MRCTI, USGS, USACE, DOT Solidify Water Quality Work
Grant and Pilot Projects Also Announced to Improve Resilience
Quad Cities, IL, IA—More than thirty Mayors from the length of the Mississippi River gathered this week for the seventh annual meeting of the Mississippi River Cities & Towns Initiative (MRCTI). Mayors signed an agreement to achieve water quality monitoring for the 75 percent of the Mississippi River Main Stem.
“This agreement is important for us because it will bring us closer to a real-time nutrient monitoring net for the Mississippi River. This added security feature for our source water is paramount to sustaining our freshwater economy of $300 billion in annual revenue. It will also be able to tell us if the hundreds of millions of dollars going into conservation work to reduce nutrient loading is actually making a difference, explained Mayor Sharon Weston Broome of Baton Rouge, LA.
“This landmark agreement is especially relevant for me since our region near the Gulf of Mexico is plagued by the hypoxia zone which is 60% attributable to the errand nutrients flowing out of the Mississippi River,” said Lionel Johnson, Mayor of St. Gabriel, LA and MRCTI Co-Chair.
The agreement to deploy nutrient monitors on barges that transect the Mississippi River from St. Paul to New Orleans involves both the public and private sector. Today’s signing is the first instance both mayors and three federal agencies have come together to protect source water at this scale for the Mississippi River.
“Coming from my state where nutrient loading is so prevalent throughout our watershed, the agreement is especially valuable. Having USGS, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the Maritime Administration from US DOT is invaluable to this work as it will take all our capacity to implement this scale of water monitoring and beyond. This work will tell us where we concentrate our efforts near what cities; and more importantly, if our efforts are actually reducing nutrient loading into our water supply, stated Mayor Frank Klipsch of Davenport, IA and MRCTI Co-Chair.
Mayors also announced with CDP North America and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the Wells Fargo Resilient Communities grant program, the securing of a grant that will aid Mississippi River cities with their efforts to link built and natural infrastructure projects with investment opportunities. Cities where this grant will be rolled-out include LaGrange, MO; Davenport, IA, Memphis, TN; New Orleans, LA.
“Working with the CDP and its partners I am confident we can secure investment for sustainable infrastructure to move our plans forward,” said Memphis Mayor, Jim Strickland.
“We are truly happy to announce that CDP has received an award from National Fish and Wild Foundation and Wells Fargo’s Resilient Communities program to support our project, “Scaling Green Infrastructure in Cities through Matchmaker”. Through this grant, CDP will be partnering with 18 U.S. cities, including the City of Memphis, the City of LaGrange, City of Davenport, IA, the City of New Orleans, that are currently facing considerable environmental stresses from climate change – such as water shortages, storm water runoff and loss of tree cover – by bolstering their sustainable green infrastructure projects and showcasing them to private sector investors, ultimately helping to get them financed,” said Lance Pierce, President, CDP North America.
“We have responded to far too many climate events in recent years in support of impacted customers and team members,” said Stephanie Rico, senior vice president of Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility at Wells Fargo. “By taking advance measures to build resiliency considerations more deeply into community planning and behavior, we can help minimize the impact of future events and help strengthen our communities and the ecosystems on which we rely.”
Finally, Mayors also announced two pilot projects including one with the insurance brokerage industry to develop a disaster recovery insurance facility for the entire Mississippi River Valley as well as a drought economic impact study with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration within the US Department of Commerce.
“We’ve sustained a couple hundred billion worth of disaster impacts along the Mississippi River since 2005. Drought, intense heat, and flooding are our growing concerns that we need to build resilience against. Drought is especially worrisome for us especially since one of the worst in the Valley persists in Iowa, explained Mayor Bob Gallagher of Bettendorf, IA and MRCTI Secretary.
The Mississippi River Cities & Towns Initiativeis comprised of 85 mayors and the association represents cities on the main stem Mississippi from Minnesota to Louisiana. More information can be found on our website at www.MRCTI.org
About the Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is critical natural asset. As the ecological linchpin to the 31-state Mississippi River Basin, the River supports the most agriculturally productive region on the planet; creates nearly $500 billion in annual revenue; provides drinking water for more than 20 million people; transports 40 percent of the nation’s agricultural output; and directly supports more than one 1.5 million jobs.
More information is available at www.mrcti.org. Contact: Jim Gwinner JGwinner@LS2Group.com, 314-791-2774
