Mississippi River Basin Water Resource Weekly News

~Most of the Water News - None of the Spin~

2014 is dead.  Long live 2015!
Welcome to 2015 and the first Mississippi River Basin Water Resource Weekly News edition of the year.  This issue is a two-week compendium of the best water news bits that trickled across our virtual desk since just before Christmas.

The 114th Congress is set to convene at noon on January 6, when the presentation of certificates of election and the swearing-in of elected Members will occur.   Here are the links to the 2014 U.S. House and Senate schedules.  Here is our latest listing River Basin-related Congressional activity for the week ahead (currently consisting of just one scheduled meeting).

Noteworthy @UpperMiss Twitter Postings for the Week

Water Quality -

• Sen. John Hoeven (R., N.D.) "working on a two-step process to eliminate" US EPA's proposed Clean Water Act jurisdiction rule http://ow.ly/GkRss
• NPR: Aftereffects of W.V. chemical spill into Elk River still felt months later http://ow.ly/Gawj1
• Federal authorities are continuing criminal investigation into falsified water results at West Virginia coal industry laboratory http://ow.ly/Gaxd1
• Looking back: Tennessee coal ash disaster; 5 years, $1 billion later http://ow.ly/GbbX9
• XTO Energy agrees to restore 8 sites damaged by unauthorized discharges of fill material into streams and wetlands in Pennsylvania and West Virginia http://ow.ly/GkIHd (Consent Decree here: http://ow.ly/GmrsV)
• Coal mining companies agreed to use selenium water pollution control technologies at nine West Virginia operations http://ow.ly/GkJuX
• Scientists are working on novel ways to curb the nutrient runoff problem http://ow.ly/GkL64
• North Dakota sides with three oil companies in landowner lawsuit over saltwater spills at disposal well http://ow.ly/Gmfdp
• St. Louis region in Missouri and Illinois makes sustainable strides with dozens of permeable paver projects http://ow.ly/GHiuD
• Monongahela River has been taken off a list of Pennsylvania rivers impaired by pollution http://ow.ly/GHnDT (also see: http://ow.ly/GHuk9)
• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editorial: Clean water woes: Congress should stop blocking a sensible EPA rule http://ow.ly/GHxZX
• Hundreds of southeastern Wisconsin residential wells could be contaminated by pollutants related to buried coal ash http://ow.ly/GHBkO

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

• National Grain and Feed Association commends higher user fee on barge diesel fuel to fund improvements to river locks http://ow.ly/GaURP
• Study: U.S. soybean exports at risk without major investments in Mississippi River inland waterway http://ow.ly/GkNK8
• FEMA Announces Launch of the Interim Office of the Flood Insurance Advocate http://ow.ly/GHkXw

Agriculture -

• Livestock farmers to EPA: Don't tell activists where we are http://ow.ly/GHqi3 
  
• USDA NRCS extends the public comment period on the Conservation Stewardship Program interim rule through January 20 http://ow.ly/Gohtk (for background, see this Conservation Stewardship Program web page: http://ow.ly/Goog7)
• USDA Farm Service Agency releases final Conservation Reserve Program supplemental programmatic environmental impact statement http://ow.ly/GHDkz (see related article here: http://ow.ly/GHExg)
• Farmers on upward part of learning curve for new Illinois EPA CAFO, or Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations rules http://ow.ly/GavPh
• Iowa farmers and companies are suing Syngenta AG over GMO seeds http://ow.ly/GHdZC
• Pesticides commonly used on Midwest farm fields linked to bee colony decline may not be as effective as once thought against corn, soybean pests http://ow.ly/GHfqp
• Over the last decade, Midwestern farmland has been appreciating at an average rate of more than 10 percent per year http://ow.ly/GHhRU
• A record 3.9 billion gallons of ethanol produced in Iowa in 2014; 2015 output uncertain http://ow.ly/GHsw2
• More than 300 food hubs around the U.S. provide small farms an outlet to sell locally raised food http://ow.ly/GHvOz

Climate and Weather -

Drought update map: Click to enlarge

• EPA draft report out for comment: "Regional Monitoring Networks to Detect Climate Change Effects in Stream Ecosystems" http://ow.ly/GaOtb
• US drought update for December 30: No changes across northern Plains and upper Midwest; some small-scale changes for the worse across  southern Plains http://ow.ly/wmTdv
• NOAA Climate Prediction Center monthly drought outlook for January; look for additional improvement or removal of drought in the extreme southern Great Plains, the lower Mississippi Valley, and central Gulf Coast http://ow.ly/q3yAx

Biodiversity, Wildlife and Invasives -

• Illinois is considering lifting its more-than-40-year-old ban on hunting bobcats http://ow.ly/GkKwB
• Monarch butterflies may warrant U.S. Endangered Species Act protection because of farm-related habitat loss http://ow.ly/GHpuQ (also see this FWS announcement: http://ow.ly/GHtn1)
• Devastating Asian longhorn beetle knocks on Kentucky's door, threatening 100 species of hardwood trees http://ow.ly/GHz15
• Federal judge reverses Obama administration decision to remove Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin gray wolves from endangered species list http://ow.ly/GkOwc (see related story, below)
• Wolf experts dispute belief that gray wolves in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan are endangered http://ow.ly/GmoIt
• Minnesota DNR uses potash to solve zebra mussel infestation in Christmas Lake in Shorewood http://ow.ly/GmbJ6

Pittsburgh's " spinal cord of a new on-street
biking network"

In the Cities -

• Multimodal Uptown Station in Normal, Illinois is centerpiece of LEED-ND certified downtown revitalization plan http://ow.ly/GaFvj
• Memphis, Tennessee and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania make PeopleForBikes list of top 10 best new bike lanes in the country for 2014 http://ow.ly/Gmde5
• Waverly, Iowa foregoes levees; installs innovative inflatable dam to address flooding concerns http://ow.ly/GHltk
• Kokomo, Indiana stadium project construction in Wildcat River flood prone area in violation of FEMA grant terms http://ow.ly/GHmqJ

In the States-

• Illinois seeks comments on proposal to reduce amount of nutrients reaching state waters by 45 percent http://ow.ly/GkN5U
• States dependent on oil and gas revenue are bracing for layoffs resulting from falling oil prices, including Oklahoma, Louisiana and North Dakota http://ow.ly/GHwzG
• Policies of Midwestern Republican governors could wind up in the national 2016 campaign picture http://ow.ly/GHzVZ

Gulf Coastal Region-

• Trial starting January 20, will determine how much in fines BP and its partners will pay for 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil disaster http://ow.ly/GoIS5

Resource Development -

• Nebraska Supreme Court will not rule until 2015 on constitutionality of 2012 state law to fast-track new Keystone XL pipeline route http://ow.ly/GaHgh
• President Obama: building the Keystone XL oil pipeline would "not even have a nominal benefit" to consumers http://ow.ly/Gmghf
• State study: Alternatives to northern Minnesota crude oil pipeline also carry risks http://ow.ly/GmgTo

Federal Budget -

• Federal budget almost certain to be central battleground between President Obama and new Republican Congress in 2015 http://ow.ly/GH7Mj

Events - Information on all past and future events listed here each week can be viewed in the on-line calendar, located above and to the right (and here as a stand-alone calendar)

• Natural Floodplain Functions Alliance Webinar-Lessons Learned from Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Successful Floodplain Management Program; January 6; 3-5 PM EST http://ow.ly/GHjjf
• Montana Watershed Coordination Council "Watershed Wednesday" Capitol Rotunda, Helena, January 28 http://ow.ly/GH9V5
• 21st International Symposium on Society and Resource Management; June 13-18, 2015; Charleston, South Carolina http://ow.ly/Gmhzq
• Full recording of December 9 Great Waters Webinar: "Time to End the Slime – Addressing Nutrient Pollution" http://ow.ly/GkPUj

e-Newsletters, Publications, Journals, Multimedia  -

• Great Rivers Partnership December 2014 e-newsletter http://ow.ly/GbaTk
• Tulane Institute on Water Resources Law and Policy's December 19 TUWaterWays e-newsletter http://ow.ly/GbcMv
• Montana Watershed Coordination Council's December 31 http://ow.ly/GH9hX and December 24 http://ow.ly/GH9ke e-newsletters
• November 2014 issue of Restoration Ecology (Vol. 22, Issue 6) is available online http://ow.ly/GHbcr
• Green Lands Blue Waters update highlighting Continuous Living Cover on agricultural land in the Mississippi River Basin http://ow.ly/GHkfF
• Association of State Floodplain Managers' December "News and Views" http://ow.ly/GHktb

Other news-

• EPA announces final rule governing disposal of coal combustion residuals (coal ash) from
  coal-fired power plants; EPA press release: http://ow.ly/GbQbb (related stories below)
• EPA announces federal guidelines for coal ash disposal, to safeguard against contaminating nearby waters http://ow.ly/GkO7h (see above)
• U.S. EPA's new coal combustion waste disposal rule will not force all wet coal ash impoundments to close http://ow.ly/GkPtR
• Eight Missouri and Madison river public recreation improvement projects proposed by NorthWestern Energy, Missouri-Madison River Fund http://ow.ly/GaQDn
• EPA announces availability of $2,730,000 of funding for Environmental Education Local Grants ($91,000 maximum) http://ow.ly/Gohgb
• Job: Floodplain Restoration GLOBE summer intern for The Nature Conservancy, Lewistown, Illinois (January 23 deadline) http://ow.ly/GHawd
• The Atlantic: The Politics of Drinking Water: Vital, renewable, and tied to civilization since the beginning of time, water http://ow.ly/GHowC
• Rasmussen Reports poll: Voters' view of USEPA hits historical low point http://ow.ly/GHBQ4

Politics and People-

• House Speaker Boehner formally invites President Obama to deliver the State of the Union address on January 20 http://ow.ly/Gbxbr
• Rumors swirl that Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D) might run for North Dakota governor in 2016 http://ow.ly/GH85t

Your Moment of Zen -

Photograph: iVistaphotography / Barcroft