Mississippi River Collaboration -
Building on an American Tradition
Collaboration on the
Mississippi River isn't
new. What is new is collaboration on behalf
of the whole Mississippi River - as a river
system.
The
April 13
Horinko Group Water
Summit -
Sustaining Our Water Resources
Through Collaboration - featured a variety
of ways collaboration can and does happen
across watersheds and agencies. Most
notably, panels focused on the Chesapeake
Bay, the Mississippi River and federal
government agencies making cross-body and
cross-agency efforts to integrate their work
for the sake of sustainable water.
 G.
Tracy Mehan III, former
assistant administrator for water at the
Environmental Protection Agency and frequent
columnist and consultant with the Cadmus
Group, added his case that collaboration
isn't new. What does matter is scale,
"whether it's geographic, demographic or
industrial," he said. "The real challenge is
that of ‘managing ourselves'" he said,
borrowing from Richard Andrews of the
University of North Carolina. And this means
issues of governance. Issues of governance,
Mehan says, involve the governors as much as
the governed.
Interestingly, we've been doing just this
for nearly 200 years. Mehan shared
deTocqueville observations from the 1800s in
which he wrote, "Americans of all ages, all
conditions, and all dispositions constantly
form associations." This early evidence of
American voluntarism and collaboration,
Mehan said, should bolster water managers in
and out of government who seek to form
partnerships and collaborative ventures on
behalf of watersheds.
As a
panelist, and on behalf of
America's Waterway, I
gave evidence that collaboration is finally
possible on a scale that fits the majestic
and iconic Mississippi River. Not only
possible, but opportune and effective.
Now
is the time to collaborate on behalf of the
Mississippi River because we have technology
tools and a proven deliberative process that
can involve the range and the number of
people needed to represent the wide variety
of expertise and experience that is the
human interaction with the Mississippi. It's
also the time because we have an
administration in office with a
predisposition for collaboration. And, it's
the time because of the growing awareness
that complex issues take many heads and many
hearts to search and advocate for solutions.
Mississippi River Headwaters
Congressman Gives Clean Water Gift for Earth
Day
 The
congressman who has toiled on behalf of
clean water since the original
Clean Water Act, and
whose home district is also home to the
Mississippi River headwaters and Lake
Superior, introduced "America's
Commitment to Clean Water Act"
legislation in time for Earth Day's 40th
anniversary.
Congressman James Oberstar of
Minnesota, chair of the House Transportation
and Infrastructure Committee, introduced
legislation to restore the intent of the
Clean Water Act which had been eroded by
Supreme Court decisions in intervening
years. Sighting the 1972 legislation as
successful in its intent to eliminate
polluted waters, the new legislation is
designed to return to fundamentals and
regain the momentum made toward that goal
prior to early 21st century rulings that
confused courts and regulators. The
introduction was supported by numerous
habitat, water quality and recreational
organizations.
National Great Rivers Research and
Education Center and America's Waterway
Announce Alliance to Build Civic Engagement
for the Mississippi River
We
are pleased to announce that America's
Waterway and the National Great Rivers
Research and Education Center, at the
confluence of the Mississippi, Missouri and
Illinois rivers, have signed a memorandum of
understanding. That MOU recognizes the two
organizations share a goal of a sustainable
Mississippi River and that research from
NGRREC can be supported by our civic
engagement efforts and vice versa. According
to the MOU, NGRREC and America's Waterway
will work together to establish partnerships
with community colleges for links to River
communities as a part of the National
Dialogue for the Future of America's
Waterway. NGRREC research and advice will
serve as a resource for the participant
informative phase of the National Dialogue.
To launch the relationship, NGRREC President
Dale Chapman will join
America's Waterway's board of directors.
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