Picture: This
picture shows the Mississippi River in Memphis Tennessee. The Mississippi River
is spread from the Gulf of Mexico, all the way up to Minnesota. The area
surrounding the river is called the Mississippi River Basin.
Summary: The
USDA made a decision as part of the Mississippi River Basin Healthy
Watersheds initiative, the department is going to fund existing water
conservation projects. The goal is to improve the water quality of of different watersheds. The farmers and landowners are the ones who have volunteered to help with the water conservation. The methods of water conservation are based off of the area that they live in. Some of the things they would take care of during their conservation efforts would be management of nutrients on land, crop rotation for the purpose of conservation, and planting trees along streams to filter nutrients and manage water draining off the farm. During the announcement, the USDA pointed out that the Mississippi River collects water from 4/10 of the continental United States. The USDA will be providing $43,000,000 for this project. That money will be divided between the 12 participating states, with Minnesota receiving the most money.
Reaction: This is really good! The Mississippi River is one of the most important bodies of water in the United States and should be taken care of to the best of our abilities. If I lived in near the Mississippi River, I think it would be cool to help out with like planting trees near the river and stuff like that.
Questions:
1. Why do you think they gave Minnesota the most money?
2. Do you know of any other ways they could help conserve the water?
3. What do you think you could do to help?
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ReplyDeleteReaction: I agree with Alex it is so nice to hear that people do have consideration for some of the most beautiful and important landmarks throughout the United States I am delighted to hear that many people volunteered to help the project. I also learned that the Mississippi river collects almost four tenths of the water in the United States. Improving the water quality for forty different watersheds from Minnesota all the way to the Gulf of Mexico will truly be worth our time and money!
ReplyDeleteExpansion:
I looked up more about the Mississippi River and found this link:
http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2012/03/mississippi_river_polluted_contaminated_environment_america.php
This article says that the Mississippi river is one of the most toxic rivers in America. It explains that more than 12,339,749 pounds of dangerous material were dumped into the Mississippi river in 2010. This is so shocking and as a nation we should try and fix this issue. If we don’t the Mississippi River could just be a trash dump for toxins.
Reaction:
ReplyDeleteI think this is a very good thing for both the nature and all of us! I remember reading an article for PSSA or something like that and it was about how people throw alot of trash in the Mississippi river and there's a small organiazation that is trying to clean it all up. Now that funds are officially in in order to fix the problem of the river, I am very glad of it! I also love looking at rivers and it made me sad at times when there's a plastic bottle floating around at river and now that they are going to do something about the issue. Though, I wonder why they have not done it before... probably the budget issue.
Expansion:
http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/health-med-fit/fitness/mississippi-river-is-awash-in-toxins-report-finds/article_6305c4a5-7db6-5ed6-a53b-22e79d96f18e.html
This is another article that is similar to the one Nasrine put out and it talks about the pollutants that were trashed in the river and how we must clean it up.
Answer question:
3)These toxins are many time induced by the industry that are trying to produce the products that are geared toward us to buy. So, if I were to spend less money and buy less from the industry, I think less poison will end up in the rivers. I could also vote for politicians that are concerned about the river's health.I think these are few of the ways that I could help the river's health.
I have to agree with both Alex and Nasrine's opinions. Who would not be happy that our nation is doing something to help the environment? What had really shocked me though was what Nasrine had found in her expansion article. I couldn't imagine a river with 12,339,749 pounds of dangerous material in a major body of water--that is terrible and I don't understand how we could be so ignorant that such a great amount of waste is being dumped into the Mississippi river. I don't know if a lot of the trash came from littering, but whenever I see someone litter it makes me really mad. There should be no reason someone can't carry their empty soda cup for another few minutes to the next trash can. Anyway, it's great that the USDA is making such aa large investment to help the river. And I thought it was cool how planting trees near the river would actually help.
ReplyDeleteHere are some questions that i considered during reading the article:
1)Where did the waste come from--factories, littering, maybe a mix of a bunch of things?
2)Who is the USDA, and what is their main goal as an assosiation?
3)What are the 11 other states that are being included in this project, and are they doing the same thing as Minnesota?