What We Learned This Week - The Cow Did It

A cow has been implicated in a natural gas liquid spill near a tributary of the Little Missouri River in North Dakota, while many cows have been implicated in the high levels of nitrates present in the Hastings, Minnesota area's drinking water supply.  In ruling against coal company subsidiaries, a Federal judge found that losing biological diversity in aquatic ecosystems, while leaving only pollution-tolerant species is "akin to the canary in a coal mine."  Some coal region House Members don't like the U.S. EPA's ability to veto Clean Water Act permits issued by the Army Corps of Engineers, and they plan to introduce a bill to limit that power.  Citing the complexity of an EPA proposed rule that would codify the meaning of the Clean Water Act term, "Waters of the United States," stakeholders are asking for an extension of the proposal comment period beyond its current July 21 deadline.  The United Nations threw its annual World Environment Day party on Thursday, but not many celebrated . . . or even noticed.  The lengthy, expensive and heated Mississippi Senate race between Republicans Sen. Thad Cochran and state Sen. Chris McDaniel will be longer, costlier and hotter, after neither topped 50 percent in Tuesday's Republican party primary.  Citing legal concerns, Louisiana's Governor Bobby Jindal postponed signing a bill into law that would block a lawsuit seeking compensation from oil and gas companies for Louisiana coastal damages.  In the meantime, Louisiana State University researchers' models predict that a storm surge will swamp Southeastern Louisiana by the end of the century.  And last but not least, the President's pen is running out of ink.

USDA Hosting Three Public Regional Conservation Partnership Program Q&A Sessions

Critical Conservation Areas (Click to Enlarge)

The Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS) will host three public Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) question and answer sessions for potentials partners and applicants who have questions or need clarification regarding the related Announcement for Public Funding (APF). The information on the three events (two webinars (June 9 and 18) and one in-person meeting (June 6, in Washington, DC)) can be found here. On May 27, the USDA designated three areas all or partially within the Mississippi River Basin among eight priority conservation areas that will have access to a "Critical Conservation Area" pool of RCPP funding to be made available nationwide.

NRCS staff will be available during the events to answer questions on the APF and clarify unclear points. The webinars will be conducted using Adobe Connect and all participants are encouraged to review the instructions prior to the event. Instructions are found on the website. The June 6, in-person event at the USDA headquarters (Whitten Building) will be available for in-person participants only and will not have call-in capability.

All three sessions will be recorded and available for playback on this same webpage.

Capitol Hill This Week - What to Watch For

The U.S. House is recessed this week.  Below are the Senate activities currently scheduled for the week that relate to Mississippi River Basin water resources.  Links are provided to the relevant committee Internet pages. Many Congressional proceedings are webcast live, and these should be, as well (follow the appropriate link).  All times are Eastern.

Tuesday

• Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Green Jobs and the New Economy hearing on "Farming, Fishing, Forestry, and Hunting in an Era of Changing Climate," 10:00 AM, room 406 Dirksen Senate Office Building.
• Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies markup of fiscal 2015 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies spending bill; 11:00 AM, room 192 Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Thursday

• Senate Full Appropriations Committee markup of the Fiscal 2015 Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill; 10:30 AM, room S-127 Capitol Building.

Mississippi River Basin Water Resource Weekly News

~Virtual Newspaper for an Aquatic World~

USDA Names Three Mississippi River Basin Landscapes as Nationally Critical for Conservation

Critical Conservation Areas (Click to Enlarge)

On Tuesday, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the availability of funding for its Regional Conservation Partnership Program (or "RCPP"); a new 2014 Farm Bill program.  In making the announcement, the agency designated three areas all or partially within the Mississippi River Basin among eight priority conservation areas that will have access to a "Critical Conservation Area" pool of RCPP funding to be made available nationwide.  The designation of a 13-state "Mississippi River Basin" as a Critical Conservation Area, according to USDA, will "accelerate conservation" and "continue to reduce nutrient and sediment loading to local and regional water bodies and to improve efficiency in using water supplies, particularly in the southern states."  USDA also named the "Prairie Grasslands Region" as priority conservation area. That region encompasses much of the western half of the Mississippi River Basin (including the Ogallala Aquifer), as well as the Red River valley - areas that "are facing critical conservation needs on working lands from frequent flooding and ponding (in the north) to prolonged drought and aquifer decline (in the Ogallala)," according to the USDA. In addition, USDA notes that the Prairie Grasslands Region offers "essential habitat" for a number of wild game and threatened species, including the lesser prairie chicken and sage grouse. The agency believes that designating the Prairie Grasslands Region as a Critical Conservation Area, will "accelerate conservation efforts to address these water resource and habitat issues" in the region.  In addition to the above two designations, the USDA named the "Longleaf Pine Range" as a Critical Conservation Area, including parts of its range in Louisiana and Mississippi.  USDA designated that area with the goal of improving "the profitability and sustainability of longleaf pine forest ecosystems" by increasing the longleaf pine acreage from 3.4 to 8 million acres by 2025.  You can follow these USDA links to read more about: the RCPP; the Critical Conservation areas; and the USDA request for project pre-proposals (applications due July 14).

Noteworthy @UpperMiss Twitter Postings for the Week

Water Quality -

• Most states in Mississippi River-Gulf of Mexico federal-state hypoxia task force have either draft or final nutrient plans http://ow.ly/xbGzz
• Republicans Set Phoenix Hearing on EPA ‘Water Grab’ (Re: Waters of the U.S.rulemaking) http://ow.ly/xl2RU (see proposed rule here: http://ow.ly/xl2V3)
• UC-Berkley economist in industry-sponsored report: "EPA Fails to Calculate Costs of Clean Water Act Rule" http://ow.ly/xnDnd (report here: http://ow.ly/xnDxj)
• House Small Business Committee Chairman says EPA proposal to regulate small water bodies would ‘drown’ small businesses in new rules http://ow.ly/xqyR0
• USGS: continuous nitrate monitoring across the Nation, including the Mississippi River Basin - Where, How, and Why http://ow.ly/xiMEF
• In states like Wisconsin, opposition to some large dairy farm operations grows after manure spills, improper waste handling http://ow.ly/xj33x
• Department of Natural Resources investigates cause of 1000s of fish killed in southwestern Missouri's Clear Creek http://ow.ly/xlq9Y
• House bill to create National Infrastructure Development Bank Act now has over 100 cosponsors http://ow.ly/xlsmg (Blue Green Alliance media release: http://ow.ly/xltq9)
• Sierra Club files suit in U.S. District Court, claiming LG&E pollutes Ohio River from Louisville coal-ash containment pond http://ow.ly/xoXZ2

Agriculture -

• Pre-proposal applications due to USDA by July 14 for Regional Conservation Partnership Program projects http://ow.ly/xkNLl
• AP Regional Conservation Partnership Program story: USDA Seeks Partnerships to Protect Soil, Water http://ow.ly/xl0s1
• USDA Secretary Vilsack: House Appropriations Committee aims to reduce funding for conservation programs would have "some small impact" http://ow.ly/xl1Mr
• Senate Agriculture Committee Republicans seek meeting with EPA Administrator to discuss "constituent concerns" http://ow.ly/xjdYq
• USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service releases “Farms and Land in Farms 2013 Summary” http://ow.ly/xnCzT (PDF file)
• Study finds world's food supplies are at risk as farmland becomes concentrated in hands of wealthy elites, corporations http://ow.ly/xoz3v
• Sensors that measure a variety of agriculturally essential soil properties on the go are being developed http://ow.ly/xovX4

Climate and Weather -

Seven-day low flow streamflow
trends (click to enlarge)

• EPA releases third edition of "Climate Change Indicators in the United States" report http://ow.ly/xnEFm
• May 27 US drought update: Dryness expanded through southeastern Iowa, into east-central Illinois; otherwise Midwest was unchanged. Nebraska drought deepened; Plains otherwise improved http://ow.ly/wmTdv
• Yale researchers: Americans care deeply about 'global warming' – but not 'climate change' http://ow.ly/xkMwP (see the Yale report here: http://ow.ly/xl8VN)

Biodiversity, Wildlife and Invasives -

• USGS says its researchers erred in saying Asian carp eggs had been discovered in Mississippi River near Lynxville, Wisconsin http://ow.ly/xj0yc
• Wisconsin, Minnesota study little-known fish whose disappearance may mean smaller inland lake musky, pike and walleye http://ow.ly/xj1PH

In the Cities -

• Louisville, Kentucky sewer rates will rise another 5.5 percent to pay for ongoing $850 million water pollution project http://ow.ly/xlptG
• New Orleans Dazzling Post-Katrina Parks Boom http://ow.ly/xnFME
• Minneapolis parks system has received the highest urban green space score in the country for the second year in a row http://ow.ly/xp1nX

In the States-

• Groups deliver signed petitions to Gov. Jay Nixon asking that Missouri’s water be protected from coal ash waste http://ow.ly/xbG7j
• Revised environmental rules for Minnesota livestock feedlots are now in effect http://ow.ly/xozWp
• Media Release: A major victory for public health, environmental quality and the Mississippi River in Minnesota http://ow.ly/x7jBs (also see news coverage: http://ow.ly/x3tnH)

Louisiana Coastal Region-

• PBS NewsHour: As Louisiana’s coastline shrinks, a political fight over responsibility grows http://t.co/egri0ku9Y4

Forestry -

• Nature Conservancy/University of Tennessee "Fading Forests III" report calls for more action against invasive species http://ow.ly/xcbvC

Federal Budget -

• House Appropriations Committee passes USDA 2015 spending measure http://ow.ly/xqxZ4  (Committee announcement and summary)
• House Appropriations Committee sends fiscal 2015 spending bill for agriculture programs to full House, 31-18, along party lines http://ow.ly/xqATT (news coverage)
• House $51.2 billion Commerce and Science spending bill would boost NOAA weather forecast funding; cut climate research http://ow.ly/xl7Hh

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

• Registration open for Mississippi River’s Island Construction and Land Restoration Tour, June 5, 9 am-3 pm, Onalaska, WI http://ow.ly/xnFpf
• Minnesota Green Roof Symposium: Protecting Our Watersheds, Saint Paul, MN, June 19, 9 am - 5 pm http://ow.ly/xnGck
• St. Croix River Association's "Rockin' on the River" cruise-event, June 19, 6-9:30 PM; Hudson, WI http://ow.ly/xik5M

e-Newsletters, Publications, Journals, Multimedia  -

• Lower Mississippi River Dispatch, Vol 10 No 6, Monday, May 26 http://ow.ly/xihoj
• Bi-weekly Green Lands Blue Waters update, highlighting Continuous Living Cover on Mississippi River Basin agricultural land http://ow.ly/xiiOC
• Water Environment Federation May 27 e-newsletter http://ow.ly/xjp8W
• May 27 Tulane Institute on Water Resources Law and Policy "TUWaterWays" edition http://ow.ly/xnDRn
• Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Watershed Network News - May 29 http://ow.ly/xoVnF
• Montana Watershed Coordination Council May 29 Watershed News http://ow.ly/xqzy2

Other news-

• House Ways and Means Committee passes bill along party lines to permanently extend conservation easement tax deduction http://ow.ly/xp0La
• EPA’s online Catalog of Federal Funding Sources for Watershed Protection was recently updated (April 2014) http://ow.ly/xbFh2
• White House unveils its semiannual regulatory agenda detailing thousands of rules in pipeline in federal agencies http://ow.ly/xig33
• MinnPost: "The many personalities of the Mighty Mississippi" http://ow.ly/xlDwn

Politics and People-

• 75 percent of the salient issues on Washington’s agenda are subject to legislative gridlock http://ow.ly/xloeQ
• Louisville environmental attorney Tom FitzGerald has accepted seat on Ohio River commission http://ow.ly/xiZwG
• Seventeen-term Rep. Ralph Hall (R-Tex.-4) loses GOP runoff, becoming first incumbent to lose renomination this cycle http://ow.ly/xkRqY
• Republicans unite to back Iowa state Sen. Joni Ernst, hoping to put retiring Sen. Tom Harkin’s (D) Senate seat in play http://ow.ly/xl3DQ
• Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality chief Trudy Fisher announces plans to resign http://ow.ly/xoYIg

Last Word - "Frequently the more trifling the subject, the more animated and protracted the discussion." - President Franklin Pierce.

1855 Colton Map of Kansas and Nebraska
from Geographicus (click to enlarge)

160 years ago, on May 30, 1854, the U.S. territories of Nebraska and Kansas were established, when Pierce signed the Kansas–Nebraska Act.  The law opened the lands for settlement, and had the effect of repealing the 1820 Missouri Compromise by allowing white, male settlers in those territories to determine through popular sovereignty whether they would allow slavery within each territory  The Kansas–Nebraska Act divided the nation; pointing it toward a devastating civil war that precipitates animated and protracted discussion to this day.  Not a trifling subject.

What We Learned This Week

Farm and Farmland Trends in the U.S. (click to enlarge)

Three landscapes in the Mississippi River Basin are considered "Critical Conservation Areas" by the USDA, and that agency's Secretary, Tom Vilsack. believes that a House Appropriations Committee bill that reduces funding for conservation programs would have "some small impact" if passed.  Asian carp eggs were not discovered this past spring in the Mississippi River near Lynxville, Wisconsin after all. Minneapolis has the best urban green spaces in the country for the second year running.  The number of farms in the United States in 2013 was estimated to be down by seven thousand; total land in farms decreased 360 thousand acres; and average farm size was up two acres from the previous year.  Louisiana Senator David Vitter is the most "median" of all U.S. Senators when it comes to the number of bills he sponsored or cosponsored that were actually enacted (78) during his tenure. The Mississippi River Basin champion is Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi, who has seen 675 bills that he sponsored or cosponsored eventually become law.  Three-quarters of the salient issues on the U.S. Congressional agenda are subject to legislative gridlock.  And last but not least, Americans are more concerned when the term "global warming" is used to describe that environmental challenge. "Climate change," by contrast, leaves them relatively unmoved.  Which is perhaps why a $51.2 billion spending bill the House passed this week would boost NOAA weather forecast funding but cut spending on climate research.

Capitol Hill This Week - What to Watch For (UPDATED May 29)

Dirksen Senate Office Building

The House is recessed for the long Memorial Day weekend and is set to reconvene on Wednesday to take on a fairly limited committee and floor agenda.  The full House on Wednesday is scheduled to begin consideration of the 2015 Commerce, Justice and Science spending bill, which would appropriate funding for NOAA's climate programs and the National Weather Service, among other agencies.

Below are the House committee activities currently scheduled that relate to Mississippi River Basin water resources. The Senate is recessed until Monday morning, June 2.  Links are provided to the relevant committee pages on the Internet, and, where appropriate, to pieces of legislation. Many Congressional proceedings are webcast live, and these should be, as well (follow the appropriate link). All times are Eastern.

Wednesday

• House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security Mark Up - FY 2015 Homeland Security Appropriations Bill (including Federal Emergency Management Agency appropriations); 6:00 PM, room H-140 Capitol. 

Thursday

• House Appropriations Full Committee Mark up of draft Fiscal Year 2015 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill; 9:00 AM, room 2359 Rayburn House Office Building.
• House Ways and Means Committee markup of various bills, including HR 2807, the
  HR 2807, “Conservation Easement Incentive Act of 2013.”  10:30 AM, room 1100 Longworth House Office Building.
• House Science, Space and Technology Committee hearing "Examining the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Process;" 11:00 AM, room 2318 Rayburn House Office Building.
• House Small Business Committee hearing on "Will EPA's 'Waters of the United States' Rule Drown Small Businesses?"  1:00 PM, room 2630 Rayburn House Office Building.

USDA Designates Three Mississippi River Region Critical Conservation Areas

Critical Conservation Areas (Click to Enlarge)

On Tuesday, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the availability of what the it termed "substantial investments in conservation projects across the country" through its implementation of the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (or "RCPP"); a new 2014 Farm Bill program.  In making the announcement, the agency designated three areas all or partially within the Mississippi River Basin among eight priority conservation areas that will have access to a "Critical Conservation Area" pool of RCPP funding made available nationwide.  The designation of a 13-state "Mississippi River Basin" as a Critical Conservation Area, according to USDA, will "accelerate conservation" and "continue to reduce nutrient and sediment loading to local and regional water bodies and to improve efficiency in using water supplies, particularly in the southern states."  USDA also named the "Prairie Grasslands Region" as priority conservation area. That region encompasses much of the western half of the Mississippi River Basin (including the Ogallala Aquifer), as well as the Red River valley - areas that "are facing critical conservation needs on working lands from frequent flooding and ponding (in the north) to prolonged drought and aquifer decline (in the Ogallala)," according to the USDA. In addition, USDA notes that the Prairie Grasslands Region offers "essential habitat" for a number of wild game and threatened species, including the lesser prairie chicken and sage grouse. The agency believes that designating the Prairie Grasslands Region as a Critical Conservation Area, will "accelerate conservation efforts to address these water resource and habitat issues" in the region.  In addition to the above two designations, the USDA named the "Longleaf Pine Range" as a Critical Conservation Area, including parts of its range in Louisiana and Mississippi.  USDA designated that area with the goal of improving "the profitability and sustainability of longleaf pine forest ecosystems" by increasing the longleaf pine acreage from 3.4 to 8 million acres by 2025.  You can follow these USDA links to read more about: the RCPP; the Critical Conservation areas; and the USDA request for project pre-proposals  (applications due July 14).