White River Irrigation District details pipeline, reservoirs and ARPA funding for Grand Prairie project

Dan Hooks and Robert Morey of the White River Irrigation District updated the committee on a Grand Prairie irrigation project intended to deliver affordable water to farms across Lonoke, Monroe, Prairie and adjacent counties.

Hooks described the district as a farmer‑elected entity serving roughly 300,000 acres with about one‑third in rice production and said the project will use underground pipelines, a regulating reservoir and a pump station at Duvall’s Bluff. He said phase 1 is about 50% complete, will capture about 70,000 irrigated acres and has an estimated phase‑1 cost of about $70 million with expected completion of that phase in 2025.

The presenters described construction choices to reduce cost—including converting to concrete box culverts to save roughly $0.5 million per bridge in early phases—and said local contractors and private‑sector techniques are being used for efficiency. Hooks said pipe and pipeline costs have risen sharply and that energy provisioning for the pump station remains a near‑term need.

Morey and Hooks said the district received $5 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds in September to build county road crossings and leverage additional federal funding to finish the pump station. In response to questions, they said total lifetime expenditures to date are in the order of $140 million, and that planners expect fewer lift pumps after initial elevation is achieved at the reservoir, with smaller farm‑level pumps used locally.

Committee members thanked the district for the briefing and asked follow‑up questions about costs, pump stations and contracting choices.