Ag-Urban Partnership Forum on Water Quality

 The problems of water quality are shared by rural and urban Minnesotans.  The solutions have to be shared, too.  

The need to reduce the amount of pollutants that go in to the river unites both agricultural and industrial interests.  To help to bridge the ag-urban divide and unite interests, forums have been organized to bring people together.  The second annual forum was held on December 16, 2020.  

According to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's post on the conference, ""The key issue initially fueling the conferences centers on the question, how can the urban and rural agriculture worlds work together to address water quality and other environmental issues? Cities face daunting costs for wastewater treatment. Agriculture dominates the rural landscape, and has a major impact on water quality. What if both worked together?

While environmental quality is the goal, getting there is all about the economy. And climate change.

Leif Fixen of The Nature Conservancy promoted the Ecosystem Service Marketplace Consortium (ESMC), which is developing the processes and technology that would pay farmers for “carbon credits” — a measure of capturing carbon to help mitigate global warming."  Click the picture below for more information on this pilot project.

The first Ag-Urban Partnership Forum was held on November 18, 2019 and is documented in a detailed .pdf found at this post on the Minnesota River Data Center website.