~Most of the Water News - None of the Spin~
This Week and Next
Meanwhile, in the nation's capital, the White House threatened to veto two spending bills - one being a House measure funding the U.S. EPA and Interior Department, and the second, a Senate Commerce, Justice and Science, spending bill that in part funds NOAA and the National Science Foundation. The House started to debate the former piece of legislation on Thursday: considering 32 amendments before adjourning until July 7. One approved change would reduce funding for the EPA Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement by $2 million. And money for several approved funding increases for Department of Interior programs will come from EPA administrative funds. An amendment offered by Rep. Jim Langevin (D-RI) and approved by a voice vote would shift money from EPA's Science and Technology program to its National Estuary Program, funding coastal and estuary restoration. Final consideration of the spending bill - including debate on most of the contentious issues - was put off until the House returns from its July 4 recess. Thus far Democrats have not offered any amendments to strip the more controversial policy riders from the bill (such as the language blocking implementation of the Obama administration's new Clean Water Act jurisdiction rule).
You can find the links to these and many other River-related news pieces, below. And for those with limited time or attention spans we do provide the one-paragraph summary of the week's news in "What We Learned This Week - 'Billions and Billions'."
This week we forego the usual look-ahead to next week in Congress, as there will be no next week in Congress.
Water Quality -
- National Network on Water Quality Trading releases "Building a Water Quality Trading
Program: Options and Considerations" http://ow.ly/OCzXO
(click here to view report) - Indiana Sen. Joe Donnelly (D) backs WOTUS rule reform in speech to National Council of Farmer Cooperatives http://ow.ly/OJDl6
- Columbus, Ohio lifts two-week nitrate advisory, saying tap water is safe, but water problems aren't over http://ow.ly/OHi6K
- Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection drafts Nonpoint Source Management Plan-2014 Update for public comment designed to meet pollution reduction milestones http://ow.ly/OCvpW
- Indiana banning synthetic plastic microbeads in order to protect water resources http://ow.ly/OK8bT
- National Great Rivers Research and Education Center (Alton, IL) launches Great Rivers Ecological Observation Network http://ow.ly/OMuqc
- EPA urged to seize opportunity to update wastewater pollution guidelines for power plants (Effluent Limitations Guidelines for the Steam Electric industry) http://ow.ly/ONiUs
- Moderate to major flooding predicted in Illinois, Upper Mississippi River valleys http://ow.ly/OMMwc
- High Mississippi River has Army Corps of Engineers watching sand boils, seepage on levees
Photo: Laura Simon http://ow.ly/OJMlS - Rains continue to keep water levels high across Wisconsin http://ow.ly/OPQUa
- St. Louis Post-Dispatch editorial: A waterlogged nation fails to learn from its repeated floods http://ow.ly/OMPFD
- Record rainfall swells parts of Mississippi River to flood stage; closes Red River locks http://ow.ly/OJEOx
- USDA announces new web based tool to proactively monitor dams in real time http://ow.ly/OHaJg
- Amid drought and flooding, states and cities look to harvest the rain, reuse stormwater http://ow.ly/OHb0a
- National Flood Insurance Program probed at Senate hearing; Sen. Schumer: program a "circus" Sen. Shelby: "something's wrong" http://ow.ly/OJE8h
- Company proposes to pipe 840 thousand acre feet of Mississippi River water to Texas each year for “up to 75+ years” http://ow.ly/OKVYx
- Earnings in the U.S. farm sector plunged 22.4% in the first quarter of 2015, with all but nine states posting declines http://ow.ly/OFNZb
- U.S. Plains flooding since May refills soil moisture, farmers' wallets http://ow.ly/OFQdQ
- NPR: Local Food Is Still A Niche. Can It Grow Beyond That? http://ow.ly/OFPii
- USDA announces $17.5 million to help partners protect, restore, enhance critical wetlands on private and tribal agricultural lands http://ow.ly/ODf9p
- North Dakota Natural Resources Conservation Service seeks bids for conservation work amid conflict allegations http://ow.ly/OCBiM
- National Working Group on Cover Crops and Soil Health releases recommendations for USDA agencies and programs http://ow.ly/OHdzw
- Insurance Journal: Floods tend to grab more headlines, but drought is actually much more costly in terms of its impact on agriculture http://ow.ly/OMpqg
- Louisiana farmers brace for worst year since 2008 http://ow.ly/OPEpC
- US drought update: No tangible dryness severity change in Wisconsin and Minnesota; reductions in southeastern South Dakota and adjacent Nebraska dryness http://ow.ly/wmTdv
- Missouri farming at a standstill as storms flood local fields http://ow.ly/OCgrT
- Pennsylvania expands drought watch to 37 counties, six in Ohio River Basin http://ow.ly/Oxf9L
- EPA report: U.S. may face up to $180 billion in economic losses because of drought and water shortages by end of century http://ow.ly/OFMIB
- USDA releases departmental regulation to strengthen action on climate change adaptation http://ow.ly/OFT1S
- Lead fishing tackle ingested by fish is killing Minnesota loons and other birds http://ow.ly/OCDrH
- LaCrosse Tribune editorial: Forget municipal boundaries; Think of 7 Rivers Region as a single,
dynamic area without borders http://ow.ly/OMQwl
Photo: Southeast Missourian archive - FEMA seeks public comment on new preliminary flood maps for Orleans Parish (New Orleans, Louisiana) http://ow.ly/OMvmg
- Minneapolis says goodbye to river shipping http://ow.ly/OMPnp
- Dutchtown, Missouri in final stages of federal flood buyout project (Mississippi River) http://ow.ly/OMT00
- The Citizens' Board of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency met for the last time Tuesday
States' News This Week following Legislature's elimination of the board http://ow.ly/OJzXw - Wisconsin Republicans, who control the Legislature, are balking at Governor's demands for the state’s budget http://ow.ly/OJHUe
- With the clock ticking down to a new fiscal year, Pennsylvania still doesn't have a budget http://ow.ly/OHgo7
- Term limits helping reshape next Louisiana Legislature http://ow.ly/OD33O
- With fiscal year 2015 coming to a close, more than a dozen states have yet to strike a budget deal, including Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin http://ow.ly/OPMLR
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| Source: NASA |
- $225,000 grant awarded to University of New Orleans will be used to continue studying Louisiana’s coastline changes http://ow.ly/OFRbF
- U.S Forest Service deploys army of silver flies to help save the Eastern hemlock forests http://ow.ly/OFVWB
- Minnesota Department of Natural Resources plans to allow mining companies to look for metals in seven northeastern counties (some in Mississippi River
Basin) http://ow.ly/OJXvB
Photo: ryangop (Instagram) - Over 100 biofuel industry representatives are in Washington this week, pushing for a strong Renewable Fuel Standard http://ow.ly/OCGhV
- Federal judge blocks implementation of Bureau of Land Management regulations for fracking on federal land, hours before they were set to take effect http://ow.ly/OJtyy
- Pennsylvania Department of Health kept a log of health complaints related to natural gas development that reveals agency’s limited follow-up http://ow.ly/OMIX3
- There were 35 earthquakes in Oklahoma between June 17 and 24, prompting regulators to consider new oil and gas drilling restrictions http://ow.ly/OPNHh
- White House issues veto threat for House spending bill over proposed EPA cuts, policy riders; administration statement: http://ow.ly/OJvti (news story: http://ow.ly/OJv49)
- White House expresses "concerns" over Senate Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill (funds NOAA and NSF); threatens veto http://ow.ly/OMsWl
- On Thursday, the House started debating the 2016 Interior and Environment spending bill; considered 32 amendments before adjourning (news story on House floor debate: http://ow.ly/OPJd2)
- “Missouri River Invasives” with fisheries biologist Sam Stukel, Sioux City Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center, June 28, 2 PM http://ow.ly/OMR0M
- "Integrating Natural Capital into Decisions" June 30, 9 to 11 AM, Resources for the Future, Washington, DC (and the Internet) http://ow.ly/OCs1R
- Iowa State Fair (August 13-23) announces 15 new foods for this year's fair, its most ever, including golden fried peanut butter and jelly on a stick http://ow.ly/OMnPw
- 1 Mississippi campaign June newsletter: "Ashes to Ashes – Floods to Floods" http://ow.ly/OCqRq
- Montana Watershed Coordination Council's June 19 Watershed News http://ow.ly/OxvAV
- American Farmland Trust's June edition of "The Dirt" http://ow.ly/OFVwE
- Lower Mississippi River Dispatch No. 294, June 23, "Care For Our Common Home" http://ow.ly/OHbhn
- Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's Waterfront Bulletin for June 2015 http://ow.ly/OJyVW
- Tulane Institute on Water Resources Law and Policy June 24 TUWaterWays e-newsletter (will be posted here eventually: http://ow.ly/OuyL9)
- The Great Rivers Partnership June 2015 e-newsletter http://ow.ly/OPVHX
- Key lawmakers are sharply divided on how to extend Land and Water Conservation Fund, authority lapses September 30 http://ow.ly/OJCTK
- Interior Department releases "Economic Report for Fiscal Year 2014" http://ow.ly/OKPCa
- Senators discuss possibility of a regulatory budget that would limit federal agencies' rulemaking abilities http://ow.ly/OJPt7
- Twin Cities activists say Lake Calhoun needs a new name, as the current one honors a pro-slavery South Carolinian http://ow.ly/OHgOJ
- Scientists explore ways to keep synthetic estrogens out of rivers and seas http://ow.ly/OCwDT
- World Health Organization's cancer research agency places the herbicide 2,4-D on its list of "possible" carcinogens http://ow.ly/OHbUG
- Criticism comes "fast and furious" after WHO calls 2,4-D "possibly carcinogenic to humans" http://ow.ly/OJUkr
- U.S. Conference of Mayors' resolution urges Congress to reauthorize and fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund http://ow.ly/OHcnI
- EPA issues new safety requirements for underground storage tanks to protect water sources from petroleum leaks http://ow.ly/OHfWE
- U.S. House approves bipartisan bill to update industrial-chemicals regulations for the first time in nearly 40-years http://ow.ly/OJByC (link to bill: http://ow.ly/OJP5j)
- Army Corps finds 'low-level' radioactive contamination in two parks along Coldwater Creek (St. Louis County) http://ow.ly/OMS0H
- Ceres Trust calls for applications for competitive Organic Research Initiative program grants in 12-state North Central region; topics include ecosystem health, water conservation, soil, integrated systems http://ow.ly/ONfUl
- Trent Kelly (R-MS-1), winner of a recent special election, is named to House Agriculture Committee http://ow.ly/OCtUd
- Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Ky., announced Monday he will seek a sixth term in Congress http://ow.ly/OFUXm
- Green groups upset over Sen. Mark Kirk’s (R-IL) recent record on climate are mulling a campaign against his 2016 reelection http://ow.ly/OMmQv
- White House tries again to obtain Senate approval of Janet McCabe (Office of Air and Radiation) and Kenneth Kopocis (Office of Water) as assistant EPA administrators http://ow.ly/OMssS
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| Photograph: Uli Deck/AP |
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