This action provides funding under the infrastructure investment and jobs act (IIJA) in the amount of $1,889,339 to the university of arkansas to support their efforts with improving the water quality…

EPA Region 4 awarded $1.889 million to the University of Arkansas on January 1, 2026, under the Geographic Programs–Gulf of America Program (CFDA 66.475) to assess biochar-amended poultry litter's ability to reduce agricultural nutrient runoff and improve water quality in the Gulf of America watershed through laboratory testing, field trials, and watershed-scale water quality monitoring.

The recipient will conduct laboratory-level experiments to evaluate nutrient removal capacity of biochar, perform field-scale water quality monitoring measuring nutrient concentrations in pasturelands amended with biochar, and execute watershed-scale monitoring to quantify contaminant loads in downstream waterways. The project establishes a Discovery Farm to deliver training, demonstrations, and technical assistance to local residents and landowners. Laboratory analysis will examine nutrient retention properties of poultry-litter-derived biochar products and test water and soil samples to document environmental and operational benefits for farm field applications.

Sub-recipients deliver complementary work spanning laboratory analysis, field deployment, farmer engagement, and community outreach. The Division of Agriculture of the University of Arkansas (sub-award March 6, 2026) installs and maintains edge-of-field runoff monitoring stations, collects water quality samples, implements treatments, and conducts field days and watershed-scale education. Beaver Watershed Alliance (sub-award March 17, 2026) solicits 25 farmers for biochar trials, develops management plans for 15 farmers, establishes a Discovery Farm, enrolls up to 50 acres in the project, hosts six producer workshops, distributes 9,000 annual mailers, produces two professional videos, and awards 15 mini-grants totaling $100,000 to farmers. Carbon Chicken Project LLC (sub-award March 5, 2026) manufactures and supplies biochar filtration systems and Carbon Chicken 80:20 product (80 percent poultry litter, 20 percent biochar), designs drainage system protocols, and recruits 25 farmers for field trials.

Performance occurs in Arkansas through December 31, 2028.

This action provides funding under the infrastructure investment and jobs act (IIJA) in the amount of $1,889,339 to the university of arkansas to support their efforts with improving the water quality of the gulf of america. The purpose of this award is to assess biochar-amended poultry litter's ability to reduce agricultural nutrient runoff with laboratory testing, field trials, and watershed-scale water quality monitoring. Through collaborative efforts with local farmers and communities, IT will evaluate biochar's effectiveness as an innovative solution to improving both water quality and farm productivity. Activities:the activities to be performed include laboratory-level experiments to assess the nutrient removal capacity of biochar as well as water quality monitoring - at a field-scale, measuring nutrient concentrations in pasturelands amended with biochar, and at a watershed-scale to quantify the contaminant loads of downstream waterways. Community-wide engagement will be achieved through the establishment of a discovery farm to reach local residents and landowners with training, demonstrations, and technical assistance. Subrecipient:subrecipient activities include installing and monitoring water quality measurement systems on demonstration farms, performing field and laboratory sample analysis, and hosting training, workshops, and other community outreach events, where involvement will be tracked and results processed into informational multi-media public distributions.outcomes:the anticipated deliverables and expected outcomes include the analysis of water quality and agricultural productivity indicators across different scales to demonstrate the environmental and operational benefits of biochar-amended poultry litter to farm field applications, increasing public awareness and voluntary participation in conservation efforts. Water and soil tests will be performed in the laboratory to examine the nutrient retention properties of poultry-litter-derived biochar with the experiments designed to show how biochar mixed with poultry litter can reduce phosphorus and other element concentrations. To implement field-scale application trials, a discovery farm will be developed to examine biochar's ability to reduce edge-of-field nutrient loss. Four field sites with different treatment ratios will be sampled during water run-off events and compared for nutrient and sediment composition with the expectation that, along with improvements in soil health parameters and forage yield, treatment sites will achieve a 15-25% reduction in nitrate loss and a 5-10% decrease in phosphorus loss compared to the control. Furthermore, to document water quality benefits at the watershed-level, samples from receiving waterways, downstream of the project's treatment sites, will be analyzed for nutrient concentrations for comparison to data from control watersheds outside of the study area. These results are anticipated to show a 5-10% reduction in nutrient loss for sites with biochar treatment. The discovery farm will also provide a main venue for the project's community engagement efforts which are expected to result in 15 producers implementing voluntary on-site biochar applications for approximately 50 acres of farmland. Support resources and decision-making tools will be developed in conjunction with increased community involvement to streamline efficiency and support the local community, thereby increasing public participation and partnering in voluntary conservation practices which play a key role in providing safe, healthy drinking water to the public and ensuring access to clean, abundant water resources to future generations. As the intended beneficiaries, the residents and communities in the brush creek-beaver lake watershed within madison and washington counties, arkansas, will benefit from improved water quality, community resilience, and environmental awareness.