Mississippi River Mayors Meet To Talk Water Quality

Mayors from up and down the Mississippi River are meeting in Dubuque, Iowa this week, with improving the river’s water quality at the top of the agenda.

Algae blooms have helped create a dead zone where the Mississippi enters the Gulf of Mexico, preventing life from thriving in that ecosystem.

Mayors that are a part of the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative are talking about how to prevent those algae blooms from appearing elsewhere in the river.

“Those are a grave concern because there are 20 million people or so who rely on water from the Mississippi River for their daily use,” said La Crosse Mayor Tim Kabat, who is part of the group. “Obviously, if that gets to be impacted, you’re talking about some real serious health issues and economic issues as well.”

The group says they all need to do more to clean up the river. Kabat said that could mean planting more cover crops to reduce nutrient runoff from farms or thinking more about what cities release from wastewater treatment plants.

Vidalia, Louisiana Mayor Hyram Copeland said water quality impacts much more than drinking water.

“River economies depend on manufacturing, tourism, agriculture, outdoor recreation and water supply. All need the same things to thrive: clean water,” Copeland said. “By the time the river gets to us, the people in my state, just like the people in Minnesota, Iowa, or Illinois hope to hunt, fish, and boat in clean water. Our manufacturing is less costly if the facilities have access to clean water for processing, washing, and cooling. The cleaner the water, the better for irrigation.”

The Mississippi River mayors announced they’ll begin working more closely Great Lakes mayors from the United States and Canada, including Racine Mayor John Dickert, who was also at the Dubuque meeting this week.