Little Sandy Creek

Little Sandy Creek is a tributary within the Lake Fayetteville – Clear Creek watershed in the Ozark Highlands ecoregion in Northwest Arkansas. Little Sandy Creek flows through Johnson Park to its confluence with Clear Creek, a major tributary within the Illinois River watershed. The 1,880-foot reach of Little Sandy Creek through Johnson Park shows significant indicators of channel instability including accelerated streambank erosion, over widening, and lateral channel migration in a reach immediately upstream of its confluence with Clear Creek, a major tributary that flows to the Illinois River.

Little Sandy Creek is experiencing severe instability characterized by accelerated streambank erosion that poses significant threats to critical infrastructure including power, sewer, gas, and water systems. The environmental challenges are further compounded by land cover changes from urban development, which have altered the creek’s flow regime and resulted in modified morphology through erosion and sedimentation processes. These changes have degraded both aquatic and riparian habitats, while hydromodification and increased runoff continue to negatively impact water quality and the ecological health of downstream receiving streams. The combination of these factors has created a complex environmental problem that affects both infrastructure stability and watershed health.