Mississippi River Basin Water Resource News for the Week - Pre-Holiday Edition

This abbreviated edition of the Mississippi River Basin Water Resource News for the Week is coming out a day ahead of its normal Friday publication date because of tomorrow's Federal Veterans Day holiday.

Notable @UpperMiss Twitter Postings for the Week 

Agriculture -

• Crop Life America report touts economic benefits of farm chemicals http://bit.ly/tw1jyx (PDF)
• Ohio State University Professor: overpriced farm land possibly constitutes speculative bubble that could burst http://bit.ly/thZDA9 (PDF)
• EPA webinar on Proposed NPDES CAFO Reporting Rule; Nov. 17; 1-2:30 EST http://bit.ly/sAoD6Z
• Forced to cut its budget, USDA has decided to eliminate dozens of reports http://nyti.ms/vyqjQx

Farm Bill-

• Environmental Working Group criticizes crop insurance as excessive and inefficient http://bit.ly/vsgnRl
• Regional differences emerge as lawmakers attempt rewrite of Farm Bill commodity title & cut $23B from ag spending http://bit.ly/trVljo
• Crop insurance tops the U.S. wheat industry’s priority list for 2012 Farm Bill http://bit.ly/trS6wj
• Sen. Lugar & Rep. Stutzman (both R-IN) Op-Ed: “Reform farm programs and harvest savings” http://bit.ly/rFwGUY

Water Quality -

• 3M says that its MN Mississippi River cleanup is paying off http://bit.ly/sMabdG
• Technical advisory group will recommend that OK's current phosphorus limit for scenic rivers be upheld http://bit.ly/tRJeWP
• EPA Webinar: Tools for Developing State Nitrogen & Phosphorus Pollution Reduction Strategies; Nov.  30; PDF info  http://1.usa.gov/tCjjWA

Water Resource Management (Floodplains, Dams, Navigation, Flooding, etc.) -

• Army Corps of Engineers has put its national levee database online for the public to access http://cjky.it/srtdkd

In the States -

• Almost half the water samples in IA survey of 475 wells contained arsenic: high levels documented in 31 counties http://bit.ly/tzj3u9
• No state penalties for Olin following Tennessee's Hiwassee River mercury pollution http://bit.ly/u2nckG
• Technical advisory group will recommend that OK's current phosphorus limit for scenic rivers be upheld http://bit.ly/tRJeWP

Biodiversity, Wildlife and Invasives -

• Invasive species on the move: the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Basins http://bit.ly/u1zisK (interactive map)
• Invasive species spreading across America (10-minute CBS news video story) http://bit.ly/sDAVKC (includes IL River Asian Carp coverage)

Federal Budget -

• House Approps Chair Rogers: 3 2012 spending bills to be packaged with stopgap bill funding Fed government into Dec http://wapo.st/vN5Phl
• House & Senate conferees work on compromise on Agriculture, Commerce-Justice-Science & Transportation-HUD spending bill http://bit.ly/snxsnb 
• Republican supercommittee members might allow some additional tax revenue as part of deal with Democrats http://t.co/ZiSLIFLG & http://on.wsj.com/tqlWEc
• Neither side appears optimistic about prospects for supercommittee breakthrough http://wapo.st/t1dsRj
• Supercommittee blame game: Democrats beginning to seek ways to blame potential failure on the GOP http://t.co/pa6212cu
• US scientific and engineering societies tell supercommittee to retain funding for the sciences in letter http://bit.ly/suyVea (PDF)
• Democrats on supercommittee want war savings to fund new stimulus package; infrastructure projects http://bit.ly/vsr3z0

Gulf Coastal Area-

• Federal deficit-reduction effort called threat to efforts to shrink Gulf of Mexico dead zone http://bit.ly/tRZuE6
• Louisiana refuses to sign BP-Coast Guard oil spill cleanup transition plan http://bit.ly/vkOVer
• Gulf Coast lawmakers optimistic about garnering 80% of BP oil spill fines for Gulf Restoration Trust Fund http://bit.ly/sBhiEi
• Gulf Restoration Network launches campaign to persuade Congress to pass Gulf Restoration Trust Fund legislation http://bit.ly/tR8eCv

Resource extraction -

• WV legislature takes up package imposing regulations on Marcellus shale gas industry http://bit.ly/vP9kRW
• Nebraska lawmakers debate tightening eminent domain rules for procuring oil pipeline land http://reut.rs/rYkEtc
• US State Department weighing change to Keystone pipeline route away from sensitive areas http://on.wsj.com/rUlzQj

Events -

• Archived version of EPA Watershed Academy Webinar on "Conducting Effective Stormwater Outreach"  http://1.usa.gov/sIhiRy
• 2012 Ohio Stormwater Conference; June 7-8; SeaGate Convention Center; Toledo, OH http://bit.ly/sKq8zE
• Conservation Forward:Ideas That Work & How Science Can Effect Change; Nov 17-18; Nat Geographic Soc.; Washington, DC http://bit.ly/sKrFRt
• EPA Webinar: Tools for Developing State Nitrogen & Phosphorus Pollution Reduction Strategies; Nov.  30; PDF info  http://1.usa.gov/tCjjWA
• EPA webinar on Proposed NPDES CAFO Reporting Rule; Nov. 17; 1-2:30 EST http://bit.ly/sAoD6Z
• Horinko Group's 2011 Water Resources Summit proceedings and resources now on-line http://bit.ly/qr8riN (very worthwhile)

e-Newsletters, Publications and Journals -

• 4th edition of National Water Quality Monitoring Council's online National Water Monitoring News (PDF) http://1.usa.gov/ukq5rP
• EPA's November Watershed News Now Available on line http://1.usa.gov/tiTbgK
• Great Lakes & Mississippi River Interbasin Study Newsletter; November 2011 (PDF) http://bit.ly/sjc954 [invasive species]

Political Scene -

• Former ND Attorney General Heidi Heitkamp (D) makes her campaign for retiring US Sen. Conrad's (D) seat official http://bit.ly/uyr3Dp
• Rep. Boswell (D-IA) is a top GOP target in his newly redrawn congressional district http://bit.ly/sufEvZ (near bottom of article)

Last Word -  “I was wrong—see that didn’t hurt too bad.” - Former President Bill Clinton during a Tuesday night talk, announcing that he is trying once daily to say out loud “either ‘I don’t know' or 'I was wrong.'”  “I think it would be therapeutic for everyone in Washington” to do the same, Clinton advised.