MN, WI lawmakers target farmland, water quality
Minnesota and Wisconsin lawmakers are calling for stronger protections for farmland and water quality in the Upper Mississippi River Basin.
U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and U.S. Rep. Ron Kind of Wisconsin will be joined by farmers and conservationists near La Crescent, Minn., on Wednesday. They'll be calling for passage of the Upper Mississippi River Basin Protection Act.
Klobuchar and Kind are the chief authors of the legislation. It would step up efforts to monitor and reduce nutrient and sediment runoff.
They say farmers lose an estimated $300 million each year due to soil erosion, which also adds sediment that requires costly dredging of the Mississippi.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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