Slay hopeful ‘report card’ spurs action on Mississippi River

St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay hopes a new report on the Mississippi River watershed will spur renewed attention to country’s largest river system.

Written in the style of a report card, the authors said the condition of the river’s infrastructure, environment and indicators merited a D+.

“A ‘D+’ is really nothing to be proud of, but it does give us direction and it does give us a sense of urgency,” Slay said.

The results of a years-long study from America’s Watershed Initiative, a group made up of environmentalists, business and government interests, were released Wednesday at a conference in St. Louis. Backers aim to use the report card to track progress on fixing aging infrastructure, deteriorating ecosystems and rising flood risk.

Among the worst-performing areas was navigation infrastructure such as locks and dams, said co-author Heath Kelsey, the director of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. For the full article click here 

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