|
|
|
Technical Webinar Summarizing Lake Erie Nutrient Case Study Now Available
Roll-out of the Northeast-Midwest Institute's Lake Erie Nutrient Case Study continues with a presentation on July 30 by Elin Betanzo, Sr. Policy Analyst at NEMWI, to the Nutrients Annex 4 Subcommittee for the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. Since the study's release, there have also been discussions with the Senate agriculture committee, the Council on Environmental Quality, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the U.S. Geological Survey.
The study identifies the water quality data needed to detect statistically significant reductions in nutrient loads and concentrations at the watershed scale, water monitoring sites that are currently collecting the needed water data, and data gaps for measuring the effectiveness of agricultural management practices to reduce nutrient input into Lake Erie. The Annex 4 Subcommittee is considering monitoring and implementation strategies for tracking progress toward proposed 40% phosphorus reduction goals for the western and central basins of Lake Erie. A recording of the webinar is available
here
and the report files are available
here.
For more information, contact
Elin Betanzo
, Sr. Policy Analyst, at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
|
|
This Week on Capitol Hill
U.S. House members began their summer recess following last Wednesday's votes, not to return until September 8. That exodus leaves only the Senate in session this week. Before departing, the House and Senate extended funding for Surface Transportation through the end of October. The Senate passed its six-year bill last week, and the House has plans to craft their own bill when they return in September. It all indicates a very full fall, with spending bills and debt ceiling limits added to the mix.
Until then, hearings scheduled for this final week include:
Tuesday
- Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing entitled, "Oversight of Litigation at the Environmental Protection Agency and Fish and Wildlife Service: Impacts on the U.S. Economy, States, Local Communities and the Environment"; 9:30 AM, room 406 Dirksen Senate Office Building.
Thursday
- Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management hearing on "Agency Progress in Retrospective Review of Existing Regulations," including testimony from and questioning of executive staff from the Department of Interior, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and U.S. Department of Agriculture; 9:00 AM, room 342, Dirksen Senate Office Building.
For more information, contact
Mark Gorman
, Policy Analyst, or
Danielle Chesky
, Director, Great Lakes Washington Program at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
|
|
Great Lakes Hill Happenings
The House's work on Capitol Hill finished up in July, with the Senate remaining only into the first week of August. The time saw some slowdowns in legislation and some outright halts, like those that involving appropriation bills. Amid the buzz around the Lake Erie Harmful Algal Bloom forecast, NEMWI hosted a packed Capitol Hill briefing on water monitoring data necessary to know whether agricultural management practices are helping improve the Lake Erie watersheds. Details are included in the August Hill Happenings, which will be on hiatus until the October edition. For more information, contact Danielle Chesky, Director, Great Lakes Washington Program at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
|
|
Sen. Durbin Urges U.S. EPA Veto of Mississippi River Levee Project
Northeast-Midwest Senate Coalition member Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) wrote a July 30 letter to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy and the Council on Environmental Quality urging the EPA to use Clean Water Act authority to stop the controversial St. Johns Bayou-New Madrid Floodway project along the Mississippi River in Missouri. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project would reduce flood impacts on small communities and a large area of agricultural land behind the levee system, by cutting off the Mississippi River from the only area in Missouri where the River has significant connection with its natural floodplain. The $165 million project has been the subject of legal action and the focus of heated debate among its supporters and detractors since it was first proposed in the 1950s. Proponents and the Army Corps contend that its benefits outweigh the loss of the wetlands, and opponents - including scientists, taxpayer advocates and environmentalists - argue that the levee will sever one of the River's few remaining natural flows, and destroy critical fish-spawning and birding habitat. EPA can initiate a Clean Water Act, Section 404(c) "veto" of a project if it determines that a proposed permit activity is likely to result in significant loss of or damage to fisheries, shellfishing, wildlife habitat, or recreation areas. For more information, contact Mark Gorman, Policy Analyst at the Northeast-Midwest.
|
USGS Launches New On-Line Water Quality Tool
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program
has launched a new
online graphical data tool
to
provide data on national ambient water-quality conditions by
annually summarizing nutrient and sediment concentrations and loads, along with flow information for 106 river and stream sites across the country. NAWQA Program Chief William Wilber reports that the tool can be used to:
- compare recent water-quality conditions to long-term conditions (1993-2013) at each site,
- download water-quality data sets (streamflow, concentrations, and loads), and
- evaluate nutrient loading to coastal areas and large tributaries throughout the Mississippi River Basin.
Graphical summaries are available for river and stream sites monitored as part of the USGS National Water-Quality Network for Streams and Rivers, which includes sites in the NAWQA Program, the National Stream-Quality Accounting Network, the Cooperative Water Program, and the National Water-Quality Monitoring Council National Monitoring Network.
The monitoring information will be updated annually to provide water resource managers with timely information to track how loading and concentrations change over time in response to nutrient reduction actions. USGS plans to incorporate pesticide data into future updates.
For more information, contact Mark Gorman, Policy Analyst at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
|
|
NEMWI Seeks Fall Interns
NEMWI seeks candidates for three fall 2015 internships:
- A federal legislation & funding intern will assist NEMWI staff with activities such as analyzing long-term funding trends for regionally-relevant federal programs and tracking appropriations and other legislation, including by attending relevant hearings and briefings.
- A development & communications intern will assist the President & CEO with development and communications activities, such as developing foundation and corporate prospect lists and participating in proposal development and grant report preparation.
- An environmental policy intern will assist the President & CEO and staff with activities such as expanding existing programs and developing new programs in the areas of water quality, waterways, the Great Lakes, and brownfields redevelopment. This intern will also assist with environmental policy education and outreach.
More information on the internships and how to apply is available here.
For more information, contact Michael Goff, Ph.D., President and CEO of the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
|
|
NEMWI: Strengthening the Region that Sustains the Nation
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
