Michael A. Reuter Director, Freshwater

The Nature Conservancy, North America mreuter@tnc.org | michaelareuter@twitter

Charting a Course for Sustainability in

America’s Great Watershed

Conference on Ecological and Ecosystem Restoration ●

July 31, 2014

Icon Mule Orphan

What system? What result?

SITUATION • High Complexity and Uncertainty • Many Competing Uses, No Shared Vision • Entrenched, Fragmented Institutions

How Did We Get Here?

Ideas, Choices, Commitments 1927 Flood – MR&T Project Inland Waterway System Agricultural and Rural Development Programs Environmental Protection

The Imperatives of “Our Time” Systemic and cross-sector Demand driving water scarcity in >50% of states Floods impacting national economy, communities Aging infrastructure affecting water supply, sanitation, transportation +200% demand for commodities driving risks to water quality, quantity Loss of coastal wetlands exacerbated by climate change

Crises | OPPORTUNITIES

CONFLICTS | Drivers

Aging Infrastructure, Food Security, Hypoxia, Floods, Drought and Water Scarcity, Invasive Species, Energy Security

Survey: Mississippi River Basin Stakeholders Need shared vision for the

Mississippi River Basin that encompasses the whole system in an integrated way, includes ecological, social, and economic factors, and leads to commonly accepted priorities

Need more effective institutional structure(s) and arrangements to coordinate management of the river, break down the many unresponsive, unconnected silos, and turn the vision into reality

What system? What result?

There are not many rivers, one for each of us, but only this one river, and if we all want to stay here, in some kind of relation to the river, then we have to

learn, somehow, to live together.

From Daniel Kemmis. Community and the Politics of Place. Univ. of Oklahoma Press. Norman, 1990

Stronger with Diversity

Teri Goodmann City of Dubuque, IA

Rainy Shorey Caterpillar Inc.

Stephen Gambrell Mississippi River Commission & USACE

Steve Mathies Lower Mississippi River River Basin

Dan Mecklenborg Ingram Barge Company

Roger Wolf Iowa Soybean Association

Dru Buntin Upper Mississippi River Basin Association

Charles Somerville Marshall University & Ohio River Basin Alliance

Rob Rash Mississippi Valley Flood Control Association

Michael Reuter North America Freshwater Program, TNC

Jordy Jordahl America’s Watershed Initiative Director

Sean Duffy, Sr Big River Coalition

Sue Lowry State of Wyoming Upper MO River Basin

In Search of a More Integrated Approach

IRBM can be conceptualized as a ‘spiral’, which permits immediate action to create linkages, build understanding, coordinate top-down and bottom-up approaches, engage stakeholders, and develop local capacity.

Adapted for America’s Watershed Initiative by D. Galat, TNC, from WWF. 2001. Elements of good practice in Integrated River Basin Management: A practical resource for implementing the EU Water Framework Directive, Brussels (http://www.panda.org/europe/freshwater/seminars/seminars.html) and IWRM Guidelines at River Basin Level. Part 1 Principles. UNESCO (http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/ )

• 2009 – Focus Study Groups

• 2010 – America’s Inner Coast Summit, St. Louis

• 2011 – Consultation meeting, Kansas City

• 2012 – America’s Watershed Initiative Summit, St. Louis

2012 Summit, St. Louis

Our History

Crisis | OPPORTUNITY

• Unite the Watershed • Measure Results • Improve Policy and Governance

Aging Infrastructure, Food Security, Hypoxia, Floods, Drought and Water Scarcity, Invasive Species, Energy Security

RESPONSE | Message A vibrant network that will…

Support local, state and national economies

Supply abundant, clean water to our farms, communities and businesses

Nurture healthy, productive ecosystems Serve as the nation’s most valuable river

transportation corridor Provide reliable flood control and flood risk

management Create world class recreational

opportunities

VALUES | Strategy

Key outcomes

Unite the watershed

“... the America’s Watershed Initiative Summit was the best, most thought-provoking conference I have ever been to. An enormous amount of high quality information.” -- MG John W. Peabody

Key outcomes

Unite the watershed Measure results

Key outcomes

Unite the watershed

Improve policy & governance Measure results

A report card supports integrated management in the Mississippi River Basin

Water Supply

Flood Control and Risk Reduction

Economy

Environment

Recreation

Transportation

University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science developed 5-step process for report card assessments

Workshops seek regional information

Specific input on: • Conceptualization • Indicators for each goal • Data and thresholds • Scoring methods • Communication

Workshop engagement

• Over 200 direct participants in workshops • Representing diverse organizations

• Napoleon’s March • Graphic of participation

Completed meetings in each basin and in Washington, DC

Workshop engagement

Workshop reports produced

Core indicators identified

Making progress toward completion

• Completing data analysis

• Summit September 30 in Louisville, KY

2014 Summit

Why should you attend? Connect with key leaders, peers and

experts throughout the entire Mississippi watershed

Share water resources infrastructure lessons learned and emerging trends

Leverage your local and regional initiatives into a larger whole systems and operation scale

Shape and develop a common vision for improving the management of the watershed

Influence how state and federal governments will structure natural and manmade infrastructure

Registration Now Open

Louisville, KY | September 30-October 2, 2014 www.conference.ifas.ufl.edu/AWI

Michael Reuter Director, Freshwater mreuter@tnc.org michaelareuter@twitter