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County water report

Craighead County Water Report

Drinking-water compliance, watershed health, monitoring records, and river conditions for Craighead County, Arkansas.

Water grade

A

Water score

86.0

State rank

#7

of 75

Health violations

0

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

18.3%

421 water bodies assessed

Monitoring sites

10

5,160 recent measurements

Live streamflow

0%

Cache River at Egypt, AR

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Craighead County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

A

Score: 86.0 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

0

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

18% impaired

421 bodies assessed

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

0% of mean

Cache River at Egypt, AR

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

10

5,160 recent readings

Source: EPA SDWIS · Safe Drinking Water Information System

Drinking Water Compliance

Compliance grade

A

Based on EPA SDWIS compliance history.

Water score

Higher scores indicate cleaner recent compliance records.

86.0/100

Health violations

0

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

0.0

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Editorial analysis

Understanding Craighead County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Craighead County earns an A grade for drinking water quality, scoring 86.0 out of 100. EPA's Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) records zero health-based violations over the past five years — a strong compliance signal for a heavily urbanized county.

Watershed Conditions

EPA ATTAINS

Under the Clean Water Act §303(d), EPA ATTAINS tracks whether waterways meet quality standards for drinking, recreation, and aquatic life (reporting cycle: 2022). A notable 18.3% of assessed waterways carry an impairment designation (77 of 421 water bodies) across Craighead County's watersheds. The leading impairment causes are turbidity - base flows and dissolved oxygen - critical. Impairment does not mean tap water is unsafe — it measures ambient waterway conditions upstream of treatment, not finished drinking water.

River & Streamflow Status

USGS NWIS

USGS NWIS gauge data (as of 2026-05-14T13:45:00.000-05:00) puts Cache River at 0.0 cfs — well below its long-term average at 0% of mean — low-flow conditions worth noting for water-dependent ecosystems. Streamflow is a leading indicator of drought stress, sediment load, and dilution capacity: low flows concentrate pollutants and warm water temperatures, stressing aquatic life and, in surface-water-dependent systems, the source water quality for treatment plants.

Monitoring Network

EPA WQP

EPA's Water Quality Portal (WQP) aggregates monitoring data from federal, state, and tribal agencies. Craighead County has moderate coverage with 10 active monitoring sites with 5,160 recent measurements on record. Predominant monitoring categories include inorganics, minor, metals and physical. More monitoring sites generally indicate greater scientific attention to local water conditions — and provide the baseline data that regulators use to set future impairment listings.

Editorial advisory

What the data suggests for Craighead County

Water Verdict

Craighead County, Arkansas receives an excellent water quality assessment with a grade of A and a score of 86.0 out of 100. The water supply meets or exceeds federal safety standards, and residents can generally drink tap water with confidence. Separately, EPA ATTAINS assessments cover 421 water bodies in the county's watershed, with 18.3% listed as impaired under the Clean Water Act — a source-water measure that is tracked independently of tap-water compliance.

Violation Context

EPA SDWIS records for Craighead County, Arkansas show zero health-based violations, indicating that the county's water systems met all federal safety standards during the reporting period. The violation rate is zero per 100,000 people served, which is the best possible outcome. For independent context, 5,160 water-quality monitoring results have been recorded across the county in the EPA Water Quality Portal over the past five years.

Consumer Guidance

The EPA compliance record for Craighead County shows no recent health-based violations. No health-based violations have been recorded, placing Craighead County in the top tier for drinking-water safety. Craighead County's drinking-water compliance score is 86.0 out of 100. As a routine precaution, requesting your utility's annual Consumer Confidence Report each July gives you a full list of detected contaminants and their treatment levels. There are 10 active water-quality monitoring sites in Craighead County. A pipeline streamflow snapshot from the Cache River gauge is also available on this page.

Regional Context

Craighead County has better water quality than the average county in Arkansas. Its water score is 38.4 points higher than the state average, indicating stronger water system performance relative to neighboring counties.

Advisory text summarizes county-level public records and is not a replacement for your utility's current Consumer Confidence Report or direct local notices.

Contaminants & Resources

Key issues flagged in Craighead County's water environment

Watershed Impairment Causes (EPA ATTAINS)

  • 1

    High turbidity

    Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment

  • 2

    Dissolved Oxygen - Critical

    Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment

  • 3

    Turbidity - Storm Flows

    Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Official EPA Resources for Craighead County

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for Craighead County

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for Craighead County

Consumer Confidence Reports (AR)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in Arkansas

Clean Water Act §303(d)

Watershed Health

Impaired Water Bodies

18.3%

77 of 421 assessed

Some impairment

Top Impairment Causes

  • 1

    TURBIDITY - BASE FLOWS

  • 2

    DISSOLVED OXYGEN - CRITICAL

  • 3

    TURBIDITY - STORM FLOWS

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Impairment is determined under the Clean Water Act §303(d): a water body is impaired when it fails to meet state-defined quality standards for designated uses (drinking, recreation, aquatic life). Assessment coverage varies by state; counties without assessed water bodies are not shown.

Past 5 years

Water Quality Monitoring

Monitoring Sites

10

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

5.2K

5,160 total readings

Most Measured

  • Inorganics, Minor, Metals
  • Physical
  • Nutrient

Categories measured most frequently

Data from the EPA Water Quality Portal (WQP), aggregating monitoring records from federal, state, and tribal sources. Each measurement represents a single sample analyzed for a specific characteristic (e.g., E. coli, pH, dissolved oxygen, nitrogen).

Live USGS Streamgage

River & Stream Conditions

Current Discharge

0.00cfs

May 14, 6:45 PM UTC

vs Long-Term Average

0%

Well below typical

Primary Streamgage

Cache River at Egypt, AR

USGS site
07077380
Drainage area
701 sq mi
Long-term mean
910 cfs

One representative streamgage (the one with the largest drainage area in the county). Many counties have multiple gauges; this view summarizes the primary one. The long-term mean is the full-record annual average; the percent-of-typical value compares the latest reading against that average.

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Water Cost Estimate

3

3 people  ·  ~225 gal/day

Annual Total

$558

Monthly

$47

Water Bill

$558/yr

Filter Cost

$0/yr

Safety Grade for Craighead County:B — Good

Minor violations; waterways mostly healthy.

Estimates use the national average residential water rate ($0.0068/gal, EPA/AWWA 2023) and EPA WaterSense per-person consumption baseline (75 gal/person/day). Actual bills vary by utility, usage tier, and local infrastructure fees. For informational purposes only.

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Craighead County has good water quality

Learn about water restrictions and conservation in your area.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the water quality in Craighead County, Arkansas?
Craighead County, Arkansas has a drinking-water quality grade of A with a score of 86.0/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 0 health-based drinking water violations over the past 5 years. Watershed health, monitoring records, and streamflow snapshots are reported separately on this page.
Are there any water violations in Craighead County?
Craighead County has 0 health-based drinking water violations recorded by the EPA over the past 5 years. Health-based violations indicate instances where contaminant levels exceeded EPA Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs). Zero violations is an excellent record indicating consistent compliance with federal drinking water standards.
How healthy are the watersheds in Craighead County?
EPA ATTAINS assessments under Clean Water Act §303(d) indicate 18.3% of Craighead County's 421 assessed water bodies are classified as impaired (77 impaired). The top reported causes are TURBIDITY - BASE FLOWS, DISSOLVED OXYGEN - CRITICAL, TURBIDITY - STORM FLOWS. Impairment means the water body fails to meet state quality standards for at least one designated use — drinking water source, recreation, aquatic life, or fish consumption. Note: watershed impairment doesn't always translate to tap-water issues; treatment plants can remove most regulated contaminants.
How much water-quality monitoring happens in Craighead County?
EPA's Water Quality Portal records 5,160 measurements from 10 monitoring sites in Craighead County over the past five years. The most frequently measured characteristic groups are Inorganics, Minor, Metals, Physical, Nutrient. Each measurement is a single sample analyzed for one characteristic (E. coli, pH, dissolved oxygen, etc.). High monitoring density means more scientific evidence behind any reported signal — it does not by itself indicate water quality.
What's happening with rivers in Craighead County right now?
Craighead County's primary USGS streamgage on the Cache River has a pipeline snapshot of 0 cubic feet per second — 0% of the long-term mean of 910.25 cfs. This is well below typical — often a signal of drought stress on source water. For the latest gauge feed, visit waterdata.usgs.gov.
How does Craighead County water compare to the Arkansas average?
Craighead County's SDWIS water quality score of 86.0/100 is higher than the Arkansas state average of 47.6. The average water quality grade across Arkansas is D, based on data from 75 counties with available SDWIS data.
Is tap water safe to drink in Craighead County?
Based on EPA SDWIS data, Craighead County has a water quality grade of A (86.0/100). This indicates good to excellent water quality with strong SDWIS compliance. The grade speaks to the public water system, not the watershed — for watershed-level concerns, see the Watershed Health zone. For the most up-to-date information, contact your local water utility or review your Consumer Confidence Report (CCR).
Does Craighead County have clean drinking water?
Craighead County has 0 health-based drinking water violations according to EPA records. With a water quality score of 86.0/100 and grade A, the county's drinking water meets EPA standards with no recorded health violations. Note: drinking-water compliance speaks to the public water system, not necessarily to the watershed itself — check the Watershed Health zone for ATTAINS §303(d) data.
How does Craighead County rank for water quality in Arkansas?
Craighead County ranks #7 out of 75 counties in Arkansas by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 86.0/100, it falls in the top third of counties statewide. The ranking reflects EPA SDWIS compliance only — not watershed impairment, monitoring density, or streamflow, which are tracked separately on this page.

Counties with Similar Water Quality

Bradley County

Arkansas

A

86.0

Water score

Calhoun County

Arkansas

A

86.0

Water score

Clay County

Arkansas

A

86.0

Water score

Data Sources

Drinking-water compliance data from the EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) via the ECHO enforcement database. Scores reflect compliance history and health-based violation counts.

Watershed health and impaired-waterway data from the EPA ATTAINS Clean Water Act §303(d) assessments, state-reported and EPA-finalized.

Water-quality monitoring counts from the EPA Water Quality Portal (WQP), federated USGS, EPA, and state agency sampling records over a rolling 5-year window.

Live streamflow from the USGS National Water Information System (NWIS), continuous discharge measurements from the largest-drainage gauge in each county, compared against the full-record long-term annual mean.

Disclaimer: This data is informational only. It is not health, legal, or professional advice. For concerns about your specific water supply, contact your local water utility.

By Evan Brooks, Data EditorUpdated Reviewed by Evan Brooks, Data Editor

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