Sparta Front Page
Sparta group gets director
Laura Bond, Reporter
09-15-2009
The Sparta Ground Water Commission has recently hired a new part-time director, and it is swimming full speed ahead into various projects.
Located hundreds of feet underground, the Sparta Aquifer serves as a source of potable drinking water for 14 parishes in North Louisiana.
The commission, which is made up of 19 representatives for areas covered by the Sparta, has been primarily volunteer, said Alice Stewart, Sparta commissioner for the Homer area. This setup changed earlier this month.
Stewart is on the commission’s long-range planning committee, which hired Bill Branch to come to work as the new Sparta Commission director on Sept. 1.
Branch, a retired LSU AgCenter extension services water resource specialist, is charged with a number of responsibilities, including handling administrative duties of the commission, acting as its primary spokesman, making science-based recommendations to reverse the decline of the aquifer and tapping into funding for various Sparta projects.
“The problem the commission has had is we haven’t had anyone other than people willing to volunteer to do the legwork or grunt work necessary to function,” said Ted McKinney, who represents Ruston on the Sparta Commission and is on its long-term planning committee. “You are really at a disadvantage when you are asking volunteers to do a lot of things. This man lives in Baton Rouge and is knowledgeable about Baton Rouge and will come up here.”
Stewart said Branch will spend two weeks each month in Lincoln Parish, and his office is housed at Louisiana Tech University. He will work approximately 20 hours per week. Utilizing funds from the municipalities, parishes and industries that support the commission, Branch will be compensated $1,000 monthly for travel and board expenses and $1,000 for his services.
Branch is on a six-month contract that might be renewed.
Local residents can set eyes upon the new director themselves, when he gives his report at the Sparta Commission meeting, which is set for 3 p.m. Thursday at Lincoln Parish Library.
A couple of items on the agenda include an update from commission representative for Winn Parish Willie G. Doherty about an initiative to build a lake for surface water there and also the potential hiring of former Sparta intern Lindsay Gouedy as an administrative assistant/Sparta educator.
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Addressing a deep issue
The Sparta Aquifer — located hundreds of feet underground — serves as a source of potable drinking water for 14 parishes. The aquifer’s water levels have been declining for decades as water is utilized for residential, commercial and industrial use faster than it can be replenished. The situation has grown critical as water quality has been impacted in some parishes because of saltwater encroachment from the dropping aquifer levels. The Sparta Ground Water Commission is charged to come up with recommendations to reverse the declining levels of the aquifer.
Get involved
What: Sparta Ground Water Commission meeting
When: 3 p.m. Thursday
Where: Lincoln Parish Library
Both the commission meeting and a long-range planning committee meeting at 2 p.m. in the library are open to the public.
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