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Northeast-Midwest Institute Releases Report on Conservation Effectiveness in Watersheds in the Upper Mississippi River Basin
A new report by the Northeast-Midwest Institute assesses the implementation of a federally funded conservation program, with a particular concentration on its potential to improve water quality, focusing on a set of locations across the Upper Mississippi River Basin. This study will prove to be a valuable guide for forging a more robust conservation regime in the region and the rest of the United States.
The report analyzes the implementation of the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) in six watersheds in the Upper Mississippi River Basin: Middle Cedar River in Iowa; Upper Macoupin Creek and Otter Lake in Illinois; the State of Minnesota with a special emphasis on Middle Cannon River; and Baraboo River and Oconomowoc River in Wisconsin. An assessment of these six projects confirms the vital role of federal funding in initiating or strengthening these collaborations across various sectors from state and local governments to educational institutions, agri-businesses, and environmental organizations.
Highlighting the study's findings are the results of watershed modeling of projected changes in phosphorus, nitrogen, and sediment in the future after incorporating impacts due to climate change. Using the EPA-designed Hydrologic and Water Quality System (HAWQS), the report found that the contaminants evaluated in the study - phosphorus, nitrogen, and sediment - are projected to increase consistently in certain watersheds, while others show an oscillating pattern. The RCPP projects evaluated in this report show statistically significant but low-impact reductions in contaminant pollution across the watersheds. RCPP projects, as currently implemented, generally reduce pollution from phosphorus, nitrogen, and sediment by approximately 3-6% across the watershed. A 10-fold expansion of the current conservation adoption in the watersheds will result in a 17-27% reduction, while full implementation of conservation on all available farmland will bring a 55-66% reduction in contaminant loading.
The Mississippi River Basin is the largest watershed in the United States, draining approximately 40% of the land area in the lower 48 states. Agriculture is the dominant industry in the Basin, impacting land-use and water quality. Heavy use of fertilizers and manure on agricultural fields has substantially contributed to high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus across the Basin, resulting in algal blooms, contaminated drinking water, and "dead zones" in open waters. A focus on addressing the problem at the source has led the federal government to invest significantly in conservation programs through farmer education, outreach, and cost sharing of practices that aim to improve soil health and water quality. RCPP is designed to bring together upstream farmers and downstream stakeholders such as cities, water and wastewater utilities, and other watershed preservation groups.
The RCPP projects studied in this report employed a variety of conservation practices, although a few dominated. Planting cover crops during the off-season is an especially popular practice, even though it is less effective than other edge-of-field practices such as filter strips and bioreactors. Filter strips, nutrient management, and strip till/no till are other commonly employed conservation practices. Water quality monitoring is an important element of RCPP projects, and one that sets it apart from other historical conservation efforts. The inclusion of downstream stakeholders elevated the role of monitoring as well as its scope. However, the lack of a standardized water quality monitoring protocol resulted in instances where sparse monitoring frequency provided no meaningful data.
Each RCPP project also contains one or more unique elements that make the project stand apart and mark it for success. Examples of such elements include leveraging RCPP funding with state regulatory programs or local industry support, implementing outreach initiatives to involve non-traditional farmers, formulating a comprehensive water monitoring program, and focusing on improving each farm rather than just improving the watershed as a whole.
The Farm Bill has been an effective vehicle for undertaking critical conservation efforts by bringing together stakeholders with varying interests. However, the funding allocated for conservation is not enough to meet the scale and severity of the water quality challenge facing the Mississippi River Basin and the nation at large. Additional funding for source water protection in the 2018 Farm Bill was an important step toward enhancing conservation efforts, but this study identifies several policy lacunae that need to be addressed at the federal, state, and local levels to ensure productive lands and high quality water in the region that feeds and powers America for many years to come.
This study also gives rise to a number of further policy implications, applicable from the federal to the local levels. The implications include the necessity of prioritizing high-efficiency practices, including financial support for monitoring standards in future RCPP projects, minimizing restrictions on monetary transfers between various conservation funds, giving preference to long-term viability in the assessment of future RCPP projects, and incorporating the role of climate change in all the NRCS-administered conservation programs, among others.
The full press release is available here, and the study itself is here.
For more information, please contact Eric Heath, Senior Policy Counsel for the Mississippi River Basin Program at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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Upcoming Briefing: Climate Change Impacts on the Great Lakes
Please Join the Environmental Law & Policy Center and the Northeast-Midwest Institute for a Congressional briefing on the impacts climate change is having on the Great Lakes and the region.
Tuesday, July 9, 2019
Congressional Visitor Center
SVC 208
10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
Speakers:
- Donald Wuebbles, Harry E. Preble Professor of Atmospheric Science, the University of Illinois School of Earth, Society, and Environment
- Dana Infante, Associate Professor, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University
- Ashish Sharma, Climatologist, Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS)
- Howard Learner, President and Executive Director, the Environmental Law & Policy Center
- Donald Wuebbles, Harry E. Preble Professor of Atmospheric Science, the University of Illinois School of Earth, Society, and Environment
- Dana Infante, Associate Professor, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University
- Ashish Sharma, Illinois Research Climatologist, Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS), Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Howard Learner, President and Executive Director, the Environmental Law & Policy Center
Climate change is causing significant and far-reaching impacts on the Great Lakes and the Great Lakes region. In recent years, our planet has experienced some of the warmest temperatures ever recorded, record-breaking weather extremes, powerful storms, tragic flooding from rising sea levels and associated storm surge, huge wildfires, and continued melting of glaciers and polar sea ice. The accelerating pattern of changes in the earth's climate is affecting the Great Lakes.
In March, the Environmental Law & Policy Center released a report, authored by 18 leading scientists and experts from Midwest and Canadian universities and research institutions, drawing on the array of existing research to assess how the shifting global climate impacts the unique Great Lakes region. Please join us for an in-depth conversation about the known climate science in our region and public policies that could help curb climate change's adverse impacts on the Great Lakes.
For more information, please contact Matthew McKenna, Director of the Great Lakes Washington Program at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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House Spending Bill Includes Increased Funding to Fight Grass Carp in the Great Lakes
The U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 2740, an appropriations "minibus" that contains four of the twelve annual appropriations bills. The bills in the package include the FY 2020 Defense; Labor-Health & Human Services-Education; Energy & Water; and State & Foreign Operations appropriations bills, and was passed by a vote of 226 - 203 last week.
During the debate, over 100 votes were taken on proposed amendments to the bill. Of particular note, Representatives Dan Kildee (MI-5) and Marcy Kaptur (OH-9) offered an amendment to the State & Foreign Operations section that doubles federal funding to combat grass carp, an invasive species threatening the Great Lakes. The amendment, which was approved by the full House, increases the Great Lakes Fishery Commission's budget to fight grass carp from $500,000 to $1 million.
The House will look to finish up its work on H.R. 3055, a second FY 2020 "minibus" appropriations bill this week, after considering numerous amendments last week and this week. The second bill includes the FY 2020 Commerce, Justice, & Science; Agriculture; Interior & Environment; Military Construction; and Transportation & HUD appropriations bills.
For more information, please contact Matthew McKenna, Director of the Great Lakes Washington Program at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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U.S. Department of Agriculture Buries Studies Showing Dangers of Climate Change
The Trump administration is refusing to publicize dozens of government funded studies that address warnings about climate change that have been released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) acclaimed scientists and researchers.
One of the many issue that have been downplayed is the discovery that rice loses vitamins in a carbon-rich environment. This has the potential to be a serious health concern for the 600 million people world-wide who depend on rice for their daily nutrients.
The studies published by the Agricultural Research Service are non-partisan and peer reviewed by accredited scientists. Regardless, the current administration has adopted a narrative that suppresses the circulation of scientific evidence of climate change as an attempt to avoid press coverage of the topic. Meanwhile, people are already suffering from the effects of climate change through sea level rise, unprecedented superstorms, droughts, wildfires, and heat waves.
Politico started an
investigation into the Trump administration's habitual refusal to address the potential global dangers of climate change. Since January 2017, the Agriculture Research Service has been permitted to issue two climate-related studies. One found that beef production makes a relatively small contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and another that removing animal products from the diet for environmental reasons would likely cause widespread nutritional problems. Neither of the publications focused on climate change's catastrophic impacts. Instead, each of the publications are favorable towards increased production within the meat industry.
For more information, please contact Eric Heath, Senior Policy Counsel for the Mississippi River Basin Program at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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Congressional Environmental Profile: Rep. Daniel Kildee (D-MI)
Rep. Daniel Kildee, representing Michigan's 5
th
Congressional district, has served in Congress since 2013. As a member of the Democratic Party, he has worked as assistant whip and is currently a member of the Ways and Means Committee. The 5
th
district encompasses, most prominently, the city of Flint as well as miles of coast along Lake Huron. As such, issues of clean water and environmental toxins are vitally important to his constituents.
Rep. Kildee has consistently voted to ensure the protection of important water sources and to prevent the spread of toxic substances in the environment. In addition to receiving a 94% score in 2018, and a 96% lifetime score, from the
League of Conservation Voters, he has voted on the side of environmental protection on some of the most important environmental bills of the last five years. Some examples of his leadership on environmental issues include his vote against rolling back safeguards from the Clean Water Act in the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018, his vote against reducing regulation of pesticide use in the same act, and
his sponsorship of disaster funding for Flint in 2016.
Other environmental groups, such as the Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund and Environment America, have also supported Rep. Kildee based on his work to protect the public from pollution. Additionally, Rep. Kildee was endorsed in his 2018 reelection campaign by Clean Water Action, the Michigan League of Conservation Voters, and
the Sierra Club. Last month, he joined Representatives Dingell and Khanna
in introducing legislation to limit the use of harmful PFAS chemicals in firefighting foam. Overall, Rep. Kildee has demonstrated a commitment to addressing the environmental concerns of his constituents and has enjoyed the support of a wide array of environmental groups as a result.
For more information,
please contact
Eric Heath
, Senior Policy Counsel for the Mississippi River Basin Program at the Northeast-Midwest Institute
.
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NEMWI: Strengthening the Region that Sustains the Nation
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