Mayors from 10 states along the Mississippi River are pushing lawmakers for funding to protect and restore the waterway.
The Mississippi River Network held meetings with both the House and Senate and presented two policies. One, to increase federal funding for farmer-led conservation, and two, to invest in better water infrastructure.
The funding for these would largely come from the Inflation Reduction Act and the bipartisan infrastructure law.
So far, those two bills have brought $146 billion to the Mississippi River but drought continues to take a toll on the shipping industry. In the last two years, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says intense dryness caused billions of dollars in losses for the water system. 92 percent of U.S. ag exports travel the Mississippi River basin.
