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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
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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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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House Democrats Reject Prospect of Vote on NAFTA 2.0 before August Recess, Senate Republicans Remain Somewhat Optimistic
One of the Trump administration's top priorities, ratifying the recently renegotiated North American Free Trade Agreement between the US, Canada, and Mexico (what the administration calls the US Mexico Canada Agreement or "USMCA"), has still not received a vote in either the House or the Senate. The White House has been pushing lawmakers to expedite the vote so that President Trump can point to an accomplishment on his trade agenda during his upcoming reelection bid. Leading House Democrats, however, have pushed back against a vote in the coming weeks before Congress leaves for the annual August recess.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chair Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) have both stated that a vote will not take place before the summer recess. Speaker Pelosi also said there is not a sense of urgency among the House Democrats to hold a vote on the modified agreement.
In the Senate, Banking Committee Chair Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) still sees a chance, however. He stated earlier in the week that "[i]
f we can get it done before August I think she will [hold a vote], but I heard Democrats say it could be done in early September."
There are 12 legislative days remaining before the House departs for recess. The House will reconvene on September 9th.
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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