MEMPHIS, Tenn., June 17, 2010 – The Memphis District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, today
awarded a contract to construct the substructure for the Grand Prairie Pumping Station, located just east of De Valls Bluff, Ark., to Randy Kinder Excavating, Inc., of Dexter, Mo. The contract is valued at
approximately $9 million.
The Grand Prairie Project is a comprehensive water management plan designed to protect and
preserve the Alluvial and Sparta Aquifers in eastern Arkansas and includes portions of Monroe, Lonoke, Arkansas, and Prairie counties. The project will also provide a source for the continued irrigation of agricultural crops and reduces further depletion of groundwater aquifers, while providing critical benefits for the millions of waterfowl which annually migrate through the region.
“To do this, the pumping station will use water from the White River to supplement a network of
on-farm water conservation measures,” Paul Hamm, the Corps’ Project Manager said. “This
supplemental system will be used to fill on-farm reservoirs that store the water, and will help meet
participating farmer’s irrigation needs.”
Hamm stressed that water will only be withdrawn from the White River in accordance with
agreements designed to protect the other uses of the river, including fish and wildlife and navigation,
and the pumping station will only operate when adequate flows are available.
“This is a significant step in the overall construction of this very important project,” Hamm said.
“The Corps is very pleased that we and the citizens of the Grand Prairie are moving forward.”
Project sponsor for the work is the White River Irrigation District with headquarters in Hazen,
Ark. They will cost-share in the construction of the project.
The contractor will begin work on the pumping station substructure next month with completion
scheduled for the summer of 2011.
Release no. 10-03