EPA's Necessity Determination Discretion for Water Quality Standards Before Fifth Circuit By Lars-Eric Hedberg - Bloomberg BNADecember 3, 2014Water Quality Gulf Restoration Network v. McCarthy, 5th Cir.,No. 13-31214, argued 12/4/14 Key Development: Fifth Circuit to hears argument on whether the EPA has discretion not to make a necessity determination in response to a petition asking the agency to prepare [...]

EPA likely won't have to adopt more stringent restrictions on nutrients in Mississippi River, appeals court rules By Mark Schleifstein, NOLA.com - The Times-Picayune April 7, 2015       A federal appeals court Tuesday (April 7) ordered a New Orleans federal judge to reconsider his ruling that the Environmental Protection Agency must decide whether more stringent rules [...]

Gulf dead zone must be reduced: Editorial By The Editorial Board, NOLA.com - The Times-Picayune February 18, 2015  A new study indicates that new nutrient reduction strategies could help reduce the size of the annual low-oxygen "dead zone" along Louisiana's coast. This color-coded map shows oxygen levels in bottom waters of the Gulf of Mexico [...]

Gulf of Mexico dead zone cleanup target pushed back By Bob Berwyn, Summit County Citizens VoiceFebruary 15, 2015States outline small voluntary steps toward new 2035 deadline A NOAA graphic shows the impacts of nutrient loading by highlightig oxygen-starved dead zones in red. A task force hopes to shrink the dead zone significantly by 2035. Staff [...]

Iowa forum returns agriculture to presidential discussion By Thomas Beaumont and Catherine Lucey APMarch 7, 2015 DES MOINES, IOWA  It seems like a no-brainer for prospective presidential candidates: Come to Iowa to talk about agriculture. Thing is, not many of them do anymore and few can boast having dirt under their fingernails. A Republican donor [...]

Nuts and Bolts of Cleaning Water By Danier Looker - Agriculture.comFebruary 21, 2015   Any farmer who doesn’t think that managing nitrogen fertilizer is a complex challenge would have been convinced after spending a day at the Iowa Soybean Association (ISA) Research Conference in Ames, Iowa, Thursday. Besides looking at the results from the group’s [...]

The failure of US farm policy? It's in the snirt By Mary Turck - AlJazeeraFebruary 24, 2015  The failure of US farm policy? It's in the snirt Dirty snow shows loss of topsoil from overproduction and pollutes waterways   “Snirt” is not another trendy buzzword. It is the mixture of snow and dirt that represents [...]

States want 20 more years to meet Gulf dead-zone goals By Donelle Eller - DeMoines RegisterFebruary 12, 2015 (Photo: The Register) A task force representing Iowa and 11 other states said Thursday it needs another 20 years to reduce the size of a dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico by two-thirds. The Hypoxic Task [...]

States Develop New Strategies to Reduce Nutrient Levels in Mississippi River, Gulf of Mexico By Robert Daguillard February 12, 2015Summary The 12 states of the Hypoxia Task Force have devised new strategies to speed up reduction of nutrient levels in waterways in the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin. High nutrients levels are a key contributor each summer [...]

Mitchell County farmers present Conservation in the Cab By Laura Bird - Globe Gazette.comJanuary 3, 2015     Farming around waterways, practicing strip till and Iowa's Nutrient Reduction Strategy were just some of the topics discussed as two Mitchell County farmers participated in the county's first Conservation in the Cab this fall. Partnering with the [...]