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New Entergy Arkansas substation will help power Grand Prairie Irrigation District
12/04/2024
Onsite substation will support water distribution to farms in four Arkansas counties
Entergy Arkansas leaders recently joined Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders and U.S. Senator John Boozman for a tour of the Grand Prairie Irrigation District. The tour, part of the Governor’s October Farm Tour, showcased the construction of an onsite Entergy Arkansas substation.
Entergy Arkansas is constructing the onsite substation to support the pump station that will distribute water to farms throughout Arkansas, Lonoke, Monroe and Prairie Counties as part of the Grand Prairie Irrigation Project. The project plan calls for pumping water from the White River through a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built pumping station at DeValls Bluff, Ark., and sending it through canals and pipelines to farms throughout the Grand Prairie. The Grand Prairie substation, which will cover about two acres and be constructed to keep the equipment above the 100-year floodplain water level, is dedicated to serving a total of six high-powered motors that will drive the pumps. It will use specialized transformers to serve the unique needs of this particular substation.
Agricultural water management increases irrigation efficiencies and provides supplemental water for agricultural crops utilizing the White River as the surface water source. This can also provide energy savings and increased crop yields.
Funding for the project is being provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which has given $48 million in federal funds to be used along with local funding to construct the first phase of the delivery system for the project. The project is a joint effort between the Natural Resources Conservation Service, United States Army Corps of Engineers, White River Irrigation District (WRID), and the Arkansas Department of Agriculture.
The overall project will preserve the area’s groundwater resources by providing 92% of the average annual agricultural water need and providing continued irrigated production on 245,357 acres of cropland. The project allows the region to maintain its output of agricultural products and its economy.
