Purpose: To create a water delivery system to improve flooding and drainage of 2 wetland impoundments on White River NWR. Habitat improvements are targeted for the Jack's Bay Area (South Unit) that are open to public waterfowl hunting. The site has been managed as a wetland in the past and provides approximately 2,400 hunting days of recreation. However, enhanced water delivery will improve flooding/drainage capabilities, and improve overall management of green-tree reservoirs and associated wetland habitats. The wetland units will provide a complex of seasonally flooded emergent marsh and bottomland hardwood forest. In the past, poor water control (i.e., early fall flooding) has negatively affected the quality of the hardwood forest. Improved water delivery will facilitate more expedient drawdowns and result in regeneration of red oak and other important tree species. In 2003, rehabilitation of levees resulted in enhancement of approximately 1,200 acres of wetlands via improved water delivery.

This summer (2004), DU and the USFWS will partner to enhance an additional 1,805 acres on Jack's Bay Area and Wolf Bayou (approximately 645 acres).

Location: Approx. 10 miles southeast of Gillett, AR (Arkansas County)

Acres Impacted: 3,650 acres impacted

Habitat Type: Green-tree Reservoirs
Emergent Herbaceous Wetlands

Partner: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Ducks Unlimited, Inc.

Timeline: Construction has been completed.