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<br /> <br />CO~~~J <br />. ~JJ~ <br /> <br />Environmental Quality and Sensitive Areas. The majority of the <br />counties along the transfer route are rural in nature, and environmental <br />quality problems related to air, water, and noise pollution are <br />generally minor and localized in comparison to urban areas. Water <br />quality problems in streams along the corridor or crossed by the <br />corridor are principally related to natural salt pollution in the <br />Arkansas, Red and Brazos River systems and agriculturally introduced <br />sediment and nutrient/pesticide/herbicide non-point pollution in crop <br />producing areas. Portions of the Cross Timbers and Prairie Region and <br />northeast Texas are major oil producing areas which have also <br />contributed to air, water, and noise pollution problems in the past. <br />Aesthetic values are difficult to place on the region but, in general, <br />the eastern portions of the route with higher rainfall, abundance of <br />trees, and rural pastoral setting would be considered to be aesthe- <br />tically pleasing to most people. The Caprock Escarpment near the <br />western terminal of the route and the rolling plains also possess known <br />aesthetic values. <br /> <br />There are no National Parks or National Forests along the water <br />transfer corridor or near storage reservoirs. Only one National <br />Wildlife Refuge (NWR) is located in a county directly affected by the <br />water transfer alternative, Hagerman NWR in Texas. The White River NWR <br />and Felsenthal NWR in Arkansas and three NWR's in Louisiana, while not <br />within direct impact areas, may be affected by water withdrawals from <br />source points. One National Grassland, Caddo, is located in Fannin <br />County, Texas, and would be within the corridor. The canal corridor and <br />storage facilities pass close enough to warrant consideration of at <br />least eight state wildlife management areas in Arkansas, and three state <br />wildlife management areas in Texas. Near the corridor also are a State <br />Park in Texas and a State Park and State Forest in Arkansas. These <br />resource areas are displayed in Table 16. <br /> <br />The Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service (HCRS), now <br />incorporated into and a part of the National Park Service, has <br />identified two rivers near the corridor (the Little Missouri River in <br />Arkansas and the Pease River in Texas) in their Natural Rivers Inventory <br />as potential natural and free flowing rivers (April 1980). Neither of <br /> <br />D33 <br />