WASHINGTON DC (April 17, 2019) — Senator Charles "Chuck" Grassley of Iowa joined Sens Joni Ernst of Iowa and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan in sending a bipartisan letter urging US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue to utilize a department-wide National Water Quality Initiative to prioritize conservation measures in the 2018 Farm Bill to address water quality.
“The 2018 Farm Bill made historic investments in voluntary conservation efforts to address water quality challenges — from the Great Lakes to the Chesapeake Bay to the Mississippi River,” the sens wrote. “Specifically, the bill reformed and improved all major conservation-programs in order to provide new tools to assist farmers, ranchers, and landowners in addressing water-quality concerns.
“We know farmers play an important role as stewards of our land and water. In order to maximize the effectiveness of these water-quality improvements, we urge you to implement these provisions through a department-wide National Water Quality Initiative, which would build off the existing initiative housed at the Natural Resources Conservation Service.”
The sens also provided recommendations for coordinating implementation of the new water-quality priorities to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Farm Bill’s conservation investments.
The letter, led by Stabenow and Ernst, was also signed by Sens Mike Braun of Indiana, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Tom Carper of Delaware and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania.
