwest Arkansas currently sits in the abnormally dry (D0) category on the U.S. Drought Monitor. Borman warned conditions are expected to worsen through the rest of the month, potentially reaching moderate (D1) or severe (D2) drought by the end of August, with a hot, dry forecast for the remainder of the month.

That trajectory is already visible in federal data. The share of Benton County’s population affected by drought jumped 56 percent in the past week, and the Bentonville area recorded less than one hundredth of an inch of rain over the past seven days, according to Drought.gov.

Borman noted the dynamic works against the water system: as drought deepens, homeowners water more, worsening the strain. Lawns recover, he said, but running out of potable water is not a better alternative.

Relief timeline slips to next summer

A new transmission line and High Service Pump Station will eventually ease the crunch, but Borman said they will not be online until next summer.

A warning that came true on schedule

The authority has been signaling trouble for nearly a month. Borman warned in mid-July that customer demand was reaching the system’s full capacity and asked all customer cities to adopt even and odd day watering schedules. He said at the time he was “not asking for a conservation order,” but warned the system would “probably get to that point in two to three weeks” without a serious cut in irrigation demand.

The strain has surfaced repeatedly since:

A 36-inch transmission line blew out near Pea Ridge on July 19, forcing conservation alerts across 13 systems, a precautionary boil order in part of Pea Ridge and the temporary closure of Gentry’s splash pad. Refilling drained storage kept conservation orders in place through July 21.

Centerton Utilities went further on July 25, issuing a mandatory moratorium on all outdoor watering after demand exceeded supply. It was lifted July 27, but the even and odd watering request stayed in place.

When the July orders lifted at 7 a.m. on July 21, Borman said the system was immediately “slammed pretty hard” by lawn irrigation.

Who this affects

The authority provides wholesale water to more than 135,000 people across Northwest Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma. Its customer systems include Pea Ridge, Centerton, Bella Vista, Decatur, Garfield, Gateway, Gentry, Gravette, Highfill, Lincoln, Lost Bridge Village, Prairie Grove, Siloam Springs, Tontitown and the Washington Water Authority, along with Westville and Colcord in Oklahoma. The service area also covers the Northwest Arkansas National Airport, Devils Den State Park, the Simmons Foods plant in Gentry and the McKee Family Bakery plant.

The authority draws from Beaver Lake and operates a treatment plant near Avoca with more than 135 miles of transmission pipeline across the two counties.

Borman invited residents with questions to contact him directly.