by Talk Business & Politics staff (staff2@talkbusiness.net)

A new phase of a $762 million water management system known as the Bayou Meto Water Project pumped its first demonstration delivery at a ceremony attended by U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., and agriculture leaders across the state.

The Marion Berry Pump Station will provide critical surface water to farmers, supplementing declining groundwater levels. Roughly 80% of the state’s irrigation water comes from groundwater, with Arkansas having the third highest number of irrigated acres in the country.

Named after the late U.S. Rep. Marion Berry, the station was completed in 2015. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will build three miles of canals in 2025 that will reach Indian Bayou and will allow the pump station to move water to nearly 300,000 irrigated acres.

Bayou Meto water project prepares for next phase

by Talk Business & Politics staff (staff2@talkbusiness.net)

Former U.S. Rep. Marion Berry, D-Gillett, who began his political career as a Gillett city alderman and would serve seven terms in Congress, has died. He was 80.

Berry was born Aug. 27, 1942 in Stuttgart, Ark., graduated from DeWitt High School and received a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy in 1965 from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

He would become a rice and soybean farmer in Gillett, and would serve on the Gillett city council between 1976 and 1980. His service prior to being elected to Congress included being on the Arkansas Soil and Water Conservation Commission (1986-1994), the White House Domestic Policy Council (1993-1996), and special assistant to President Bill Clinton for Agricultural Trade and Food Assistance (1993-1996).

https://talkbusiness.net/2023/05/former-arkansas-congressman-marion-berry-has-died/