GOM - Mississippi River mayors rally for a compact to add new legal protections for the waterway
A coalition of Mississippi River mayors wants a 10-state compact that would establish collective management of the waterway.
At the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative’s (MRCTI) annual meeting this week in Bemidji, Minnesota, about 30 mayors unanimously voted in favor of pursuing a compact that would span more than 2,300 miles of river. It’s the first step of what could be a lengthy process.
MRCTI’s executive director, Colin Wellenkamp, said a compact among the core states bordering the river would be a way to think about river management at the watershed scale, from the headwaters in Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico, and coordinate during events affecting the whole river, like drought and flooding.
Lacking an overall management structure makes it difficult to address multi-state issues like reducing runoff into the river, which ultimately contributes to the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico.
A compact could provide legal protections for Mississippi River resources, such as the vast amount of water the river drains from 31 states and two Canadian provinces.
“Quite frankly, law and hydrology are not really on speaking terms,” said Mark Davis, director of Tulane University’s Institute on Water Resources Law and Policy in New Orleans. He and his team study Mississippi River management issues.
Davis likened the water in the Mississippi River to a baton in a relay race; management changes with each of the 10 states it flows past, not including the other 21 states that feed into the river.
“One of the first questions is going to be: if this water is essential to prosperity and growth, whose? Should it be those who dream about it in dry places, or those who are next to it?” Davis said.
As parched states in the West grapple with drought and water scarcity, there have been renewed efforts to pump Mississippi River water west. But Wellenkamp said their concern lies with “anyone that wants to put a straw in the Mississippi,” not just western states.
Old idea, new strategy
Mississippi River states, whether altogether or in regional groups, have taken multiple stabs — some short-lived and others long-standing — at collective management: anattempted compact in the 1980s that crumbled before it gained much momentum; adecades-old coalition of upper river states that confers on connected issues; and anecological restoration program approved last year for the lower basin.
MRCTI has even supported a slate of legislation called the Safeguarding the Mississippi River Together Act, which pushed for a unified river management plan and a national office. When it stalled, they turned to other policy avenues, like the Farm Bill and the Water Resources Development Act.
