America's Wetland Foundation

Val Marmillion, New Orleans, letter: Mississippi River’s problems need national solutions

By: Val Marmillion

NEW ORLEANS, La. — The Associated Press story on the gathering of Mississippi River mayors in Washington and their subsequent formation of the Mississippi River Platform is an important and appreciated one (“Mayors press for federal focus on Mississippi River,” March 21).

Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Approves WRDA Bill

By: Coastal States Organization

On March 20th, the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee unanimously approved the “Water Resources Development Act of 2013” (S. 601). The bill would promote investment in the nation’s critical water resources infrastructure, provide critical flood protection for communities across the country, accelerate project delivery, and reform the implementation of Army Corps of Engineers projects.

Mississippi River a little more spry with winter snow, rain

By: University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture

HELENA-WEST HELENA, Ark. – Old Man River has a little more spring in his step, thanks to winter rains and snow. “The river at Helena was at 21 feet on March 14, and was forecast to be around 32 feet this past Tuesday,” said Robert Goodson, Phillips County extension agent for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. “That’s a lot of water.”

Local mayors join with leaders to form river caucus

By: Lindsey Shelton, NatchezDemocrat.com

Two local mayors are traveling to Washington, D.C., this week to join a new voice for Mississippi River cities. Natchez Mayor Butch Brown and Vidalia Mayor Hyram Copeland will join nine other mayors of cities that share the banks of the Mississippi and members of Congress to announce the formation of the Mississippi River Bicameral Caucus Thursday.

Activists hope to draw attention to Mississippi River pollution

By: Sydney Swanson, LaCrosseTribute.com

At the headwaters of the Mississippi River, in Lake Itasca, the water is clear. It is untouched by pollution, and people can drink it without worry, said Sharon Day, Ojibwe tribe member and executive director of the Indigenous Peoples Task Force.

USA: New Bill to Prepare Mississippi River for Panama Canal Expansion

By: DredgingToday.com

Congressman Cedric Richmond (LA-02) reintroduced the DREDGE Act – Dredging for Restoration and Economic Development for Global Exports Act.

http://www.dredgingtoday.com/2013/03/15/usa-new-bill-to-prepare-mississippi-river-for-panama-canal-expansion/

By: Lauren McGaughy, NOLA.com | The Times Picayune

Louisiana's Constitution should mandate that any money the state receives from Deepwater-Horizon-BP oil spill fines be used solely for coastal protection and restoration programs, according to a bill filed this week ahead of the 2013 legislative session that begins April 8.

Shipping bounces back as Mississippi River rises

By: The Country Today

Mississippi River shippers have returned to hauling full loads after several storms and aggressive rock-clearing helped deepen the waterway, eliminating worries about barge traffic shutting down, the river’s stewards and barge operators said Feb. 27.

The Mississippi and St. Louis: Keys to global grain trade

By: Georgina Gustin, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

A truck carrying thousands of pounds of corn pulls up to a gleaming complex at the edge of the Mississippi River. The driver receives a card with a bar code. Moments later, several overhead probes drill into the truck’s load, pulling corn kernels for testing.

La. agencies to address ‘dead zone’ nutrients in the Gulf

By: Amy Wold, The Advocate

Four state agencies have begun work on a plan that will address Louisiana’s contributions to the nutrients that end up in the Gulf of Mexico and help create the “dead zone” of low oxygen that appears every summer.

Forces collide as nature takes a stab at saving a coastal marsh — for free

By: Bob Marshall, The Lens, New Orleans

Thirty-five miles south of New Orleans, the silt-laden Mississippi River intermittently rolls through a 150-foot gap that started opening on the river’s east bank during the Mardi Gras 2011 flood. The café-au-lait water rushes noisily through the channel it carved across an adjacent shell roadbed, then sweeps eastward toward marshes spreading to the horizon.

Mississippi River dredging begins as part of West Bay sediment diversion project

By: Benjamin Alexander-Bloch, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune

Dredging in the Mississippi River’s Pilottown anchorage area has begun as part of the West Bay sediment diversion project at the mouth of the river, the Army Corps of Engineers announced on Thursday (March 7). Mike Hooks, Inc., of Calcasieu Parish, will receive about $12 million to dredge about 2 million cubic yards of material that will be used for land creation, according to the corps.

Louisiana wetlands built up by big floods; levees hold back nourishing sediment

By: Adam Redling

Even the darkest clouds can have a silver lining—sometimes it just takes a team of researchers to find it.

Walz, Kind co-chairs of Mississippi River Caucus

By: The Stillwater Gazette

U.S. Reps. Ron Kind, D-Wis., a former member of the House Natural Resources Committee from 1997-2011, and Tim Walz , D-Minn., were recently selected as co-chairmen of the Mississippi River Caucus.

Image: People wait in splendid weather to pay tribute to Paul McIlhenny at today's services in New Orleans.

People wait in splendid weather to pay tribute to Paul McIlhenny at today's services in New Orleans.