National Research Council Study Prompts Call for Government Action to Halt Continuing Degradation of the Mississippi River

CHAMPAIGN, IL − A report on the health of the Mississippi River, released today by the National Research Council of the National Academies (NRC), reveals that the Mississippi River will continue to deteriorate unless Midwestern states limit nitrogen and phosphorus pollution and farmers become significantly more effective at soil and water protection.  More than 50 cities and 18 million Americans depend on the Mississippi and its tributaries for drinking water. The River is a vital economic, recreational and natural resource to communities up and down its 2300 mile course, of which 585 miles border Illinois. 

In 1998, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) called on states to adopt specific limits on nitrogen and phosphorous pollution to halt serious water quality problems. EPA warned States that it would enact its own limits if States had not complied by 2001.  To date, every state along the Mississippi has failed to adopt limits for both nitrogen and phosphorous, and the federal government has not stepped in.  Illinois has only adopted limits for phosphorus in lakes.

The NRC Report, Mississippi River Water Quality and the Clean Water Act, makes clear that “The EPA has failed to use its mandatory and discretionary authorities under the Clean Water Act to provide adequate interstate coordination and oversight of state water quality activities along the Mississippi River.” The report declares, “as a result of limited interstate coordination, the Mississippi River is an ‘orphan’.”   

Agricultural policies that enable unnecessary runoff of fertilizers and pesticides are the major source of poor river health, according to the report.  The NRC said, “The 1933 Farm Bill, and the subsequent 70 years of Farm Bills and other agricultural programs, have had a tremendous influence on Mississippi River basin land uses,” creating problems with runoff patterns and water quality.  

To reverse these trends, the Report recommends that new Farm Bill conservation incentives be “widely and aggressively applied” and that programs aimed at reducing nutrient and sediment pollution be targeted at problem areas. It also calls for EPA and the Department of Agriculture to “strengthen their cooperative activities” to reduce agricultural impacts to the Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico.

Communities and conservationists up and down the river are calling on the EPA and Congress to carefully consider the findings in this report and take action.

“This report clearly states that Illinois must adopt numeric criteria limiting nitrogen and phosphorus pollution, in order to improve the health of the Mississippi River,” according to Stacy James, Water Resources Scientist for Champaign-based Prairie Rivers Network.  “Because agricultural production does not have to meet state criteria, it will also be necessary for farmers to adopt practices such as buffers and tile drainage management to reduce the amount of runoff leaving their fields. The use of protective practices is especially important in Illinois, where over 60% of the land area is row crop agriculture” said James.

“The Mississippi River is one of our most treasured resources, and we can’t afford to ignore the recommendations of this Report,” said Brad Klein, a Staff Attorney at the Environmental Law & Policy Center in Chicago. “U.S. EPA needs to step up and set a firm deadline for states to adopt phosphorus and nitrogen limits and to make good on its obligation to enforce the Clean Water Act.”

A summary of the NRC report is available for download at www.nationalacademies.org

Contact Info: 

Stacy James, Prairie Rivers Network: 217-344-2371

Brad Klein, Environmental Law & Policy Center: 312-673-6500

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