• Report urges need for more USDA conservation to improve Mississippi water quality; Cites farm runoff as primary indirect source of pollution in Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico
WASHINGTON, DC, Oct. 16 -- Environmental Defense praised a new report released today by the National Research Council that concludes it is "imperative" that "USDA conservation programs be widely and aggressively applied to help achieve water quality improvement in the Mississippi River and its tributaries."
The report, "Mississippi River Water Quality and the Clean Water Act: Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities," notes numerous cities and millions of inhabitants along the river, which runs through or borders 10 states (Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee and Wisconsin), use the Mississippi as a source of drinking water.
"This report shows why Congress must significantly increase funding for USDA conservation programs to improve water quality and to achieve other conservation goals, such as providing clean air, wildlife habitat and combating urban sprawl," said Sara Hopper, an attorney for Environmental Defense and a former staff member of the Senate Agriculture Committee.
The funding increase is necessary because currently 2 out of 3 farmers who apply for assistance through USDA conservation programs are rejected due to insufficient funding. Increasing conservation funding in the 2007 farm bill also would ensure that more states and regions get a fairer share of Farm Bill spending because all farmers can be eligible for conservation funding, regardless of what they grow, how much they grow or where their farm is located. By contrast, crop subsidies primarily benefit growers of five row crops: corn, cotton, rice, soybean and wheat. As a result, over 50 percent of all Farm Bill spending flows to just seven states.
Recent public opinion polls conducted September 18-21 by Zogby International for Environmental Defense in Colorado, New York, Oregon, Virginia and Washington state found that more than three out of four (76% to 85%) of poll respondents in each state agreed that their U.S. senators should support shifting money from farm subsidies to conservation programs. If that reform effort succeeded, more than six out of 10 (62% to 77%) of the poll respondents in each state said they would have a more favorable opinion of Congress.
The complete poll results are available at www.environmentaldefense.org/farms.
Environmental Defense, a leading national nonprofit organization, represents more than 500,000 members.
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