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Upcoming Congressional
Briefing on Asian Carp
What: Congressional Briefing on the ACRCC's 2017 Asian Carp Monitoring and Response Plan and the Upper Illinois Waterway Contingency Response Plan
When: Monday, July 24 at 2 PM
Where: Rayburn House Office Building 2253
The Northeast-Midwest Institute and the Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee (ACRCC) will host a Congressional Briefing on the 2017 Asian Carp Monitoring
and Response Plan and the Upper Illinois Waterway Contingency Response Plan.
With the recent finding of a silver carp below the T.J. O'Brien Lock and Dam in June, the briefing will focus on the ACRCC's two week intensive sampling of the Illinois waterway, as outlined in the Contingency Response Plan. Likely participants at the briefing will include the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Environmental and Protection Administration, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.
Director of the Great Lakes Washington Program at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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NEMWI Releases
Appropriations Fact Sheets
As part of its work tracking funding levels for programs key to the Northeast-Midwest region, NEMWI is compiling fact sheets on appropriations bills as they exit House and Senate markup sessions.
The NEMWI fact sheet on the FY18 House Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill can be found here; the FY18 House Commerce, Justice, and Science fact sheet can be found here.
More NEMWI analysis and appropriations tracking can be found on the NEMWI website here. More fact sheets will be released as appropriations markup hearing progress this week.
Director of the Great Lakes Washington Program at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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Significant Harmful Algal Bloom Predicted for 2017
in Western Lake Erie
Last week, NOAA and its research partners
announced the 2017 Lake Erie harmful algal bloom season forecast
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This year's algal bloom is predicted to be larger than the blooms observed in 2013 and 2014, but smaller than the record-size bloom observed in 2015. The size of a bloom is not an indicator of its toxicity (NOAA is developing ways to predict toxicity), but this year's bloom is expected to be larger than the 2014 bloom, which caused toxic contamination of Toledo, Ohio's drinking water system in 2014. During the season, NOAA will issue bi-weekly bloom forecasts.
The Harmful Algal Bloom in Lake Erie is caused largely by excessive phosphorus loading from agricultural sources in the Maumee River watershed. Last week, Ohio Sea Grant hosted a
webinar
that discussed a variety of research related to Lake Erie's harmful algal bloom; including predicting and tracking the bloom's size, monitoring phosphorus loading into the Maumee River watershed, farmer education and outreach concerning fertilizer/manure application, examining how safe it is to eat fish harvested from Lake Erie during the cyanobloom season, and developing biological ways to degrade one type of microcystin toxin.
For more information, contact
Ankita Mandelia, Policy Analyst for the Towards Sustainable Water Information Program, or
Matthew McKenna, Director of the Great Lakes Washington Program.
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Record-Breaking Dead Zone Highlights Importance
of the Farm Bill
The Gulf of Mexico is facing the prospect of a
record-setting dead zone later this month. Formed by the death and decomposition of algae, whose numbers swell due to the nitrogen and phosphorus deposited by the Mississippi River in the Gulf, the dead zone is a region where oxygen levels in the water have been depleted.
In late July or early August, the dead zone in the Gulf is expected to reach its peak size for this year. It is projected to be as large as the state of Vermont.
The pollution driving the dead zone comes not just from the Gulf region, but from the entire length of the Mississippi River basin. Inherently an inter-state issue, the dead zone underscores the importance of ongoing discussions about the Farm Bill and in particular the conservation title.
Programs like the Conservation Stewardship Program and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program support farmers' use of conservation practices that help prevent pollution reaching the Gulf of Mexico. As Congress works on drafting and passing the Farm Bill of 2018, it is essential that they protect and expand the conservation title to start making headway in the fight against dead zones in the Gulf.
For more information, contact
Joe Vukovich, Senior Policy Analyst for the Mississippi River Basin Program at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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This Week on Capitol Hill
Health care will continue to dominate discussion on Capitol Hill, though this week's vote on the American Health Care Act of 2017 has been delayed as Senator McCain (R-AZ) recovers from recent surgery.
The House Appropriations Committee will markup three appropriations bills: Interior and Environment; Transportation, Housing and Urban Development; Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education.
The Senate Appropriations Committee will markup the appropriations bill on Energy and Water Development and the appropriations bill on Agriculture, Food and Drug, and Related Agencies.
Hearings of special interest to the region include a Wednesday hearing on rural infrastructure, a Thursday hearing on aging water infrastructure, and a Thursday hearing on improving Medicaid.
A full list of key Congressional committee activity that impacts the region can be viewed below:
Monday, July 17th
Wednesday, July 19th
Thursday, July 20th
Director of the Great Lakes Washington Program at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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NEMWI: Strengthening the Region that Sustains the Nation
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