Norfork National Fish Hatchery is currently undergoing significant facility upgrades designed to improve overall water flow and discontinue the use of aging infrastructure. The core of this project involves bypassing the hatchery’s long‑used aerator buildings and installing new packed columns at the head of each upper raceway as well as inside the indoor tank systems. These packed columns are filled with small plastic biomedia that help maximize oxygenation and off‑gassing—critical functions that, until now, were handled almost entirely by the aerator buildings. By redirecting the system around those buildings, the hatchery will be able to increase water pressure and finally improve the long‑limited flow to the uppermost raceways, an issue that has challenged staff for many years.
As with any major infrastructure undertaking, a few challenges have surfaced along the way. Recently, a piece of equipment malfunctioned, leaving an object lodged inside a pipeline. Removing it safely required reducing system pressure, which meant temporarily closing one of the hatchery’s water intakes and opening a relief valve across the river where the pipeline originates. When the pressure was released, water surged through a much smaller six‑inch relief line, producing a sudden, dramatic plume that resembled a geyser and immediately captured the attention of nearby visitors.
Work on the project will continue over the coming months. Despite occasional setbacks, these improvements represent an important and much‑needed step forward for the hatchery’s operations—and they even provided an unexpected moment of excitement in the form of a brief but memorable “Arkansas geyser.”
