8
continue to maintain an active presence in these two cases
over the coming year and stands ready to further expand its
presence in the nation’s courtrooms to defend its members
and the clean water community from unreasonable nutrient
regulations.
Control of Nutrients Pursued as Part of
Farm Bill Reauthorization
Along with regulatory and legal advocacy efforts, NACWA
is leading a legislative advocacy campaign to address run-off
from agricultural lands – the dominant source of nutrients in
most impaired watersheds. The Association began this effort
in December when it convened a broad coalition of stakehold-
ers that included the municipal water and wastewater commu-
nity, state water pollution control agencies, and conservation
organizations interested in strengthening the links between
national agricultural policy and water quality improvement.
The coalition sent a letter to Congress in February, signed by
over 140 organizations, urging them to take action in support
of improved water quality when reauthorizing the Farm Bill in
2012. This effort was followed by a series of factsheets raising
awareness of the water quality challenges posed by nutrient
run-off and the degree to which agricultural sources contrib-
ute to the problem.
NACWA’s efforts got a welcomed boost from the Turner
Foundation which provided the Association with a grant to
support its efforts. The Turner Foundation was particularly
interested in raising the perspective of the municipal water
community in the debate over the need to reduce nutrient
run-off from agricultural operations. NACWA was pleased
to receive the grant to support a white paper examining the
urban perspective on agricultural nutrient run-off, and the de-
velopment of a long-term advocacy strategy to make progress
on this issue through national policy. NACWA is busy working
with its Nutrient Workgroup, and members of a broader
stakeholder coalition, to develop policy recommendations
for Congress to consider as it drafts this next authorization
of the Farm Bill. The Association is also pulling together key
background information about nutrient-related water quality
impacts experienced by each state to inform the debate on this
issue. NACWA was also invited to participate in a Future 500
dialogue hosted by the Johnson Foundation to discuss how
to strengthen the links between water and agricultural policy.
Dialogue was attended by key stakeholder organizations rep-
resenting agricultural, conservation and business interests.