“We’re going to have drinking on the river, but you see a lot less of it,” he said.

Stephens said few float customers are local. The majority of out-of-area floaters come from Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma City.

OSRC Chairman Gerald Hilsher said this was the first time since he joined the commission in 1998 that he has heard a comprehensive report from a representative of the float businesses, and he hopes this will continue.

Stephens said he and fellow businessmen have one major complaint: the increase in semi-truck traffic along State Highway 10. “Our bus drivers can’t drive over 45 or 50 mph, and these semis pull right up on us. There’s a possibility we’re going to have a major accident there with all these trucks,” he said.

OSRC Administrator Ed Fite said he has discussed the issue with Darren Saliba, Division 1 district engineer for the Oklahoma Department of Transportation. He said traffic monitors will be installed to discriminate between large trucks and passenger vehicles when making their counts.

Fite said he and Saliba agree there are more semis on the road now than in the past.

“It seems like there’s a truck for every couple of cars,” he said. “We believe a lot of that has to do with the trucking industry trying to shorten their routes between northwest Arkansas and Dallas.”

Members delayed taking a position on a wastewater treatment plant for Bentonville and northwest Arkansas communities until they have studied the issue more.

Kurt Robinson, president of Save the Illinois River, said the plant will begin operating with one phosphorus discharge level and plans to decrease it by 2012. He questioned why, since it is a new plant, it will not operate with the lower level from the start.

“I’m fairly astonished at the silence of the OSRC on this matter,” he said.

Fite told him he expects the OSRC members will have something to say after they get more information.

Commissioners approved a joint funding agreement with the U.S. Geological Survey for monitoring and water sampling for $86,600. They also OK’d the OSRC budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1. The budget anticipates an 18 percent decrease in revenue, including 7 percent less in appropriations from the Oklahoma Legislature.