River group advocates conservation funding

DWIGHT, Ill. — A coalition of nearly 70 organizations from the Mississippi River headwaters to the Gulf of Mexico are advocating for full funding for farm bill conservation programs.

Kelly McGinnis, Mississippi River Network executive director, said the demand from farmers to participate in conservation programs is there.

“Those conservation programs are routinely oversubscribed. There’s about 60% or more of farmers in Illinois who want to be able to take part in these programs and there isn’t enough money left in those programs, so those farmers aren’t able to access them,” said McGinnis at the recent MRN River Days of Action.

Among the stops during a 10-day series of events through the Mississippi River basin was Wes and Andie Lehman’s Feather Prairie Farm to see the new constructed wetland and restored wetland site.

MRN also works on the policy side of issues to promote water quality.

“We want to see just and resilient policies that focus on reducing water pollution from agriculture, storm water runoff,” McGinnis said.

“We also are concerned about the natural form and function of the river. Wetlands play an important role in water quality. They also play an important role in performance function of the river and acting as a flood control aspect.

“We want to see a river system intact, and then we’re also concerned about protecting legislation like the Clean Water Act.”

MRN focuses on grassroots education, as well, through its “1 Mississippi” program.

“With ‘1 Mississippi’ we educate people about the issues facing the river, the solutions to those issues and then ultimately invite them to events like the River Days of Action, 10 days of events up and down the river to raise the profile of the river, and also ask them to take action,” McGinnis said.

Challenges

There are a lot of challenges facing the Mississippi River and those same challenges face the smaller streams and rivers that are a part of that system.

“One of the big challenges is water quality. There has been excessive chemicals, nutrients, fertilizer, pollution in the water that causes a lot of problems. Two of the biggest pollution aspects that causes problems come from primarily agriculture, as well as stormwater, are nitrates and phosphorous,” McGinnis said.

“Those get into the Mississippi River, primarily from Illinois and Iowa, and travel all the way down stream and cause the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. That is a problem not just for water quality, but also for people whose livelihoods depend on fishing and shrimping in the Gulf of Mexico.

“Also, farmers do not want their fertilizer running off and causing these problems. That fertilizer also can cause local water pollution problems that can impact wells and impact local waterways with having too much algae.

“I’m sure everyone is familiar with harmful algae blooms that pop up a lot in the summer making you unable to use your local streams, rivers or lakes for swimming and fishing because the water is not healthy.

“That is one of the big problems facing the Mississippi River and we know solutions. Today, here you’re seeing one of those solutions to some of those problems.”

Impact

The two wetlands on the farm just west of Dwight filter about 150 acres of adjacent corn and soybean fields. Tile from the fields drain water into the wetlands.

“We’re in a small town in Illinois where there’s a really great tile-treated Smart Wetland that’s been installed, and you think does this really have an impact? It really does have an impact, not just on the stream that is right next to the wetland,” McGinnis said.

“That clean water will travel all the way down to the Mississippi and as much as we can have smarter practices all over the state, that will have that cumulative impact of hopefully then start actually reducing the amount of nitrate and phosphorous we see in the water and then reducing the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico.

“We need more practices on the ground to do that and that goes back to the need for farm bill conservation programs.

“Everything is connected, and the choices we make on land not just matters to our local community and our families, but to a so much bigger picture.”