Upper Mississippi River Basin kickoff workshop
IAN staff traveled to Moline, Illinois for the first of six sub-basin workshops for the Mississippi River Report Card project. This workshop focused on the Upper Mississippi River Basin, which stretches from Minnesota and Wisconsin in the north to St. Louis, Missouri in the south, and from Chicago in the east to Des Moines, Iowa in the west. The two-day workshop brought together experts from natural resource science and management sectors, but also engineering and economic sectors. Workshop participants helped determine indicators that would be used to address the six goals (flood risk, transportation, ecosystems, economies, water supply, and recreation) of the Mississippi River report card. This report card is part of the America's Watershed Initiative.
Upper Mississippi River Sub-Basin report card workshop newsletter
The Upper Mississippi report card workshop newsletter was published in November. Potential indicators for an assessment of management goals for the Mississippi River were determined at a workshop for the Upper Mississippi River Sub-Basin in September. This is the first in a series of newsletters that will document progress toward completing the report card through stakeholder meetings in all 6 sub-basins of the Mississippi River. The final list of indicators will be determined by several factors, including data availability and how well they represent achievement of management goals. Results form each sub-basin will be refined and integrated into a report card for the entire Mississippi River Basin.
Ohio River Basin Workshop in Covington, Kentucky
IAN staff traveled to Covington, Kentucky (right across the river from downtown Cincinnati, Ohio) for the second of six sub-basin workshops for the Mississippi River Report Card project. This workshop focused on the Ohio River Basin, which covers a large swath from western New York, down through the Appalachians to Tennessee and west through Indiana, Kentucky, and Illinois. The two-day workshop brought together experts from natural resource science and management, engineering, and economic sectors. A key feature of this basin is the energy (coal and natural gas) resources and a key issue is the aging infrastructure of the lock and dam system. Workshop participants helped determine indicators that would be used to address the six goals (flood risk, transportation, ecosystems, economies, water supply, and recreation) of the Mississippi River report card. This report card is part of the America's Watershed Initiative.
Ohio River Basin report card workshop newsletter
The Ohio River Basin report card workshop newsletter was published in January. Potential indicators for an assessment of management goals for the Mississippi River were determined at a workshop for the Ohio River Basin in December. This is the second in a series of newsletters that will document progress toward completing the report card through stakeholder meetings in all 6 sub-basins of the Mississippi River. The final list of indicators will be determined by several factors, including data availability and how well they represent achievement of management goals. Results from each sub-basin will be refined and integrated into a report card for the entire Mississippi River Basin.
Third Mississippi River Report Card workshop held in Memphis, Tennessee
IAN staff traveled to Memphis, Tennessee for the third of six sub-basin workshops for the Mississippi River Report Card project. This workshop focused on the Lower Mississippi River Basin, which represents the downstream portion of the entire Mississippi River watershed, including the Upper Mississippi, Ohio, Missouri, Arkansas, Red, and White Rivers. The two-day workshop brought together experts from natural resource science and management, engineering, and economic sectors. A key feature of this basin is an underground aquifer that supplies drinking water to millions of people. It stretches between Memphis, TN, and Greenville, MS. Workshop participants helped determine indicators that would be used to address the six goals (flood risk, transportation, ecosystems, economies, water supply, and recreation) of the Mississippi River report card. This report card is part of the America's Watershed Initiative.
Lower Mississippi River Basin report card workshop newsletter
The Lower Mississippi River Basin report card workshop newsletter was published in May. Potential indicators for an assessment of management goals for the Mississippi River were determined at a workshop for the Lower Mississippi River Basin in March. This is the third in a series of newsletters that will document progress toward completing the report card through stakeholder meetings in all six sub-basins of the Mississippi River. The final list of indicators will be determined by several factors, including data availability and how well they represent achievement of management goals. Results from each sub-basin will be refined and integrated into a report card for the entire Mississippi River Basin.
On the Horizon
IAN will be releasing a draft of the inaugural Mississippi River Report Card at the upcoming America's Watershed Summit taking place in Louisville, Kentucky during the Fall 2014.Arkansas River and Red River Basins report card workshop newsletter
The Arkansas River and Red River Basins report card workshop newsletter was published in July. Potential indicators for an assessment of management goals for the Mississippi River were determined at a workshop for the Arkansas River and Red River Basins in May. This is the fourth in a series of newsletters that will document progress toward completing the report card through stakeholder meetings in all five sub-basins of the Mississippi River. The final list of indicators will be determined by several factors, including data availability and how well they represent achievement of management goals. Results from each sub-basin will be refined and integrated into a report card for the entire Mississippi River Basin.
Missouri River basin & Mississippi River basin newsletters released
The Missouri River basin report card workshop newsletter was published in September. Potential indicators for an assessment of management goals for the Mississippi River were determined at two workshops within the Missouri River basin. The first workshop was held in Rapid City, South Dakota in May, and a second workshop was held in Kansas City, Missouri in August. This is the fifth in a series of newsletters that will document progress toward completing the report card through stakeholder meetings in all five basins of the Mississippi River watershed. The final list of indicators will be determined by several factors, including data availability and how well they represent achievement of management goals. Results from each basin will be refined and integrated into a report card for the entire Mississippi River Watershed. The Mississippi River Basin report card workshop newsletter was published in September. The America's Watershed Initiative concluded the series of workshops in the five basins with a meeting in Arlington, Virginia in June to discuss the integration of basin results into the overall watershed results. The meeting also addressed issues that are applicable at the scale of the entire watershed but that were not evident from the basin workshops. This meeting built on the results of the workshops held in each of the basins in the watershed over the previous year.
America's Watershed Initiative Summit held in Louisville, KY
Bill Dennison, Caroline Donovan, Brianne Walsh, Bill Nuttle and Heath Kelsey attended the America's Watershed Initiative Summit on October 1 and 2 to present a draft of the Mississippi River Watershed Report Card. The draft report card still needs refinement and clarification, but the presentation at the Summit was a major milestone in the development of the Version 1 Report Card. The report card project was begun over 1 year ago, and was developed through numerous workshops around the country, webinars, and conference calls. Leaders from the Mississippi River Basin discussed the Report Card, and provided useful feedback to advance the project. The report card will be finalized over the next several months by incorporating these suggestions, and will be released in Spring 2015.
Mississippi River report card released
The Report Card for the Mississippi River Watershed was released on October 14, 2015 in St. Louis, Missouri. The report card measured six broad goals for America's Watershed - ecosystems, flood control & risk reduction, transportation, water supply, economy, and recreation. The report card represents a culmination of a long and complex development process that involved over 700 participants. It also represents a new milestone in the ability to report on broadly differing management goals across large geographies. This report card was produced with America's Watershed Initiative. You can find more publications from this project here.
Raise the Grade Action Agenda Released for Upper Mississippi River
The Action Agenda developed from the Upper Mississippi River Raise the Grade Conference was released on December 16. The October conference brought together over 200 participants from 95 organizations to develop solutions to challenges identified in the 2015 America's Watershed Initiative Card for the Mississippi River watershed, in which the Upper Mississippi River basin received a C grade. The Action Agenda identified seven objectives that address ecosystem resilience, nutrient reduction, monitoring and assessment, watershed planning and management, transportation infrastructure, recreation opportunities, and hydropower. For each objective, specific actions were identified that can be acted upon quickly to support multiple goals.
Upper Mississippi Action Agenda delivered to Congress
On January 3 and 4, Heath Kelsey visited Capitol Hill with Mike Smith (Greensmith PR) to deliver the Action Agenda for the Upper Mississippi River Watershed to Representatives Cherie Bustos (D, Illinois) and Dave Loebsack (D, Iowa). The Action Agenda was an outcome of the October 2016 Raise the Grade Conference in Moline, IL, and detailed seven concrete actions that can be taken in a 1-3 year time frame to improve conditions in the Upper Mississippi River Watershed. Both representatives attended the conference in Moline, and were genuinely interested in the agenda and the process for generating it.