Following up on the release of the NEMWI and U.S. Geological Survey's new study evaluating water data in the Lake Erie Basin, Elin Betanzo, Senior Policy Analyst at the Northeast-Midwest Institute, participated in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative Annual meeting in Sarnia, Ontario on June 18, 2015. Ms. Betanzo's work explores the amounts of water data needed and available to answer "How effective are agricultural management practices at reducing nutrients from nonpoint sources at the watershed scale?" in the Lake Erie drainage basin.

Ms. Betanzo stated that current water quality monitoring in the Lake Erie drainage basin is inadequate for measuring the effectiveness of agriculture management practices at the watershed scale. Additional targeted water monitoring in small watersheds, an increase in agricultural management practice use, and enhanced collaboration and coordination among water monitoring organizations and agriculture agencies are needed to use resources effectively and measure results. Continued, long-term monitoring is also critical in the River Raisin, Maumee, and Sandusky River watersheds to detect nutrient load reductions to Lake Erie and measure progress toward water quality goals. The report is available at www.nemw.org.    

For more information, contact Elin Betanzo, Sr. Policy Analyst, at the Northeast-Midwest Institute. 

This Thursday and Friday, the U.S. House is scheduled to consider its fiscal year 2016 Interior and Environment spending bill funding the Department of Interior, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and U.S. Forest Service. The current proposed bill would reduce funding for some regionally-significant programs, including EPA's Brownfield Projects and the Clean and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds. The bill also contains multiple policy riders, including those dealing with the Waters of the U.S. Rule and endangered species. Once passed, the bill will become the seventh annual appropriations measure advanced by the House this year. Thus far, the Senate has not passed any individual 2016 spending bills. In addition to that floor action, here is some House and Senate committee activity currently scheduled for the week ahead that is particularly relevant to the Region:

Tuesday

• Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee oversight hearing to examine the National Flood Insurance Program; 10:00 AM, room 538 Dirksen Senate Office Building.
• Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies business meeting to markup its fiscal year 2016 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act; 10:00 AM, room 138, Dirksen Senate Office Building.
• Joint Hearing of the Senate Budget and Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committees to "Account for True Cost of Regulation and Explore the Possibility of a Regulatory Budget"; 10:00 AM, room G50 Dirksen Senate Office Building.
• House Rules Committee meeting to set the rules for consideration of the fiscal year 2016  Interior and Environment appropriations bill; 5:00 PM, room H-313 Capitol Building.

Wednesday

• Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee hearing entitled "Assessing and Improving Flood Insurance Management and Accountability in the Wake of Superstorm Sandy"; 10:00 AM, room 538 Dirksen Senate Office Building.