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Federal water data

County water report

Union County Water Report

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

Water grade

F

Water score

17.3

State rank

#55

of 75

Health violations

63

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

50.0%

112 water bodies assessed

Monitoring sites

36

22,426 recent measurements

Live streamflow

8%

Smackover Creek near Smackover, AR

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Union County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

F

Score: 17.3 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

63

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

50% impaired

112 bodies assessed

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

8% of mean

Smackover Creek near Smackover, AR

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

36

22,426 recent readings

Source: EPA SDWIS · Safe Drinking Water Information System

Drinking Water Compliance

Compliance grade

F

Based on EPA SDWIS compliance history.

Water score

Higher scores indicate cleaner recent compliance records.

17.3/100

Health violations

63

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

159.9

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Editorial analysis

Understanding Union County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Union County's water systems carry a failing grade, scoring 17.3 out of 100. Over the past five years, EPA SDWIS records 63 health-based violations — a pattern that public water utilities are required to disclose and correct.

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 substantial 50.0% of assessed waterways are impaired (56 of 112 water bodies) across Union County's watersheds. The leading impairment causes are mercury in fish tissue and turbidity - base flows. 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 2026-05-14T13:30:00.000-05:00) puts Smackover Creek at 33.7 cfs — well below its long-term average at 8% 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. Union County has moderate coverage with 36 active monitoring sites with 22,426 recent measurements on record. Predominant monitoring categories include inorganics, minor, metals and nutrient. 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 Union County

Water Verdict

Union County receives a poor water quality assessment with a grade of F and a score of 17.3 out of 100. The water supply has documented quality issues. Residents are strongly encouraged to use filtered or bottled water for drinking and to stay informed about utility improvement plans.

Violation Context

Union County has recorded 63 health-based violations, indicating multiple instances where federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements were not met. At 159.9 violations per 100,000 people served, this rate is high and signals significant water quality management issues.

Consumer Guidance

Union County has a Grade F compliance record with 63 health-based violations — among the highest levels in the country. Union County's drinking-water compliance score is 17.3 out of 100. Residents are strongly advised to use a certified NSF 58 reverse-osmosis filter or bottled water for all drinking and cooking until violations are corrected. Contacting the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality or Health can expedite utility compliance action. Mercury in Fish Tissue is the leading impairment cause in Union County's watershed. With 36 active water-quality monitoring sites in Union County, data coverage is strong. A pipeline streamflow snapshot from the Smackover Creek gauge is also available on this page.

Regional Context

Union County has poorer water quality than the average county in Arkansas. Its water score is 30.3 points lower than the state average, suggesting more challenges with contamination control or infrastructure than 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 Union County's water environment

Watershed Impairment Causes (EPA ATTAINS)

  • 1

    Mercury (fish tissue)

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

  • 2

    High turbidity

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

  • 3

    pH imbalance

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

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Official EPA Resources for Union County

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for Union County

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for Union County

Consumer Confidence Reports (AR)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in Arkansas

Clean Water Act §303(d)

Watershed Health

Impaired Water Bodies

50.0%

56 of 112 assessed

Moderate concern

Top Impairment Causes

  • 1

    MERCURY IN FISH TISSUE

  • 2

    TURBIDITY - BASE FLOWS

  • 3

    PH

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

36

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

22K

22,426 total readings

Most Measured

  • Inorganics, Minor, Metals
  • Nutrient
  • Physical

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

33.7cfs

May 14, 6:30 PM UTC

vs Long-Term Average

8%

Well below typical

Primary Streamgage

Smackover Creek near Smackover, AR

USGS site
07362100
Drainage area
385 sq mi
Long-term mean
420 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

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Annual Total

$558

Monthly

$47

Water Bill

$558/yr

Filter Cost

$0/yr

Safety Grade for Union County:F — Failing

High violation count or severe watershed conditions.

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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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the water quality in Union County, Arkansas?
Union County, Arkansas has a drinking-water quality grade of F with a score of 17.3/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 63 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 Union County?
Union County has 63 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). Violations may have been resolved — check with your local water utility for current status.
How healthy are the watersheds in Union County?
EPA ATTAINS assessments under Clean Water Act §303(d) indicate 50.0% of Union County's 112 assessed water bodies are classified as impaired (56 impaired). The top reported causes are MERCURY IN FISH TISSUE, TURBIDITY - BASE FLOWS, PH. 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 Union County?
EPA's Water Quality Portal records 22,426 measurements from 36 monitoring sites in Union County over the past five years. The most frequently measured characteristic groups are Inorganics, Minor, Metals, Nutrient, Physical. 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 Union County right now?
Union County's primary USGS streamgage on the Smackover Creek has a pipeline snapshot of 33.7 cubic feet per second — 8% of the long-term mean of 419.61 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 Union County water compare to the Arkansas average?
Union County's SDWIS water quality score of 17.3/100 is lower 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 Union County?
Based on EPA SDWIS data, Union County has a water quality grade of F (17.3/100). This indicates below-average compliance with significant violations. Residents may want to consider home water filtration or independent testing. 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).
Why does Union County have so many water violations?
Union County has 63 health-based drinking water violations on record from the EPA SDWIS database. A higher violation count can result from aging infrastructure, underfunded water utilities, agricultural runoff contamination, or industrial pollution. Counties with more water systems may also see more violations simply due to scale. Residents concerned about water quality should consider independent water testing and home filtration systems.
How does Union County rank for water quality in Arkansas?
Union County ranks #55 out of 75 counties in Arkansas by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 17.3/100, it falls in the bottom 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

Nevada County

Arkansas

F

16.3

Water score

Polk County

Arkansas

F

14.8

Water score

Marion County

Arkansas

F

14.4

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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