~Most of the Water News - None of the Spin~
This Week and Next
Congress returns from a week-long break next Tuesday, and resumes committee activities - many focused on the development of a Budget Resolution, which would set the fiscal boundaries of any subsequent spending bills drafted by the House and Senate. Many environmental and water-focused subcommittees next week will host budget hearings for the EPA, Army Corps of Engineers, Department of Agriculture and Interior Department. There will also be a hearing exploring 2014 Farm Bill implementation over year on. Here is a link to the U.S. House and Senate activities currently scheduled for next week that relate to Mississippi River Basin water resources.
Noteworthy @UpperMiss Twitter Postings for the Week
Water Quality -
- Train carrying over 100 tank cars of crude oil derails in West Virginia sending at least one into
the Kanawha River http://ow.ly/Jb8iHPhoto Credit: Iowa Geological Survey - Oilfield wastewater pipelines often leak in North Dakota, with devastating consequences http://ow.ly/Jhavp
- National Law Review: Iowa Utility To Pursue Novel Lawsuit Over Agricultural Nitrate Pollution http://ow.ly/Jhp8k
- Star Tribune: A closely watched fight brewing over nitrates in Iowa water http://ow.ly/Jk93Z
- After 16 years with lapsed power plant wastewater permit, Ameren’s new Missouri River proposal gets public hearing http://ow.ly/Jhrm8
- Senate bill aims to reduce polluted stormwater that washes off highways into streams and rivers http://ow.ly/Jl1qJ
- Farmers can better prevent nutrient runoff based on land characteristics http://ow.ly/Jntad
- EPA proposes several changes in required/recommended wastewater analysis testing methods; Federal Register: http://ow.ly/JntLQ
- Center for Biological Diversity: oil trains threaten 3,600 miles of streams as well as 73,000 square miles of lakes, wetlands and reservoirs http://ow.ly/JnZvu
Water Resource Management (Floodplains, Dams, Navigation, Wetlands, Flooding, Supplies, etc.) -
- Mississippi Republican Sen. Thad Cochran questions lack for funding for Mississippi Delta flood control projects http://ow.ly/J1beZ
- Corps of Engineers moves ahead with study of at-risk Arkansas River levee system (Tulsa, Oklahoma) http://ow.ly/J1bKd
- Midwest Environmental Advocates opposes DNR's approval of crude oil rail line through La Crosse, Wisconsin wetlands http://ow.ly/J1chh
- Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District completes last round of buyouts of flood-prone property along Missouri River (Nebraska) http://ow.ly/JhuLZ
Agriculture-
Climate and Weather -
Gulf Coastal Region -
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)
- Large number of environmental organizations urge lawmakers “to protect mandatory funding for farm bill conservation" http://ow.ly/JnrCM
- Complexity of Farm Bill becomes "this mess" in farm country http://ow.ly/Jbpn5
- As crop prices fall, farmers grow subsidies instead http://ow.ly/JbpGu
- Des Moines Register: Water, air quality concerns heighten conflict between pig farms and environmental advocates http://ow.ly/JcFHw
- Biofuels scientists critique World Resources Institute study linking bioenergy, food scarcity http://ow.ly/Jd0mW
- The "aging farmer problem" may be overstated http://ow.ly/JfsYt
- The Future Of Agriculture? Precision Farming http://ow.ly/JnsGJ
- U.S. farmers from Louisiana to North Dakota switch more land to soybeans, seeking to limit slumping corn market losses http://ow.ly/Jh9Kj
- For the first time since the 1970s, corn planting will decline for three straight seasons; soybeans expand to record acreage http://ow.ly/JfCdR
- USDA scientists model nutrient loss from Midwestern crop fields http://ow.ly/JhpwP
- USDA solicits applications for $9 million in funding to help communities develop local, independent food systems http://ow.ly/JkGG7
- Survey shows Iowans support targeted approaches for multiple-benefit agriculture http://ow.ly/JnLzz
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- National Weather Service: Drought likely to develop in Upper Midwest by spring http://ow.ly/Jnvd8
- US weekly drought update: abnormally dry soils in Lower Mississippi Valley Precipitation below average across most of Great Plains, Central Plains, Midwest http://ow.ly/wmTdv
- EPA Releases Stormwater Climate Change Tool to help communities prepare for climate change impacts http://ow.ly/J1wle
- Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission: Asian carp eDNA found in Ohio River for the second year running in Pennsylvania http://ow.ly/J0JSr
- Arrival of small flock along Platte River signals start of sandhill crane migration http://ow.ly/J1aOz
- Administration commitment to Asian carp alternatives outlined in 2014's Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study questioned http://ow.ly/JbjnS
- Invasive emerald ash borer, known pest in ash trees, found in Louisiana (Webster Parish) http://ow.ly/JhoJT
In the Cities -
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| Photo Courtesy Philips Lighting |
- Big Four Bridge across the Ohio River in Louisville, Kentucky is ablaze with 1,500 blinking colored LED lights http://ow.ly/J0CVn
- St. Bernard Parish to get six-mile bike trail along Mississippi River (New Orleans metropolitan area) http://ow.ly/JhskD
- Prairie du Chien (Wisconsin) council approves preliminary flood mitigation project http://ow.ly/Jhoqj
In the States -
- Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker wants to remove tax money from state park system and make parks self-sustaining http://ow.ly/Jgz6W
- West Virginia Coal Association pushes state bills that would weaken environmental and mining safety rules http://ow.ly/J1DAm (link to bills: House - http://ow.ly/J1DIr Senate - http://ow.ly/J1DQf)
- Expecting significant budget shortfalls, Illinois’s governor proposes over $6 billion in state spending cuts http://ow.ly/Jjuue
- Oklahoma budget deficit, prompted by oil industry decline, doubles to over $600 million, deeper cuts coming http://ow.ly/JbnGb
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- Times-Picayune editorial: Gulf dead zone must be reduced http://ow.ly/Jhqyn
- 15 Louisiana coastal restoration projects authorized in 2007 by Congress have met various fates http://ow.ly/JhrOS
- Federal judge has dismisses southeast Louisiana flood protection board wetland-loss lawsuit against oil and gas companies http://ow.ly/Jbkla
- Satellite images show new deltas forming off Louisiana coast http://ow.ly/Jd2LG
- RESTORE Advisory Committee sets criteria for coastal restoration projects in Escambia County, Louisiana http://ow.ly/Jo3wd
Forestry -
- Newly-announced joint USFS-NRCS projects include Mississippi River Basin forest restoration projects in Missouri, Illinois, Ohio and South Dakota http://ow.ly/JnDkw (announcement: http://ow.ly/JnDnQ)
- Proposed southeastern Minnesota frac sand mining operation could be biggest in state http://ow.ly/JboAU
- EPA plans to offer a proposal for Renewable Fuels Standards for 2014, 2015, and 2016 this spring http://ow.ly/Jnsbh
- National Invasive Species Awareness Week, February 22-28 http://ow.ly/J1uoQ
- Aquatic Invasive Species Strategic Plan meeting (St. Croix River); March 4, 9:30 am Central; St. Croix Falls, WI http://ow.ly/JlfjW
- Symposium "The Once and Future River: Imagining the Mississippi in an Era of Climate Change;" Northrop, Minnesota, April 8, 7:00 PM, April 9 (all day), April 10 (morning) http://ow.ly/JbAC3
- Registration open for USEPA Water Quality Standards Academy; April 27 - May 1; Washington, DC http://ow.ly/Jg9eF
- New blog from @waterbugsUMN called "Exploring Daley Creek," about the biological and physical ecological at work in a small Minnesota stream http://ow.ly/J1suN
- Missouri Coalition on the Environment February 13 e-newsletter http://ow.ly/J18vI
- Montana Watershed Coordination Council February 19 Watershed News http://ow.ly/JnvUv
- American Farmland Trust February's "The Dirt" http://bit.ly/1G8UdvO
- NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive satellite to measure soil moisture worldwide every 2–3 days for next three years http://ow.ly/J1cWS
- ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science: Conservatives discount scientific theories that run counter to their worldview; liberals do the same http://ow.ly/Jbzpx
- Student summer trainee internship positions at the Rock Island, Department of the Interior Field Office, Illinois http://ow.ly/JcXXX
- Obama to make Colorado's Browns Canyon a national monument (Arkansas River) http://ow.ly/Jhn3T
- Job: Southwest Badger Resource Conservation and Development Council full time, limited term Aquatic Invasive Species Coordinator http://ow.ly/JnuJ6
- Groups slam government advisory group suggestion to reduce red meat intake for environmental reasons http://ow.ly/JnFhV
- Former Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) considers a primary election Tea Party challenge against Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) http://ow.ly/JbiLQ
- Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander (D) will challenge Sen. Roy Blunt (R) for Missouri U.S. Senate seat http://ow.ly/Jl0Nt
- New Congress has slightly higher approval ratings: 20% say they approve of the way it's handling job http://ow.ly/Jbwho
- Newest member of Iowa House of Representatives, David Sieck (R), has extensive river issue experience (won seat in February 10 special election) http://ow.ly/Jhq1N
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| Flamingos at the Memphis Zoo huddling together for warmth on Tuesday. (AP Photo/The Commercial Appeal, Jim Weber) |
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