Mississippi River Basin Water Resource News for the Week

~Virtual Newspaper for an Aquatic World~

EPA Seeks Comments on 2014-2016 National Enforcement Initiatives

Every three years, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") develops (with public input) national enforcement initiatives that serve to "focus civil and criminal enforcement resources and expertise on serious pollution problems affecting communities." On January 28, the EPA published notice in the Federal Register that it was accepting public comment and recommendations for its proposed fiscal year 2014–16 national enforcement initiatives (link here to the Federal Register notice PDF file). From a water standpoint, the 2014-16 proposed national enforcement initiatives include municipal infrastructure: "addressing sewage discharges from combined sewer systems, sanitary sewer systems, and municipal separate storm sewer systems;" and preventing runoff from Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (or "CAFOs") from contaminating ground and surface water. Comments can be submitted through February 27 through this Internet site.

U.S. Congress in 2013: House Natural Resources Committee
Our series previewing the U.S. Congress in 2013 continues this week with an overview of the House Natural Resources Committee, and possible Committee work during the 113th Congress relating to Mississippi River Basin water issues. Lead by its Chair Doc Hastings (R-WA), and Ranking Member Edward Markey (D-MA), the Natural Resources Committee has jurisdiction over several Federal natural resource issues of importance from a Mississippi River Basin perspective. Those include fisheries and wildlife, including research, restoration, refuges and conservation; forest reserves and national parks; the U.S. Geological Survey; interstate compacts relating to apportionment of waters for irrigation; irrigation and reclamation, including water supplies for reclamation projects and easements of public lands for irrigation projects; coastal zone management; public lands in general; and oceanography. The preview (available in full here) has complete Committee member rosters, and highlights and includes links to Congressional Internet home pages for the Committee's nine Mississippi River Basin members. To view previous coverage of Mississippi Basin-relevant 113th Congress' Senate and House committees, see:

• Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee
• Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
• Senate and House Agriculture Committees
• House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee

Notable @UpperMiss Twitter Postings for the Week

Water Quality -

• EPA seeks comment on proposed fiscal year 2014–16 national enforcement initiatives; include sewer overflows; CAFOs http://1.usa.gov/VyUzUj (see story above)
• Environmental groups protest water pollution agreement reached between Kentucky environmental regulators and mining companies http://bit.ly/VyYHUq
• Coast Guard reopens Mississippi River to navigation in both directions after cleaning up thousands of gallons of oil http://bit.ly/Xj5m4G
• EPA Releases State Enforcement Performance Information and Comparative Maps http://1.usa.gov/14Gb4no (includes a "water" based map)

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

• Congressional Research Service: 113th Congress may face many issues related to water resources http://bit.ly/11q7NL0 (PDF file)
• Federal funding to improve Mississippi River’s lock and dam system was main topic at Iowa Governor's conference  http://bit.ly/12vYp82
• Environment and Public Works Committee materials and video from Thursday's hearing on Army Corps of Engineers water policy http://1.usa.gov/VySFDf
• Mississippi elected officials ask Army Corps to study impact of any proposed new southeast Louisiana levee construction http://bit.ly/VyZTXP
• Army Corps of Engineers seeks opinions on a proposed Little Missouri River bank project in North Dakota Badlands http://bit.ly/Xj4zRd
• Army Corps repairs totaling more than $180 million to flood-damaged Missouri River levees beginning to wind down http://bit.ly/Xj4NrA and http://bit.ly/Xj51Px
• Mississippi River could be a new passage for Canadian heavy crude oil in the race to bypass pipeline delays http://bit.ly/WpL1id
• U.S. ports, locks, dams and inland waterways are old, underinvested in, and too often ignored http://econ.st/YQt7rp
• Missouri's US Senators seek stakeholders meeting in effort to close 1500-foot Mississippi River levee gap in SE MO http://bit.ly/XnGo3W
• Army Corps' Winter middle Mississippi River dredging ends following removal of twice the average amount of sediment http://t.co/5gMs0GJp

Drought-

February 7 Drought Monitor Map
(click to enlarge) 

• National Drought Mitigation Center: US Midwest drought conditions continue to improve; Plains drought relief minimal    http://bit.ly/qBRrqC
• U.S. needs more than average precipitation to end drought, while normal to below-normal rainfall is forecast http://bloom.bg/XX2QRx
• National Geographic: How drought on Mississippi River impacts you http://bit.ly/WpGRa1
• NPR: Drought causes ripple effect along mighty Mississippi River http://n.pr/WpIlRJ

Farm Bill-

• Senate Agriculture Committee leadership shift could benefit Arkansas rice growers in farm bill debates http://bit.ly/XnFW5Z
• National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition analyzes Congressional Budget Office budget projection's farm bill impact http://bit.ly/XX1S7V (other CBO links below under "Federal Budget")

Agriculture -

• USDA: Climate change could have a drastic and harmful effect on U.S. agriculture http://1.usa.gov/XX2nik
• Senate Agriculture Committee hearing: “Drought, Fire and Freeze: The Economics of Disasters . . .” February 14 http://1.usa.gov/YJ0clc
• Farm subsidy cuts (outside of the farm bill negotiation) are back in play as a possible offset in sequester bargaining http://bit.ly/14Xsf4K
• Population drives food cost increases; UN Food & Agriculture Organization: global food output must rise 70% by 2050 http://bloom.bg/XkZyYv
• Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee top Republican calls for reevaluating EPA's biofuel-blending mandate http://bit.ly/YQtja9
• Farmers could see less opportunity to enroll in some conservation programs if ‘sequestration’ go into effect http://bit.ly/XnFvIR
New York Times op-ed: The Global Farmland Rush http://t.co/oIyeynUE

In the States -

• Violations reported by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency in last half of 2012 more than double over prior period http://bit.ly/Xj95iK
• Minnesota Pollution Control Agency seeking comments on permit that regulates construction stormwater throughout state http://bit.ly/XnEP6i

In the Cities -

• Louisville, KY Mayor Greg Fisher charts environmental vision for city in draft sustainability plan http://cjky.it/WpKKMr

Forestry -

• USFS: Effects of Climatic Variability and Change on Forest Ecosystems; article: http://bit.ly/TOkdI3 report PDF file: http://1.usa.gov/XX2zho
• Minneapolis, MN recognized as one of best for urban forests in United States out of 50 largest cities http://bit.ly/XnEhgE

Biodiversity, Wildlife and Invasives -

• 23 GOP Senators question administration's proposed changes to Endangered Species Act economic impact analyses http://1.usa.gov/VyZ9BO
• Lake Winnibigoshish, Minnesota is the latest premier state lake to become infested with zebra mussels http://bit.ly/WpKflx
• New USA Rice Federation-Ducks Unlimited partnership to address rice production, waterfowl and water conservation http://bit.ly/Xl2ofT
• Writer suggests giant Asian carp statue in Peoria, IL http://bit.ly/Vzk1ZN
• Asian carp invade Will County Forest Preserve's 84-acre lake in Joliet, Illinois http://bit.ly/YWeP8A
• Minnesota Department of Natural Resources: Dry conditions; habitat loss will significantly and negatively impact ducks http://bit.ly/XpR3Lx
Minnesota cancels its annual moose hunt after scientists report 35% drop in the state's population http://on.wsj.com/Xqy8jH

Gulf Coastal Region-

• Dispute flares over spending plans for more than $20 billion in BP’s Deepwater Horizon spill fines http://bit.ly/WVKceB
• BP hit by new $34B Deepwater Horizon claim from local and state governments, including Louisiana and Mississippi http://bit.ly/XpRRjA

Resource Extraction -

• Marcellus shale gas fracking and drilling continue to "produce jobs and controversy" in West Virginia http://bit.ly/Xj86z3
• Frac sand mining companies leverage jobs and money to get their will in SE Minnesota and western Wisconsin communities http://bit.ly/Xj8xt7
• Southern West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky coal production projected to be cut in half by 2020 http://bit.ly/Xj8P3h
• New York Times: The story of North Dakota's new oil boom, and its intended and unintended results http://nyti.ms/YOM11Q
• At University of Tennessee's request, Tennessee panel delays decision on fracking research project http://bit.ly/WpKvRu
• Red Wing, MN Mayor Dennis Egan has been hired to run frac sand industry lobbying and trade group http://bit.ly/XpRsOd

Federal Budget -

• CBO releases ‘budget baseline’- used by House and Senate Budget Committees to form fiscal 2014 budget plans http://1.usa.gov/XnF4ye
• Congressional Budget Office issues budget "baseline" projecting $845B budget deficit for 2013 http://bit.ly/XnDOv2
• Obama sequester plan already DOA as Republicans don't want to postpone spending cuts http://politi.co/XnBPXq
• House Appropriations Committee has started writing stopgap spending bill to fund government after March 27 http://bit.ly/TOizX0

Events -  Information on all past and future events listed here can be viewed in the on-line calendar on this Blog page and here as a stand-alone calendar.

NCER 2013 Planning Committee Meeting
Chicago, Illinois

• National Conference on Ecosystem Restoration will host a sizable number of Mississippi Basin talks; late July-August; Chicago, IL http://bit.ly/14Eo24V
• Ohio Stormwater Conference; May 8-10, Sharonville Convention Center http://bit.ly/zESU32
• Women in Agriculture conference, March 22, Rock Island, IL - Quad-Cities Online http://dlvr.it/2v9q26
• Free EPA Webinar, Stormwater Overview & Lessons Learned, February 12 http://bit.ly/XnD9JO
NOAA Announces Webinar on "Understanding Monitoring and Drought" February 12; 1 PM ET http://1.usa.gov/14GQ7ZA

e-Newsletters, Publications and Journals -

• The Army Corps' winter edition of "Our Mississippi" is available here: www.ourmississippi.org (link at upper right corner)
• U.S. EPA Office of Water's weekly edition of "Water Headlines" http://bit.ly/XnEuAl

Other news-

• U.S. Senate launches bipartisan Mississippi River Caucus in effort to encourage commerce and address other issues http://bit.ly/YJj1oz
• The Advocate editorial: "Mighty Mississippi River getting some vital attention" from The Big River Works initiative http://townta.lk/TkM02I
• Minnesota Department of Transportation receives national award for its 800-mile Mississippi River Trail bikeway http://bit.ly/WqdK6t
• Pennsylvanians choose Monongahela as 2013 River of the Year http://bit.ly/YQsfmO
• Sen. Murkowski (R-AK) lays out GOP's Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee legislative priorities  http://cs.pn/Xl1HDv
• Water Research Foundation announces almost $3 million for research projects focused on drinking water http://bit.ly/XnCN6f
• New proposed House bill is first in the year to address the renewable fuel standard; would change EPA mandate http://1.usa.gov/UEeq9H

Political Scene -

• Iowa Democratic U.S. House Rep. Bruce Braley to run for Harkin's empty Senate seat in 2014 http://usat.ly/UHM3rc
• We can expect a competitive race for Braley's Iowa US house seat (Cedar Rapids, Dubuque, Waterloo area) http://bit.ly/VIlNI5
• Former state Speaker Andrew Romanoff (D) announces that he is running for Congress in Colorado’s 6th District http://bit.ly/VyTxaO
• Top air quality official reportedly President's preferred choice to head Environmental Protection Agency http://bit.ly/VyTPyr
• Outgoing EPA head Lisa Jackson's deepest regret: failing to reach out to rural, often conservative U.S. regions http://reut.rs/Xl55y9
• Sally Jewell is President Obama’s pick to lead Department of Interior http://wapo.st/YFuFAK
• Vulnerable US Senate Dem Mississippi Basin  incumbents in 2014: Johnson (SD),  Landrieu (LA), Pryor  (AR), Baucus (MT) http://lat.ms/YWd5MF

Last Word -

“People are in danger of losing their patrimony, not to mention their sources of food.”- Michael Kugelman, in a February 6, 2013, New York Times op-ed entitled "The Global Farmland Rush."  Kugelman is a senior program associate at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and is co-editor of “The Global Farms Race: Land Grabs, Agricultural Investment, and the Scramble for Food Security.”