Mississippi River Basin Water Resource Weekly News

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

Two Groups, Two Meetings, One Future

This week two groups working toward realizing a more sustainable Mississippi River met over three days in two different River Basin cities to discuss their respective visions for the River region and its people.  The Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative, a group of 68 mayors from towns along the River's length, held its annual organizational meeting in Dubuque, Iowa.  Seventy-five miles to the northeast, representatives of the Mississippi River Collaborative along with supporting national partners, gathered in Madison, Wisconsin.

The Initiative mayors discussed their priorities and agenda for the upcoming year - focused in part on addressing the impacts of nutrient-laden runoff on River and Gulf of Mexico water quality. The mayors acknowledge that nutrient loading to the Mississippi River - nitrogen and phosphorus; primarily from agricultural operations - has degraded local and Gulf coastal waters, and believe that the greatest opportunities for success in reducing those impacts lie in forging solutions in cooperation with the farming sector.  The mayors also elected Chris Coleman, mayor of St. Paul, Minnesota, and Hyram Copeland, mayor of Vidalia, Louisiana, to co-chair the group over the next year.

The Collaborative met to review its recent progress and to plan future initiatives designed to advance Mississippi River water quality improvements, and wetland restoration and protection. Funded by the McKnight Foundation, the Collaborative's goals in the ten-state Mississippi River corridor are to leverage its members' respective capabilities to restore the water quality and resilience of the Mississippi River, restore and protect floodplains and wetlands, achieve cross-boundary and interagency coordination among government agencies, and reduce agricultural pollution (particularly within the northern River region).

Water, nutrients, restoration, sustainability, agriculture, people, health.  The issues coincide.  The visions overlap.  A common future seems assured.

Noteworthy @UpperMiss Twitter Postings for the Week

Water Quality -

Waters of the United States Rule

• States appeal Judge Lisa Wood's August WOTUS decision; suit now goes to U.S. Court of
  
  Appeals for the 11th Circuit http://ow.ly/S61be
• States continue legal push before two federal appeals courts to block WOTUS rule implementation http://ow.ly/S6hrd
• EPA and farmers continue to spar on Clean Water rule http://ow.ly/SciXi
• Natural Resources Conservation Service Chief Jason Weller downplays NRCS involvement with new clean water rule http://ow.ly/ShgFU
• 47 senators file resolution to kill the Obama administration's controversial clean water rule using the Congressional Review Act http://ow.ly/SnAYF (CRA allows measures to pass on only a simple majority vote-see this GAO web page for more information)

Other Water Quality News

• Iowa Environmental Council op-ed (Des Moines Register): "Time to act on Iowans’ water quality concerns" http://ow.ly/SlNhH
• Opposing sides sound off at Pittsburgh hearing on new federal stream protection rule http://ow.ly/S6fsx
• Ohio coal executive: new Interior Department stream protection rule is "the single greatest threat" to the industry http://ow.ly/SbKpm
• Illinois coal miners fret over new round of federal regulations (Interior Department stream protection rule) http://ow.ly/SbMaT
• New Online USGS Pesticide Mapper—Predicting Pesticides in Streams and Rivers: Where is

  

  Source: USGS

  Water-Quality at Risk? http://ow.ly/SkkzS
• EPA's Office of Inspector General: scant evidence that costly sewer upgrades required by combined sewer overflow consent decrees are improving water quality http://ow.ly/SlLh8
• The Atlantic: Some of today’s sewers were built before bathrooms as we know them existed. It’s time to upgrade http://ow.ly/So94m
• Long way to go on cleaning Minnesota lakes, rivers and streams http://ow.ly/SbYAI
• EQB approves 2015 Water Policy Report that proposes solutions to Minnesota's pressing water challenges http://ow.ly/Sofgc
• Troubled waters: Is Minnesota at a turning point for water quality? http://ow.ly/Scgbm
• Minnesota stream buffer provision draws over 200 people to Kandiyohi County informational meeting http://ow.ly/ScgOG
• Allegheny River water quality holds steady despite Marcellus shale drilling waste water and other river contamination http://ow.ly/Scc5I
• EPA Report: "Managing Water Quality in the Face of Uncertainty" - a "Robust Decision Making Demonstration for EPA's National Water Program" http://ow.ly/Scksh
• Murray Energy agrees to pay Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission $2.5 million to settle damages related to massive 2009 Dunkard Creek fish kill (Ohio River Basin) http://ow.ly/Sedex
• Illinois EPA refers Vermilion County cattle farm operator to Attorney General for enforcement (water pollution) http://ow.ly/SkgXk
• U.S. EPA agrees to timeline for updating stormwater regulations under terms of settlement with environmental groups http://ow.ly/SkhIk
• USDA and USEPA announce new water quality trading resources http://ow.ly/SlS2y

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

• Will a controversial plan restore Illinois wetlands or ruin them (re: Emiquon Preserve)? http://ow.ly/SehI9
• Land parcels in Minnesota, Wisconsin added to St. Croix River wild and scenic river conservation efforts http://ow.ly/Scgzo
• Record amount of sediment dredged from Lower Mississippi River, helping restore marshland http://ow.ly/Scian
• Army Corps plans to prepare Integrated Draft Feasibility Report and Environmental Impact Statement to investigate hydrologic and hydraulic problems threatening navigation, aquatic ecosystem habitat, recreation, flood damage reduction and existing infrastructure at the Three Rivers Study Site (Arkansas River Basin, Southeastern Arkansas) http://ow.ly/SclkY
• Agencies announce availability of draft National Wetland Plant List 2015 and web site to solicit public comments http://ow.ly/SclXi
• Kansas State University to create 'Living Laboratories' for green infrastructure stormwater and training project http://ow.ly/Sh8vl
• Study: Water demand from fracking less than 1 percent of US total industrial water use http://ow.ly/Sht3D

Agriculture -

• House and Senate appropriators asked to restore farm conservation program budget cuts http://ow.ly/Sodzf and http://ow.ly/SoeOx (letter here: http://ow.ly/SoeYg)
• USDA awards $20.5 Million in Conservation Innovation Grants to advance "next generation of natural resources conservation" http://ow.ly/Shf6s
• Iowa Department of Natural Resources and Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement disagree on the extent of the state's manure management progress http://ow.ly/Seet2
• Dwindling U.S. bat population could be devastating for crops and farmers; story: http://ow.ly/SeruM (PNAS article: http://ow.ly/SerXQ)
• Des Moines Register: Wall Street investors are gobbling up farm land http://dmreg.co/1KOBzjo

Climate and Weather -

• This summer was the hottest on record and 2015 is likely to win the same title when the year is over http://ow.ly/SodVT
• NOAA weekly drought report: dryness expanded in northwest Kansas; drought active in southern Arkansas, northern Louisiana, western Mississippi http://ow.ly/So4PT
• New Orleans sees limits to climate adaptation efforts as sea level rises http://ow.ly/S65VK
• Human-induced global warming is set to produce exceptionally high average temperatures this year and next http://ow.ly/Sc3BL
• Rural Nebraska poll shows changing attitudes on climate change http://ow.ly/SevuB

Photo: Dick Schoenberger for MPR

Biodiversity, Wildlife and Invasives -

• State's loon population gets a helping hand in southern Minnesota  http://ow.ly/Scace
• USDA: U.S. EPA's proposal to protect bees from pesticide exposure in farm fields is unrealistically restrictive; news article: http://ow.ly/ScxLi and USDA letter: http://ow.ly/Sceft
• Minnesota DNR chief: No guarantees for Mille Lacs winter walleye season http://ow.ly/ScjkY
• White Fringeless Orchid - found in wet soils of bogs, marshes, fens and swamps - proposed for Endangered Species Act protection in five states, including Tennessee, Mississippi and Kentucky http://ow.ly/Sel5C (Federal Register notice: http://ow.ly/SeKqe)
• Interior secretary hopes sage grouse won’t need federal protection http://ow.ly/Shalq
• Fish and Wildlife Service to further review the need for protection of 23 species under the Endangered Species Act (links to list of species and petitions here: http://ow.ly/Socy6)

In the Cities -

• Sixty-eight mayors from 10 states are meeting in Dubuque this week at Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative meeting http://ow.ly/Sh85h
• Mississippi River mayors home in on water quality, climate to protect economies http://ow.ly/Skiqc
• The Atlantic: Why Doesn’t New Orleans Look More Like Amsterdam? http://ow.ly/SciuQ
• PRI Living on Earth: New Orleans is still vulnerable to another big storm http://ow.ly/SecxB
• Wichita, Kansas will soon see 93 acres of urban wetlands become public park land with stormwater management elements http://ow.ly/Sh7KJ
• Missouri Botanical Garden Rainscaping Guide highlights BiodiverseCity St. Louis community initiative http://ow.ly/Sh8Pi
• Bakken oil boom turned into a money loser for most cities and counties in the North Dakota and Montana prairie region http://ow.ly/S5WR8
• Internet of things helping U.S. cities manage water resources http://ow.ly/Sklo5

In the States-

• Pennsylvania Senate Republicans proceeding this week with their plans to develop possible stopgap budget http://ow.ly/Sheyl
• Pennsylvania Republican stopgap state budget package moves forward in the face of a Gov. Wolf veto threat http://ow.ly/SlKnd
• Final version of Wisconsin's "Wetland Screening and Delineation Procedures" is now available http://ow.ly/SlKOD

Gulf Coastal Region-

• $52 million in restoration, river projects to be discussed this week at Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council meetings http://ow.ly/Sh74J
• Move mouth of Mississippi River, abandon communities part of experts’ new, startling recommendations for Louisiana’s future http://ow.ly/Skg6w

Resource Development -

• Local antifracking movement may stifle new drilling in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania http://ow.ly/SeUhO
• Ohio and Pennsylvania try to block court approval of Patriot Coal's reorganization plan over cleanup concerns http://ow.ly/S6ibZ
• Iowa regulators will hold hearings in November on allowing eminent domain for the Bakken Pipeline project http://ow.ly/SkYnN
• Assessed value of West Virginia's coal reserves and mining infrastructure has fallen more than $1 billion since 2013 http://ow.ly/SeUDS
• New report finds federal subsidies for Powder River Basin coal amount to $8 per ton http://ow.ly/Skmra
• Minnesota appeals court: environmental impact statement must be completed for controversial Sandpiper oil pipeline before it can be approved http://ow.ly/Se8Mh
• Minnesota Appeals Court sides with "essentially all" of the arguments environmental groups made in halting the Sandpiper project while an environmental review is done http://ow.ly/Shxtc
• A Texas company is idling its frac sand operation in Marshfield, Wisconsin due to plunging oil prices http://ow.ly/Seyme

Federal Budget (You can follow the status of all of the fiscal year 2016 appropriation bills on this Congress.gov web page)

• Federal shutdown news: there's no Congressional plan-the only thing clear two weeks from the deadline is it will go down to the wire http://ow.ly/SnOOp
• Mega fiscal cliff looms as debt ceiling, and government and transportation spending all converge over next three months http://ow.ly/Sknkr
• House leaders expect the Senate will wait until House passes a continuing resolution before scheduling a Senate vote http://ow.ly/ShglT
• Prospect of a second government shutdown in two years is growing as House conservatives fight Planned Parenthood funding http://ow.ly/SchrE

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) 

• Webinar: Environmental Restoration Projects that Support Stormwater Management  September 22, 2-3:15 pm ET http://ow.ly/Sh9wB
• Wisconsin Natural Resources Board to discuss changes to safe drinking water rules, walleye management, and Fish, Wildlife, and Habitat Management Plan and Wildlife Action Plan at September 23 meeting in Bowler http://ow.ly/ShdiD
• Informational Webinars for EPA Water Quality Standards Regulatory Revisions Final Rule; September 28 and 30, 1 PM ET http://ow.ly/SlMpq
• Public meetings of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Assumable Waters Subcommittee re: Clean Water Act permit program for the discharge of dredge and fill materials; Washington, DC area; October 6-7 and December 1-2 http://ow.ly/SeIDB
• 17th Annual EPA Region 6 Stormwater Conference; Hot Springs, AR, October 18-22 http://ow.ly/Sh95X
• 3rd North America Congress for Conservation Biology, July 17-20, 2016 in Madison, Wisconsin http://ow.ly/SkqPk

e-Newsletters, Publications, Journals, Multimedia  -

• Lower Mississippi River Dispatch; No. 305, September 14; Missing: 120,000 gallons of Clarified Slurry Oil in Mississippi River near Columbus, KY http://ow.ly/SbZkq
• Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's Waterfront Bulletin for September 2015 http://ow.ly/ScfUZ
• Tulane Institute on Water Resources Law and Policy, September 15 TUWaterWays e-newsletter http://ow.ly/SkwE8

Other news-

• Expert witness criticism at Senate hearing surprises sponsors of bipartisan regulatory reform bills http://ow.ly/SkoDk (hearing web page http://ow.ly/Skqtj)
• GAO to Congress: federal agencies failing to track risks posed by thousands of abandoned mines they oversee http://ow.ly/S6hRN
• WV PR: Farming could offer jobs for struggling families in West Virginia's coalfields, but it won't be easy http://ow.ly/SbLeE
• Purdue University Department of Forestry and Natural Resources seeks applicants for an assistant professor of ecological/resource/environmental economics http://ow.ly/Sc2Dz
• Interior Secretary urges Congressional reauthorization of Land and Water Conservation Fund http://ow.ly/ShdMG
• Washington Post: Congress is about to let the Land and Water Conservation Fund lapse. Here’s why you should care. http://ow.ly/SlPKQ
• 57 senators urge leaders to pass a short-term extension of the Land and Water Conservation Fund before the end of September http://ow.ly/SnBog
• New map highlights national parks preserved using Land and Water Conservation Fund and those at risk if Fund lapses http://ow.ly/SlLNv

Politics and People-

• Braddock, Pennsylvania Mayor John Fetterman announces candidacy for U.S.  Democratic Senate nomination http://ow.ly/ShefY
• All of the candidates for Kentucky governor blast EPA and back state environmental funding cuts http://ow.ly/SkjCL
• Washington Post-ABC News poll: 72% of Americans believe politicians cannot be trusted; 64% think political system is dysfunctional http://ow.ly/Sc4Xs
• Fort Wayne Journal Gazette editorial: "Hoosiers who believe climate change is imperiling lives, health and economic well-being are at a disadvantage" under Gov. Mike Pence administration http://ow.ly/SeBmE
• Partnership for Public Service study blasts Congressional dysfunction and partisanship for disrupting federal agencies' operations http://ow.ly/SkodK (PDF file)

Your Moment of Zen - 

From: The Atlas of True Names by Kalimedia