Yesterday, September 24, 2009, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack announced “a new initiative to improve water quality and the overall health of the Mississippi River Basin” through the Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative (MRBI). MRBI will provide roughly $320 million “over the next four years for voluntary projects in priority watersheds located in 12 key states.”USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will run the initiative and moneys will be made available through a “competitive process for potential partners at the local, State and national levels.” As Secretary Vilsack stated in taped comments before the Gulf Hypoxia Task Force Meeting, "The Obama Administration is committed to taking bold steps with our State and local partners to clean up the entire Mississippi River Basin, a critical natural resource that provides drinking water for tens of millions of Americans. . . Industrial, municipal, residential, and agricultural sources have all contributed pollutants to the waters of the Mississippi River Basin, and the MRBI will provide resources that will help us come together to address this issue."
The ecological value of the Mississippi River Basin is quite considerable. In order to maintain these ecological benefits the MRBI “will help agricultural producers implement conservation and management practices that avoid, control, and trap nutrient runoff. The initiative is performance oriented, which means that measurable conservation results are required in order to participate. By focusing on priority watersheds in these 12 states in the basin, USDA, its partner organizations, State and local agencies, and agricultural producers will coordinate their resources in areas requiring the most immediate attention and offer the best return on the funds invested.”
While much funding will come from other federal, State, and partner funding, the NRCS has targeted $80 million per year over the next four years, which will come from the Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative, the Conservation Innovation Grants, and the Wetlands Reserve Enhancement Program. Additionally, there is funding through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program, and the Conservation Stewardship Program. “These funds will be available for projects in Arkansas, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.”
The NRCS will identify priority watersheds in consultation with “conservation partner organizations and State Technical Committees.” Watersheds that contribute high loads of nutrients to the river will be the main targets. The Mississippi River runs 2,350 miles from its Minnesota headwaters down to the Gulf of Mexico. According to the USDA news release, 436,000 tons of sediment travel down the river daily. “Successful measures of the initiative will include a reduced nutrient footprint and environmental impact through more efficient use of nutrients for crop production in the priority watersheds.”
To read the USDA news release click here.
Posted; 09/25/09
