Edward Swaim

Mr. Swaim has served as Executive Director of the Bayou Meto Water Management District since April of 2019. The district was formed in 1991 to provide irrigation water, flood control, and wildlife habitat to over 750,000 acres in Lonoke, Jefferson, Prairie, and Arkansas counties. The project involves multiple federal, state, local, and private partners, and is currently under construction. Prior to working for Bayou Meto, he had been chief of the Water Management Division of the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission since October of 2010. A major achievement during Mr. Swaim’s time in the job was involving over 1,000 citizens to update the Arkansas Water Plan. Since completing the plan update, implementation has included better water use reporting and data on groundwater use and availability, formulation of several watershed management plans to reduce nonpoint source pollution, creation of a statewide drought planning workgroup, and building better relationships between agencies and with the public. Mr. Swaim was general counsel (2003 to 2010) and associate general counsel (1995 to 2001) for the Commission and an assistant attorney general (2001 to 2003). All three positions with the Natural Resources Commission included legal, data, policy, and programmatic support for the Bayou Meto project and its companion to the east, the Grand Prairie Area Demonstration Project. From 2001 to 2012, he served as a Judge Advocate officer in the US Army Reserve. He is also a member of the Plum Bayou Irrigation District board of directors. Plum Bayou distributes Arkansas River water to over 14,000 acres of farmland near England, Arkansas. Mr. Swaim is from England, Arkansas, in the Bayou Meto project area. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Hendrix College and a law degree from the University of Arkansas School of Law.