Mississippi River Basin Water Resource Weekly News

~Virtual Newspaper for an Aquatic World~

Noteworthy @UpperMiss Twitter Postings for the Week  

Water Quality -

• LEAD STORY: Federal scientists report that Mississippi Basin water quality is declining despite conservation; highlight challenges http://ow.ly/vLlXE (USGS background information:  http://ow.ly/vLoK5)
• Analysis: Why farm groups are concerned with a major EPA-Army Corps regulatory proposal  that won’t change anything on the farm http://ow.ly/vVaKe
• Although pollution has lessened, Franklin, Tennessee, families still ask if Harpeth River is safe http://ow.ly/vLuYH
• An Earth Day appraisal finds number of impaired Wisconsin surface waters has grown nearly 63 percent since state began the list in 1998 http://ow.ly/vLxfV
• West Virginia has updated its advisories for eating fish caught in state lakes and rivers http://ow.ly/vO4cq
• 17,000 gallons of untreated sewage released into the Mississippi River at LeClaire, Iowa http://ow.ly/vO4tJ
• Cleanup focus shifts to restoration following 20,000 gallon oil-spill from pipeline into Ohio nature preserve http://ow.ly/vORtg
• Overview of first-in-nation formula to estimate evapotranspiration benefits from trees to include in stormwater crediting system (Minnesota Pollution Control Agency) http://ow.ly/vQKmg
• Sens. David Vitter (R-La.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) Seek To Curb EPA Mine Waste Disposal Authority http://ow.ly/vQQqB
• Minnesota’s 2014 proposed Impaired Waters List has been submitted to the USEPA http://ow.ly/vTGzC and http://ow.ly/vTGML

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

• IG: EPA's "no net loss" of wetlands report each year based on faulty assumptions regarding future restoration projects http://ow.ly/vSXyg (Read the Inspector General's report here: http://ow.ly/vSXL1)
• Rising Mississippi River prompts Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District, to activate its flood fight procedures http://ow.ly/vSZhJ (Also see: High river prompts Corps of Engineers to activate levee inspection program http://ow.ly/vSZtr)
• City says Wichita, Kansas, wouldn’t have survived 2013 drought without controversial $244 million groundwater recharge project http://ow.ly/vLyDr
• Officials are monitoring Wisconsin’s rivers after this weekend’s heavy rainfall caused flooding throughout the state http://ow.ly/vO3IL and http://ow.ly/vO3Kf
• Land acquired for long-discussed Comite River Diversion Canal project (diverting floodwater from Amite, Comite rivers to Mississippi River) http://ow.ly/vVd12
• Army Corps and TNC discuss $19 million Emiquon East Habitat Rehabilitation and Enhancement Project (Illinois River) http://ow.ly/vVdjQ

History and expansion of herbicide
resistance across the U.S. (click to
enlarge)

Agriculture -

• Update of environmental rules for livestock feedlots on April 22 Minnesota Pollution Control Agency board agenda http://ow.ly/vQGzJ
• Map shows progression of resistant weeds across U.S. farm country ow.ly/vL9hh (map to right)
• Scientists frustrated by factory farms, as scientific evidence of their non-sustainability mounts http://ow.ly/vLthP
• Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement pushes state leaders to shut down large livestock operations that have repeated spills http://ow.ly/vQQQY
• Farmer's past pollution cited by opponents of plans for a Wisconsin large-scale dairy farm http://ow.ly/vLzUf
• How to Get Started with Cover Crops: A new way of thinking for a new way of farming, with advice from the experts http://ow.ly/vNXLX
• Sign-up began Tuesday for USDA Disaster Assistance Programs restored by 2014 Farm Bill http://ow.ly/vOBae
• Open Source Seed Initiative releases 'open source seeds' free of legal restrictions at University of Wisconsin, Madison event http://ow.ly/vVbbw

Climate and Weather -

Click to enlarge

• NOAA drought update: improvement from eastern Iowa into Wisconsin; dry pattern continued for northwest Iowa; drought deepens, expands in Kansas http://ow.ly/vV9ol
• This week in climate history: April 14, 1935, "Black Sunday Storm," one of the worst dust storms in U.S. history http://ow.ly/vO4Jt (photo to right)
• Dry conditions persist for most of Iowa; continuing drought is reflected in lower stream flows across majority of state http://ow.ly/vO5ju
• United Nations science panel issues sobering climate wake-up call to world policymakers http://ow.ly/vLiak  (And here's a satirical look at how the world's leaders are responding (courtesy of John Oliver and The Bugle) http://ow.ly/vLjpP)

Biodiversity, Wildlife and Invasives -

• Mississippi River mayors focus on invasive species; Asian carp one of top concerns http://ow.ly/vQODx
• Asian carp that infest the Illinois River could be rebranded as cuisine ow.ly/vLbqe
• Flint Hills pasture burning may be harming lesser prairie chickens (now a threatened species) http://ow.ly/vLy9G

In the Cities

• Wisconsin municipal officials meet with DNR secretary to discuss concerns over phosphorus water quality limits http://ow.ly/vLu4R
• Storm water experts focussing on the South Side of Pittsburgh for new ways to keep sewage out of rivers http://ow.ly/vQJy7
• Solving Allegheny County's (Penna.) aging sewer infrastructure problems will require a regional

  

  Part of “The Captains Return” statue lowered by crane onto
  flatbed truck on the St. Louis Riverfront on April 17

  approach, officials say http://ow.ly/vQKSN
• Frequent high water along St. Louis riverfront forces relocation of city's Lewis and Clark statue  http://ow.ly/vSYOD  (photo to right)
• Indianapolis’s Cultural (pedestrian and bike) Trail provides a demonstration of green infrastructure for stormwater control http://ow.ly/vQLmH
• Natchez, Mississippi mayor hopes to restore Mississippi River riverfront between the boat ramp and Roth Hill http://ow.ly/vQNcn
• Army Corps disagrees with Natchez mayor over status of riverfront project http://ow.ly/vSYEx
• Largest urban (Davenport, IL) wetland on Upper Mississippi River between St. Louis and St. Paul receives tree donation http://ow.ly/vQPzT
• Recent flooding highlights urgency to address Jackson Mississippi's longstanding problems with flooding, aging sewer system http://ow.ly/vQRqq

In the States -

• Ohio state Senate bill to create a fertilizer certification program touted as a first step toward cutting phosphorous runoff from farms http://ow.ly/vM8KS

Louisiana Coastal Region-

• Louisiana Republicans accuse administration of denying state recovery funds related to 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill http://ow.ly/vQDo8
• NPR: As Louisiana Coast Recedes, Battle Rages Over Who Should Pay http://ow.ly/vQMJr
• BP ends its "active cleanup" of Louisiana's coast, nearly four years after 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster http://ow.ly/vQRXZ
• Coast Guard says that BP is wrong to imply there isn't significant work left to be done to restore the Gulf Coast http://ow.ly/vVb0x
• Louisiana's Senate approves bill to void local flood control board's coastal damage lawsuit filed against over 90 energy companies http://ow.ly/vSY3M

Forestry -

• Bipartisan House coalition calls on Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to quickly overhaul U.S. timber management, forest health policy http://ow.ly/vVbLh

Resource Development -

• Government Accountability Office report: when the Environmental Protection Agency is late in issuing its annual Renewable Fuel Standards, it increases costs for refiners http://ow.ly/vNXpI
• Article analyzes central United States' historic oil transportation realignment in response to the recent shale oil boom http://ow.ly/vQI9r

Federal Budget -

• Congressional Budget Office's Updated Budget Projections: 2014 to 2024 http://ow.ly/vNWr1 (PDF file)

Events -  Information on all past and future events listed here can be viewed in the on-line calendar (here as a stand-alone calendar)

• Free April 23 USEPA Webinar on the Water Quality Mobile Website "How's My Waterway"  - Register for the Webinar here: http://ow.ly/vV7jh
• Upper Mississippi River (UMRBA and UMRR-EMP CC) meetings scheduled for May 13‑14 in downtown St. Louis, Missouri http://ow.ly/vLqBm
• 16th Annual EPA Region 6 Stormwater Conference Ft Worth, Texas, July 27 - August 1, 2014 http://ow.ly/vQJS0

e-Newsletters, Publications, Journals, Multimedia  -

• Here is the April 15 Tulane Institute on Water Resources Law and Policy's TUWaterWays e-newsletter http://ow.ly/vQCsB (PDF file)
• 1 Mississippi campaign April Newsletter http://ow.ly/vQEek
• Montana Watershed Coordination Council's April 17 Watershed News http://ow.ly/vV78g
• Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's Feedlot Update - April 17 http://ow.ly/vV7JS

Other news-

• The Wetlands Initiative to kick off trail project in July at Dixon Waterfowl Refuge (north-central Illinois along Illinois River) http://ow.ly/vQGjT
• Army Corps of Engineers seeks volunteers to operate Lower Mississippi River Museum and Interpretive Site (Vicksburg) http://ow.ly/vQOjF

Politics and People-

• Rep. Tom Petri (R-Wis.-6) announces his retirement from U.S. Congress http://ow.ly/vLorM

Last Word -

Ottmar Edenhofer

"We cannot afford to lose another decade. If we lose another decade, it becomes extremely costly to achieve climate stabilization." - Ottmar Edenhofer, co-chair of a United Nations panel that found governments are not doing enough to address climate change.