More than 100 groups say restoring and protecting the Ohio River Basin needs to be a national priority. The watershed that flows into the Ohio River covers most of Indiana, more than a dozen other states and at least 40 tribal nations.
Dan Boritt is the executive director of the Indiana Wildlife Federation. He said the basin suffers from years of industrial pollution as well as things like failing sewage systems and runoff from farm fields. That all flows downstream into the Ohio River and its tributaries.
Boritt said while areas like the Great Lakes and the Chesapeake Bay have national funding efforts to address pollution, the Ohio River Basin hasn’t seen the same investment.
The new Healthy Waters Coalition aims to change that — both for the environment and economic growth in these communities.
“To get more people out fishing, kayaking, using the water. Using the Ohio River and all of its tributaries as places of pride," Boritt said.
The coalition brings together a lot of different groups — conservation and environmental groups, farmers, anglers, hunters, rural water utilities and the Evansville chapter of the NAACP.
The city of Evansville gets its drinking water from the Ohio River and is planning infrastructure projects to try to reduce contamination. That means higher water bills for residents.
James Mosley owns EnviroKinetics, Inc. and chairs the environment climate justice committee of the Evansville NAACP. He said all people should be able to have access to clean, affordable drinking water.
“While these problems are manageable, it's time to use them — use these best management practices before these problems get worse and become more expensive to solve," Mosley said.
Mosley said if the Ohio River Basin were to get annual funding, that would be a game changer for the area.
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Brian Brandt is a farmer in western Ohio and works for the American Farmland Trust — a nonprofit that aims to protect farmland and encourage sustainable farming practices.
He said things like no-till agriculture and planting cover crops can prevent soil and fertilizer from running off into local waterways. That can improve water quality for wildlife, drinking water for residents and may even save farmers money.
“There's a lot of evidence that farmers can be more profitable on their farms when implementing these practices. It creates some positive economic returns that only not helps the farmers themselves, but it helps the community," Brandt said.
Brandt said right now, there isn’t enough funding to support all of the farmers that would like to try out more sustainable practices on their land — this coalition could help.
Ohio River Basin restoration efforts have seen bipartisan support in Congress — including from U.S. Rep. Erin Houchin (R-Salem) who co-chairs a caucus on issues in the basin.
Rebecca is our energy and environment reporter. Contact her at rthiele@iu.edu or on Signal at IPBenvironment.01. Follow her on Twitter at @beckythiele.