Urban Waters Federal Partnership Initiates San Antonio River Basin Project

From EPA:

Urban Waters Federal Partnership Initiates San Antonio River Basin Project

Contact: Joe Hubbard or Jennah Durant at 214-665-2200 or r6press@epa.gov

DALLAS – (Jan. 21, 2014) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the City of San Antonio and the San Antonio River Authority (SARA) are celebrating the start of the Urban Waters Project. The event will take place on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2015, from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m., at the Christopher Columbus Hall, 201 Piazza Italia, San Antonio, Texas.

The project will reconnect urban communities with their waterways by increasing federal and local communication and coordination. The Urban Waters Federal Partnership is a community-led revitalization effort to improve the San Antonio area’s creek and rivers while promoting economic, environmental and social benefits.

“Restoration of the San Antonio River Basin and its waterways allows city area residents to enjoy the environmental and recreational benefits from their local waters and surrounding lands,” said EPA Regional Administrator Ron Curry. We look forward to working with our partners to transform degraded waterways into assets and to improve water quality for many years to come.”

The City of San Antonio and SARA are the local co-applicants of the Urban Waters Federal Partnership. The other local partners, including Bexar County, National Park Service (NPS), San Antonio Housing Association (SAHA) and San Antonio Water System (SAWS), are working together with the City and SARA to nominate projects that look to reconnect people with urban waters by enhancing recreational opportunities, improving water quality, expanding community water resources and restoring and revitalizing urban creeks.

“The Urban Waters program is great opportunity for San Antonio to continue our focus on improving the San Antonio River and its tributaries,” said Mayor Ivy R. Taylor. “The selected projects touch on most residents' top priorities: water quality and quantity, and building better basic infrastructure.”

“The designation as an Urban Waters Federal Partnership is a recognition of the historical role strong public engagement and collaboration has had in advancing successful projects on our rivers and creeks. This federal partnership will broaden the local collaboration and bring new opportunities to enhance our waterways,” said Sally Buchanan, SARA Bexar County at Large Chairman of the Board.

San Antonio residents are encouraged to attend and discuss the identified projects with the project experts in the San Antonio/Bexar County area and provide input on the projects. Participants will discuss the challenges and opportunities facing federal agency and partner work in the area. Local project partners will also be available to discuss specifics of the projects.

Waters Federal Partnership are:

-          Brackish Groundwater Desalination;

-          Olmos Basin/San Antonio Zoo Water Quality and Ecosystem Restoration;

-          Eastside Promise Neighborhood/Wheatley Choice/Promise Zone and Salado

-          Creek Greenway;

-          San Pedro Creek Restoration;

-          Westside Creeks Ecosystem Restoration; and

-          San Antonio Missions World Heritage and Cultural Connections.

Other San Antonio-area projects may be added in the future.

To register for the Community Stakeholder and Public Meeting:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1YPY8pv912BNeiHLCClSlwSRNZVrp8oxxwYHnZTuo8CE/viewform?usp=send_form

More information about the Urban Waters Federal Partnership is available at www.urbanwaters.gov.

Connect with EPA Region 6:

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eparegion6 

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/EPAregion6

Activities in EPA Region 6: http://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/region6.htm 

 # # #

An Iowa Couple Grows Food, Family and a Community on an Organic Farm

From the USDA:

Posted by Ron Nichols, Natural Resources Conservation Service, on January 20, 2015 at 10:30 AM

Andy and Melissa Dunham, seen here with daughter Leonora, own and operate Grinnell Heritage Farm in Grinnell, Iowa. NRCS photo by Ron Nichols.

Some people are born to farm. Others grow to love it. In Melissa Dunham’s case, she fell in love with a farmer — and now she loves both the farmer and the farm.

“I was happily employed in the Twin Cities, but then I fell in love with this wonderful man who told me he was an organic vegetable farmer,” Melissa said. “I thought, ‘Sure, why not?’ We got married within seven months.”

It was an unexpected career and life change. “Everybody thought I was nuts moving down here to central Iowa to be a farmer,” she said. But now she’s growing food she believes in — and in a way that will leave the land in better condition for the generations to follow.

She and her husband, Andy Dunham, own and operate Grinnell Heritage Farm in Grinnell, Iowa. The certified organic farm has grown from three acres in 2007 to 22 acres today and produces more than 60 varieties of plants and vegetables.

Grinnell Heritage Farm is a certified organic farm that has grown from three acres in 2007, to 22 acres today. NRCS photo by Ron Nichols.

“We grow everything from asparagus to zucchini,” Melissa said.

The Dunhams understand that the health of their soil translates into healthier crops and a more resilient farm. A fifth-generation farmer on the Grinnell farmland, Andy has made improving the health of the farm’s soil a major priority.

“Our philosophy is feed the soil, it will feed your plants, and then it will feed us,” he said.

Judging from the farm’s improvement in yields over time, this approach is working. “We read the ‘Knott’s Handbook for Vegetable Growers,’ which is kind of the vegetable grower’s official handbook, and our yields are almost always well above what their best yields are projected,” said Andy.

Working with USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the Dunhams have been able to accelerate the adoption of a number of resource-protecting practices through the agency’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).

“There were several practices, like adding hedge rows for wildlife habitat, that we probably wouldn’t have been able to do without the EQIP contract,” Andy said.

The Dunhams were also able to take advantage of EQIP’s Organic Initiative back when they were converting from a conventional farming operation. “We did an awful lot of stuff with cover cropping and we did a lot of things for managing water quality,” he said. “The program was very helpful.”

Cropping diversity plays a central role in improving soil health because plant diversity above ground promotes biological diversity below ground, but it also plays a part in keeping the farming operation resilient.

“We have had some really, really severe weather swings over the last seven years and on numerous occasions. It’s either been too wet or too dry or both,” said Melissa. “Last year we had both flooding and a drought, but by being diverse we have been able to stay in the black. It’s helped us stay afloat when the weather extremes aren’t in our favor.”

While all farmers have to deal with weather-related issues, organic farming has additional challenges — like not being able to use synthetic nutrients or pesticides to control weeds and harmful insects. However, Andy believes it’s worth the extra effort.

“People who are wary of an organic system think it takes a lot of management — and it does,” he said. “But if you stay committed, if you follow the principles — even if you make a few mistakes — and stick with it, things will get better.  The yields will go up and you can rejuvenate tired soils. It can be done.”

Inherent farming challenges notwithstanding, a lot of good things are being raised on the Grinnell Heritage Farm including healthy food, healthy soil, a healthy family and a chance to teach other people about farming. “And I love being able to spend this much time with my family,” Melissa said.

Certified organic cabbage growing on the farm will be sold to local retailers and at farmers’ markets. NRCS photo by Ron Nichols.

Revitalizing the New York-New Jersey Harbor

From the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Headquarters:

New York District, working with area stakeholders, has a comprehensive plan to revitalize New York-New Jersey Harbor: http://1.usa.gov/17M3lLq

Kissimmee River Restoration Project

From U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Headquarters:

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded one of the four remaining construction contracts for the Kissimmee River Restoration project, moving this large-scale Everglades restoration project one step closer to completion. http://1.usa.gov/1AYt9NT

Restoring Oyster Reefs

From the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Headquarters:

USACE contractors braved the cold and icy conditions Thursday to release rock to restore #oyster reefs in the#ChesapeakeBay tributary of Harris Creek. It is anticipated that 57 acres of reef will be placed in Harris Creek this winter and spring. Shout out to our USACE construction inspector on site for capturing the work.