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Senate Committee Approves Digital Coast Act
The Senate Commerce, Science, & Transportation Committee approved the Digital Coast Act (S. 1069) by a voice vote this week. The bill, which was authored by Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), aims to promote coastal communities' access to essential data to help better prepare for storms, cope with varying water levels, and strengthen coastal economic development planning efforts. The bill authorizes the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to begin the next phase of its coastal mapping Digital Coast Project, ensuring that communities will continue to have the data to make smart choices for economic development, shoreline management and coastal restoration.
The bill provides communities access to uniform, up-to-date data, helping them get the coastal data they need to respond to emergencies, plan for long-term coastal resilience, and manage their water resources. The bill, which has also been introduced in the House (H.R. 2189), has previously passed the full Senate with unanimous consent during both the 114th and 115th Congresses.
Further information on the passing of the Digital Coast Act can be found here.
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Ohio Announces H2Ohio Plan to Improve Water Quality
On November 14, 2019, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine unveiled a new state plan called
H2Ohio
to improve state water quality. The plan is a data-driven approach with three key goals: reducing harmful algal blooms, improving wastewater infrastructure, and preventing lead contamination. The state has invested $172 million into the plan thus far.
To combat harmful algal blooms, Ohio plans to expand the implementation of agricultural best management practices. H2Ohio lists the 10 most cost-effective conservation practices to reduce agricultural nutrient runoff and outlines a farm certification program that provides farmers engaging in these practices with economic incentives for their efforts. The plan outlines localized phosphorus targets and nutrient management plans individualized for participating farms. These plans will be managed by Soil and Water Conservation District Offices within each county.
H2Ohio will also target drinking water and sewer needs through a program to help replace home septic systems throughout the state and a program to evaluate lead exposure at daycare centers and schools and replace lead pipes and fixtures. To read the full press release go
here
.
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New Mississippi River Basin Floodplain Prioritization Tool
On November 12, 2019, the Nature Conservancy released an online
Floodplain Prioritization Tool. The tool is designed to aid decision-makers in identifying places within the Mississippi River Basin where conservation and restoration efforts would have the most effective impact. The tool allows users to identify priority areas within the Basin and assess the trade-offs that various conservation efforts would have on goals such as nutrient removal, flooding, or habitat restoration.
This is an exciting step forward in data-driven conservation decision making. By making such tools easy to understand and use, policy-makers are better able to understand the impacts of their decisions. For more information on the tool and its intended audience read the Nature Conservancy's
press release here.
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New Mississippi River Basin Floodplain Prioritization Tool
On November 12, 2019, the Nature Conservancy released an online
Floodplain Prioritization Tool. The tool is designed to aid decision-makers in identifying places within the Mississippi River Basin where conservation and restoration efforts would have the most effective impact. The tool allows users to identify priority areas within the Basin and assess the trade-offs that various conservation efforts would have on goals such as nutrient removal, flooding, or habitat restoration.
This is an exciting step forward in data-driven conservation decision making. By making such tools easy to understand and use, policy-makers are better able to understand the impacts of their decisions. For more information on the tool and its intended audience read the Nature Conservancy's
press release here.
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NEMWI At Work for the Region and You!
Watershed Conservation Effectiveness Study Released in July 2019
As we launch our NEMWI campaign seeking your financial support as a NEMWI contributor, here is just one of our successes from 2019 that we hope to continue in 2020 with support from our constituents such as you:
In July 2019, following a year of research and analysis, NEMWI released a new study of the effectiveness of watershed conservation programs in the Upper Mississippi River Basin. The research report focused on the Regional Conservation Partnership Program's impact in watersheds in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, and modeled projected climate change impacts on the effectiveness of these programs. The necessity for enhanced program effectiveness and significantly increased federal funding are among the recommendations presented in the research report.
Your support during NEMWI's year-end campaign is critical to continuing this conservation work and to all of NEMWI's research and policy education initiatives planned for the year ahead. Use the donate link below to make your year-end contribution to NEMWI now:
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NEMWI: Strengthening the Region that Sustains the Nation
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