Fourche Creek Information

The Fourche Creek Watershed encompasses at least six third-order streams and nine primary tributaries that discharge into Fourche Creek, a body of water stretching across the length of the city of Little Rock and connecting several isolated urban wetlands in the area. The watershed functions as a filtration system for the city: it catches the water and runoff from the city and eventually deposits them in the Arkansas River. The creek drains eastern Saline and central Pulaski counties and 98% of Little Rock, emptying into the Arkansas River just south of the downtown area, immediately below the city’s wastewater treatment facility. The huge span of the watershed qualifies it as the largest urban filtration system in Central Arkansas. There are ten city parks bordering Fourche Creek or its tributaries. An estimated 90,000 acres of the watershed’s 108,000 acres lie within the city limits of Little Rock, and of those, approximately 2000 acres are intact wetlands. The core intact wetland area of Fourche Creek remains undeveloped, but it is surrounded by encroaching commercial and industrial sites and criss-crossed by utility corridors.

Fourche Creek drains mainly surface and storm water from the city. During a typical storm incident, Fourche Creek's wetlands can store up to one billion gallons of water. The creek, watershed, and wetland areas provide water purification; efficient containment and storage of floodwaters; urban noise reduction; air and water pollution control; and wildlife habitat within the city. Fourche Creek is home to over 50 species of fish (one fourth of all Arkansas fish species), stands of three hundred year old bald cypress, and a diverse population of migratory bird species.