Mississippi River Water Quality
and Interstate Collaboration
SUMMARY OF A WORKSHOP
Committee on Mississippi River Water Quality Science
and Interstate Collaboration
Water Science and Technology Board
Division on Earth and Life Studies
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, D.C.
www.nap.edu
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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the panel responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
Support for this study was provided by the McKnight Foundation under Grant No. 12-398; the National Research Council Day Fund; the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service under Grant No. 68-3A75-13-50; and the Walton Family Foundation under Grant No. 2012-1149. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project.
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-309-30484-9
International Standard Book Number-10: 0-309-30484-9
Cover credit: Photo courtesy of Michael E. Slifer, Director, USGS Missouri Water Science Center, Rolla, MO.
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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine
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COMMITTEE ON MISSISSIPPI RIVER WATER QUALITY SCIENCE AND INTERSTATE COLLABORATION
DAVID A. DZOMBAK, Chair, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
JAMES B. GULLIFORD, Soil and Water Conservation Society, Ankeny, Iowa
DAVID J. MULLA, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
DAVID M. SOBALLE, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Vicksburg, Mississippi
NRC Staff
JEFFREY JACOBS, Director, Water Science and Technology Board
MICHAEL J. STOEVER, Research Associate, Water Science and Technology Board
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Contents
Mississippi River Basin Water Quality and the Effects of Nutrients
The Science of Nutrients and Water Quality
2 WORKSHOP TOPICS AND PRESENTATIONS
USDA Healthy Watersheds Initiative
Mississippi River Water Quality Monitoring and Science: Federal and State Perspectives
State-Level Science and Monitoring of Nutrients and Water Quality
Mississippi River Interstate Collaboration and State-Level Monitoring and Assessment
Case Studies of Agriculture and Water Quality Monitoring Across the Mississippi River Basin
3 CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVING WATER QUALITY MONITORING
Importance of Action-Oriented Monitoring and Evaluation
Importance of Long-Term Monitoring, Consistent Methods, and Complementary Data
Tracking Changes in Land Management
Landowner Perceptions and Conservation Practices
Importance of Modeling in Monitoring Programs, and Development Needs
Interstate and Interagency Collaboration on Monitoring