@agwaterdesk.bsky.social
Agricultural and builders’ groups have called it a win for private property owners. Environmental groups warn that it will exacerbate costly challenges like flooding that already plague the river and its tributaries.
Under new EPA rule, protections would dry up for wetlands across the U.S.
Many acres of wetlands across the vast Mississippi River basin — and elsewhere throughout the country — would lose federal protection under a new rule proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
www.thegazette.com
November 20, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Agricultural and builders’ groups have called it a win for private property owners. Environmental groups warn that it will exacerbate costly challenges like flooding that already plague the river and its tributaries.
Tariffs have brought significant and varied trade impacts across the Mississippi River Basin over the last few months. This week in the newsletter, we've brought together a few recent local pieces from Desk reporters as we continue to monitor these changes.
Tariffs and trade impacts across the Basin
Local stories on trade and...
agwaterdesk.bluelena.io
November 19, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Tariffs have brought significant and varied trade impacts across the Mississippi River Basin over the last few months. This week in the newsletter, we've brought together a few recent local pieces from Desk reporters as we continue to monitor these changes.
Today we’re launching our annual fundraising campaign, in partnership with NewsMatch.
Your support powers the Desk’s mission to connect communities across the Mississippi River Basin with important local news and information. Will you help us start strong, and donate today?
Your support powers the Desk’s mission to connect communities across the Mississippi River Basin with important local news and information. Will you help us start strong, and donate today?
Building connection across the Mississippi Basin
Launching our annual...
agwaterdesk.bluelena.io
November 3, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Today we’re launching our annual fundraising campaign, in partnership with NewsMatch.
Your support powers the Desk’s mission to connect communities across the Mississippi River Basin with important local news and information. Will you help us start strong, and donate today?
Your support powers the Desk’s mission to connect communities across the Mississippi River Basin with important local news and information. Will you help us start strong, and donate today?
Climate Central has brought back the U.S. Billion Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters database, tracking the nation’s costliest storms, floods, and fires. In the first six months of 2025, there were 14 events totaling $101 billion in losses.
Read more from Desk reporter Hêctor Alejandro Arzate.
Read more from Desk reporter Hêctor Alejandro Arzate.
A tool tracking billion dollar disasters is active again after being retired by Trump administration - VernonReporter
It shows that in 2025, approximately $40 billion in damage was caused by severestorms and tornadoes that struck states like Illinois, Missouri, Tennessee, and others. Oct. 28, 2025 Byline: Héctor Alej...
vernonreporter.com
October 28, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Climate Central has brought back the U.S. Billion Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters database, tracking the nation’s costliest storms, floods, and fires. In the first six months of 2025, there were 14 events totaling $101 billion in losses.
Read more from Desk reporter Hêctor Alejandro Arzate.
Read more from Desk reporter Hêctor Alejandro Arzate.
Lake Pepin, a hub for recreation and local economies in Minnesota and Wisconsin, is filling with sediment. A project is digging into a culprit: ravines and gullies sending soil downstream.
Learn more from Desk reporter Madeline Heim and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Learn more from Desk reporter Madeline Heim and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
As Mississippi River's Lake Pepin shrinks alarmingly, project will study role of ravines
Ravines act like fast-moving highways, delivering sediment into Lake Pepin on the Mississippi River. A new project will examine how to control them.
www.jsonline.com
October 24, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Lake Pepin, a hub for recreation and local economies in Minnesota and Wisconsin, is filling with sediment. A project is digging into a culprit: ravines and gullies sending soil downstream.
Learn more from Desk reporter Madeline Heim and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Learn more from Desk reporter Madeline Heim and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
We’re thrilled to welcome two new Expert Journalists: Kathleen Davis and Michael Hawthorne, @scribeguy.bsky.social. Both bring deep experience in science, environment, and investigative reporting.
They’ll mentor early-career reporters and help expand collaborative coverage across the Basin.
They’ll mentor early-career reporters and help expand collaborative coverage across the Basin.
Ag & Water Desk welcomes two new Expert Journalists - Ag & Water Desk
Kathleen Davis of Science Friday and Michael Hawthorne of the Chicago Tribune join the Ag & Water Desk as Expert Journalists.
agwaterdesk.org
October 16, 2025 at 1:47 PM
We’re thrilled to welcome two new Expert Journalists: Kathleen Davis and Michael Hawthorne, @scribeguy.bsky.social. Both bring deep experience in science, environment, and investigative reporting.
They’ll mentor early-career reporters and help expand collaborative coverage across the Basin.
They’ll mentor early-career reporters and help expand collaborative coverage across the Basin.
For three decades, the USDA’s Food Security Supplement helped the country understand hunger, where it’s rising, who’s most affected, and how programs like SNAP make a difference.
Now, the agency has canceled it. Read more from Harshawn Ratanpal and @kbianews.bsky.social:
Now, the agency has canceled it. Read more from Harshawn Ratanpal and @kbianews.bsky.social:
Ag department cuts 30-year survey of food insecurity
The Trump Administration said it's cancelling the questionnaire, an annual supplement to the U.S. Census Bureau’s monthly Current Population Survey.
bit.ly
October 13, 2025 at 3:00 PM
For three decades, the USDA’s Food Security Supplement helped the country understand hunger, where it’s rising, who’s most affected, and how programs like SNAP make a difference.
Now, the agency has canceled it. Read more from Harshawn Ratanpal and @kbianews.bsky.social:
Now, the agency has canceled it. Read more from Harshawn Ratanpal and @kbianews.bsky.social:
The monks of New Melleray Abbey see their 1,500-acre forest as more than timber. They’re working to build a genetically diverse ecosystem, where every harvest is balanced by careful management.
Read how faith + conservation meet in Iowa from Olivia Cohen and @thegazette.com
Read how faith + conservation meet in Iowa from Olivia Cohen and @thegazette.com
Iowa Trappist Monks blend spiritual life with conservation, sustainable craftsmanship
To carry out the mission of working with their hands, Trappist Monks in Dubuque County focus on conservation, forestry and making caskets.
www.thegazette.com
October 3, 2025 at 3:00 PM
The monks of New Melleray Abbey see their 1,500-acre forest as more than timber. They’re working to build a genetically diverse ecosystem, where every harvest is balanced by careful management.
Read how faith + conservation meet in Iowa from Olivia Cohen and @thegazette.com
Read how faith + conservation meet in Iowa from Olivia Cohen and @thegazette.com
The Mississippi River is running low for the 4th year in a row. Ports in Arkansas can’t fully load barges. The NOAA says without more rain, the river could hit critical lows.
Follow for more from Lucas Dufalla and the Arkansas Democrat- Gazette
📸: Andrew Breig, Daily Memphian
Follow for more from Lucas Dufalla and the Arkansas Democrat- Gazette
📸: Andrew Breig, Daily Memphian
October 2, 2025 at 8:30 PM
The Mississippi River is running low for the 4th year in a row. Ports in Arkansas can’t fully load barges. The NOAA says without more rain, the river could hit critical lows.
Follow for more from Lucas Dufalla and the Arkansas Democrat- Gazette
📸: Andrew Breig, Daily Memphian
Follow for more from Lucas Dufalla and the Arkansas Democrat- Gazette
📸: Andrew Breig, Daily Memphian
Minnesotans have done everything they can to protect Lake Itasca, where the Mississippi begins. But the lake just earned a C+ health grade, putting it on par with lakes in downtown Minneapolis.
Why is one of Minnesota’s most protected waters declining?
Full story from @startribune.com here:
Why is one of Minnesota’s most protected waters declining?
Full story from @startribune.com here:
Something is wrong with Lake Itasca, the source of the Mississippi River
Warming water may have an outsized impact on the legendary lake, which has been protected for decades.
bit.ly
October 1, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Minnesotans have done everything they can to protect Lake Itasca, where the Mississippi begins. But the lake just earned a C+ health grade, putting it on par with lakes in downtown Minneapolis.
Why is one of Minnesota’s most protected waters declining?
Full story from @startribune.com here:
Why is one of Minnesota’s most protected waters declining?
Full story from @startribune.com here:
Newsrooms: Be a part of the Desk! Apply now for a full-time reporter through @reportforamerica.bsky.social to cover water, climate & energy with the Desk. Includes salary support, editing, peer network + more.
Apply and find more information here: https://agwaterdesk.org/2025/09/16/applycohort3/
Apply and find more information here: https://agwaterdesk.org/2025/09/16/applycohort3/
Newsrooms invited to apply for the Ag & Water Desk through Report for America - Ag & Water Desk
The Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk invites newsrooms throughout the region to join its award-winning collaborative by applying for one of five new reporting positions through Report for America. The Ag & Water Desk is a multi-newsroom team covering agriculture and the environment based at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. Benefits […]
agwaterdesk.org
September 25, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Newsrooms: Be a part of the Desk! Apply now for a full-time reporter through @reportforamerica.bsky.social to cover water, climate & energy with the Desk. Includes salary support, editing, peer network + more.
Apply and find more information here: https://agwaterdesk.org/2025/09/16/applycohort3/
Apply and find more information here: https://agwaterdesk.org/2025/09/16/applycohort3/
We’re excited to share news from our friend @boyceupholt.bsky.social. He’s launched Southlands, a new journal celebrating the South’s landscapes and the ways people connect with them. The first issue explores Gulf Coast managed fire, family traditions, and more.
Learn more and subscribe here:
Learn more and subscribe here:
Introducing Southlands
A new publication from...
agwaterdesk.bluelena.io
September 24, 2025 at 6:30 PM
We’re excited to share news from our friend @boyceupholt.bsky.social. He’s launched Southlands, a new journal celebrating the South’s landscapes and the ways people connect with them. The first issue explores Gulf Coast managed fire, family traditions, and more.
Learn more and subscribe here:
Learn more and subscribe here:
Reposted
New from me: More than 100 mayors met this week to announce a new disaster relief effort that will be available to communities along the Mississippi River Basin “within 72 hours” of emergencies. @agwaterdesk.bsky.social
www.wwno.org/coastal-desk...
www.wwno.org/coastal-desk...
Mississippi River Basin communities launch new effort to deliver disaster relief within 72 hours
The Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative, a cooperative of more than 100 river communities between Minnesota and Louisiana, held its annual meeting this week in Minnesota’s Twin Cities. In re...
www.wwno.org
September 19, 2025 at 6:50 PM
New from me: More than 100 mayors met this week to announce a new disaster relief effort that will be available to communities along the Mississippi River Basin “within 72 hours” of emergencies. @agwaterdesk.bsky.social
www.wwno.org/coastal-desk...
www.wwno.org/coastal-desk...
Low water can mean delayed barges, saltwater creeping upriver, and challenges for farmers moving crops.
A new Mississippi River dashboard makes it easier to track those risks.
Explore the new dashboard from Harshawn Ratnapal and @kbianews.bsky.social
www.kbia.org/kbia-news/20...
A new Mississippi River dashboard makes it easier to track those risks.
Explore the new dashboard from Harshawn Ratnapal and @kbianews.bsky.social
www.kbia.org/kbia-news/20...
New dashboard provides drought data across Mississippi River Basin
The new one-stop-shop for drought data was announced to the public Wednesday at the annual meeting of the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative.
www.kbia.org
September 19, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Low water can mean delayed barges, saltwater creeping upriver, and challenges for farmers moving crops.
A new Mississippi River dashboard makes it easier to track those risks.
Explore the new dashboard from Harshawn Ratnapal and @kbianews.bsky.social
www.kbia.org/kbia-news/20...
A new Mississippi River dashboard makes it easier to track those risks.
Explore the new dashboard from Harshawn Ratnapal and @kbianews.bsky.social
www.kbia.org/kbia-news/20...
With skunks, storms & even alligators, paddling the full 2,400 miles of the Mississippi River is no small feat. Some do it for adventure. Others, like the Drift South Expedition, are turning the journey into citizen science & education.
Read their story here:
Read their story here:
Paddling the length of the Mississippi River is a grand adventure
The Mississippi River stretches for around 2,400 miles from central Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico. Every year, 30 to 50 paddlers attempt to travel its length.
www.kwqc.com
September 17, 2025 at 5:00 PM
With skunks, storms & even alligators, paddling the full 2,400 miles of the Mississippi River is no small feat. Some do it for adventure. Others, like the Drift South Expedition, are turning the journey into citizen science & education.
Read their story here:
Read their story here:
The Ag & Water Desk has passed a big milestone: 2,200+ stories since 2022, with reporters in 15 local newsrooms and more joining.
We’re proud to bring trusted local and regional reporting on agriculture, water and climate to communities across the Basin.
Read more from this week's newsletter.
We’re proud to bring trusted local and regional reporting on agriculture, water and climate to communities across the Basin.
Read more from this week's newsletter.
Desk Stories by the Numbers
We share some of our story...
agwaterdesk.bluelena.io
September 10, 2025 at 6:32 PM
The Ag & Water Desk has passed a big milestone: 2,200+ stories since 2022, with reporters in 15 local newsrooms and more joining.
We’re proud to bring trusted local and regional reporting on agriculture, water and climate to communities across the Basin.
Read more from this week's newsletter.
We’re proud to bring trusted local and regional reporting on agriculture, water and climate to communities across the Basin.
Read more from this week's newsletter.
20 years on, Katrina’s legacy is still written in the lives of people who never returned. WNNO asked listeners to write “love letters” to the city, sharing their memories of the community.
If you wrote a “love letter” to New Orleans, what would it say?
If you wrote a “love letter” to New Orleans, what would it say?
Marking 20 years since Hurricane Katrina
Impacts from the storm...
agwaterdesk.bluelena.io
September 5, 2025 at 2:00 PM
20 years on, Katrina’s legacy is still written in the lives of people who never returned. WNNO asked listeners to write “love letters” to the city, sharing their memories of the community.
If you wrote a “love letter” to New Orleans, what would it say?
If you wrote a “love letter” to New Orleans, what would it say?
Thrilled to share: the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk has won @LIONPubs’ Collaboration of the Year Award!
This honor recognizes the power of partnerships to strengthen local news and expand coverage of vital water + ag issues across the basin.
http://bit.ly/41ApERD
This honor recognizes the power of partnerships to strengthen local news and expand coverage of vital water + ag issues across the basin.
http://bit.ly/41ApERD
September 4, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Thrilled to share: the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk has won @LIONPubs’ Collaboration of the Year Award!
This honor recognizes the power of partnerships to strengthen local news and expand coverage of vital water + ag issues across the basin.
http://bit.ly/41ApERD
This honor recognizes the power of partnerships to strengthen local news and expand coverage of vital water + ag issues across the basin.
http://bit.ly/41ApERD
Eight Missouri School of Journalism students are finalists for a national award for Waste Land, their Columbia Missourian investigation into meatpacking waste dumping on Missouri farmland. Their reporting spurred new state rules and revealed a national problem with sewage sludge.
Waste Land - Online Journalism Awards
Read More
awards.journalists.org
August 26, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Eight Missouri School of Journalism students are finalists for a national award for Waste Land, their Columbia Missourian investigation into meatpacking waste dumping on Missouri farmland. Their reporting spurred new state rules and revealed a national problem with sewage sludge.
Aboard the Pelican, researchers spend long days in Gulf heat & waves tracking the low-oxygen “dead zone,” a critical annual mission now facing trouble from funding cuts.
Read more from Elise Plunk of Louisiana Illuminator.
Read more from Elise Plunk of Louisiana Illuminator.
Cruise to measure Gulf dead zone faces stormy funding future • Louisiana Illuminator
Now, after its 40th year and 38th hypoxia cruise, The Pelican’s annually planned journey faces challenges to stay afloat, potentially undermining decades of research and future plans to get the dead zone under control.
lailluminator.com
August 25, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Aboard the Pelican, researchers spend long days in Gulf heat & waves tracking the low-oxygen “dead zone,” a critical annual mission now facing trouble from funding cuts.
Read more from Elise Plunk of Louisiana Illuminator.
Read more from Elise Plunk of Louisiana Illuminator.
In this week’s Ag & Water Desk newsletter, our team reflects on the media we’ve been reading & watching. These stories span swamps, rivers, archives, and re-imagined histories.
See the full roundup & subscribe:
See the full roundup & subscribe:
What we're reading (and watching)
A summer roundup of media...
agwaterdesk.bluelena.io
August 22, 2025 at 4:58 PM
In this week’s Ag & Water Desk newsletter, our team reflects on the media we’ve been reading & watching. These stories span swamps, rivers, archives, and re-imagined histories.
See the full roundup & subscribe:
See the full roundup & subscribe:
Invasive carp are threatening native fish in Arkansas’ rivers and the state thinks the solution might be to get more Americans eating them.
Read more from Phillip Powell & Lucas Dufalla for @reasonstobecheerful.world
Read more from Phillip Powell & Lucas Dufalla for @reasonstobecheerful.world
Why Arkansas Wants More Americans to Eat Invasive Carp
As the Natural State works to keep the carp out of the Great Lakes at all costs, can it convince consumers that these fish are delicious?
reasonstobecheerful.world
August 15, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Invasive carp are threatening native fish in Arkansas’ rivers and the state thinks the solution might be to get more Americans eating them.
Read more from Phillip Powell & Lucas Dufalla for @reasonstobecheerful.world
Read more from Phillip Powell & Lucas Dufalla for @reasonstobecheerful.world
We're honored to be featured in @reportforamerica.bsky.social 2025 Impact Report, highlighting our big collaborative series on wetlands, “Down the Drain.”
Read more:
issuu.com/groundtruthp...
Read more:
issuu.com/groundtruthp...
2025 Impact Report
issuu.com
August 12, 2025 at 1:24 PM
We're honored to be featured in @reportforamerica.bsky.social 2025 Impact Report, highlighting our big collaborative series on wetlands, “Down the Drain.”
Read more:
issuu.com/groundtruthp...
Read more:
issuu.com/groundtruthp...
Iowa’s nitrate pollution is among the worst in the nation and experts say it’s linked to cancer and birth defects. Recent river levels have exceeded safety limits for drinking water, and some are calling for change.
Read more from Olivia Cohen at @thegazette.com.
www.thegazette.com/environment-...
Read more from Olivia Cohen at @thegazette.com.
www.thegazette.com/environment-...
Environmental experts, lawyers say health risks in Iowa's water leads to 'preventable suffering'
The water quality forum – which was hosted by the national nonprofit Food & Water Watch – comes on the heels of a spike in nitrate levels in Iowa's waterways
www.thegazette.com
August 11, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Iowa’s nitrate pollution is among the worst in the nation and experts say it’s linked to cancer and birth defects. Recent river levels have exceeded safety limits for drinking water, and some are calling for change.
Read more from Olivia Cohen at @thegazette.com.
www.thegazette.com/environment-...
Read more from Olivia Cohen at @thegazette.com.
www.thegazette.com/environment-...
Journalism is meant to inspire conversation.
In this week’s newsletter, Desk reporter Elise Plunk of @lailluminator.com reflects on the responses to her story on oyster farming and climate adaptation. Readers engaged with Elise, and she’s glad to respond.
See more here: bit.ly/3UPDKdW
In this week’s newsletter, Desk reporter Elise Plunk of @lailluminator.com reflects on the responses to her story on oyster farming and climate adaptation. Readers engaged with Elise, and she’s glad to respond.
See more here: bit.ly/3UPDKdW
Sparking a conversation
Reporter Elise Plunk shares...
agwaterdesk.bluelena.io
August 6, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Journalism is meant to inspire conversation.
In this week’s newsletter, Desk reporter Elise Plunk of @lailluminator.com reflects on the responses to her story on oyster farming and climate adaptation. Readers engaged with Elise, and she’s glad to respond.
See more here: bit.ly/3UPDKdW
In this week’s newsletter, Desk reporter Elise Plunk of @lailluminator.com reflects on the responses to her story on oyster farming and climate adaptation. Readers engaged with Elise, and she’s glad to respond.
See more here: bit.ly/3UPDKdW