The mayors of Dubuque, Bettendorf, Davenport, and Natchez all presented at the Mississippi River Parkway Commission semi-annual meeting in Bettendorf, IA April 25 and 26. Mayor Buol of Dubuque opened the meeting at the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium, the largest river museum in the word (according to museum officials). Mayors Gluba of Davenport and Brown of Natchez outlined the progress of the MRCTI, detailed an update of the mayors' meeting in DC, and discussed the mayors' plans moving forward through the rest of 2013, including the establishment of a Governors Council for the Mississippi River.

For more information, contact Colin Wellenkamp, Director of the MS River Cities & Towns Initiative at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.

The International Joint Commission (IJC), a bi-national body with responsibility for helping manage the Great Lakes water levels and flow, released a final report with recommendations to the U.S. and Canadian governments on Great Lakes Water Level management. The report indicated the IJC will implement a new and improved plan for regulating the outflow of water from Lake Superior through the St. Mary's River and into the rest of the Great Lakes, based on the five-year peer-reviewed study published in March 2012. The NEMWI, and the Great Lakes Task Force co-chairs as honorary co-sponsors, coordinated briefings on the study in March, after the initial release, and in December, after the public comment period. Additionally, the IJC recommended the U.S. and Canadian governments investigate structural options to restore Lakes Huron/Michigan water levels. These options could include use of engineering structures to slow the flow of water from Lakes Huron and Michigan into the St. Clair River and eventually into Lake Erie. The prospect of using these structures, known as "compensating works," is attracting increased attention in the context of historic low water levels in Lakes Huron and Michigan. One of the U.S. Commissioners, Lana Pollack, declined to sign the recommendation letter, citing a lack of emphasis on climate change impacts and potential lack of positive impacts of the compensating works proposal. Finally, in addition to the change in water flow management, the IJC is continuing work on its adaptive management plan for helping communities deal with extreme water levels. The final Adaptive Management Report is currently being reviewed and informed by public comment received on the draft (closed April 15, 2013). 

Last week, the MS River Cities & Towns Initiative (MRCTI) worked with Mississippi River Caucus Co-Chair Senator Roy Blunt's (MO) office to include support for funding the critical Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant Program (PDM) in the Senator's annual letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee listing what essential programs should be funded for FY2014. Zeroed-out in the President's budget, PDM is one of the MRCTI mayors' top priority as it is the largest federal disaster planning and mitigation program in existence. For further information on PDM and its positive impact, see NEMWI's FY2014 budget analysis. 

For more information, contact Colin Wellenkamp, Director of the MS River Cities & Towns Initiative at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.