Arkansas § 14-125-103 - Legislative determination — Consequences of erosion.

§ 14-125-103. Legislative determination — Consequences of erosion.

It is declared, as a matter of legislative determination, that the consequences of soil erosion in the form of soil-washing and soil-blowing are: The silting and sedimentation of stream channels, reservoirs, dams, ditches, and harbors; The loss of fertile soil material in dust storms; The piling up of soil on lower slopes and its deposit over alluvial plains; The reduction in productivity or outright ruin of rich bottom lands by overwash of poor subsoil material, sand, and gravel swept out of the hills; Deterioration of soil and its fertility, deterioration of crops grown thereon, and declining acre yields despite development of scientific processes for increasing such yields; Loss of soil and water which causes destruction of food and cover for wildlife; A washing and blowing of soil into streams which silts over spawning beds and destroys water plants, diminishing the food supply of fish; A diminishing of the underground water reserve, which causes water shortages, intensifies periods of drought, and causes crop failures; An increase in the speed and volume of rainfall runoff, causing severe and increasing floods, which bring suffering, disease, and death; Impoverishment of families attempting to farm eroding and eroded lands; Damage to roads, highways, railways, farm buildings, and other property from floods and from dust storms; and Losses in navigation, hydroelectric power, municipal water supply, irrigation developments, farming, and grazing.