Arkansas River board will meet in Marion

Marion will be the site of the Kansas-Oklahoma Arkansas River Compact Commission’s 48th annual meeting July 25.

The board, with three members from each state appointed by their respective governors, is concerned with water quality and quantity in the Arkansas River basin. The Cottonwood River empties into the Neosho River, which then empties into the Arkansas River in Oklahoma.

About 25 officials from Oklahoma will attend the meeting and will on Tuesday evening tour best-management practices projects sponsored by Marion Reservoir Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategies. The meeting will be at 9:30 a.m. July 25 at the Historic Elgin Hotel.

Peggy Blackman, Marion Reservoir WRAPS coordinator, said this would be the farthest north the commission has ever had its annual meeting. Blackman is one of Kansas’ commissioners on the board.