Kaptur and Gallagher Introduce Healthy Farms Healthy Watersheds Act of 2023 to Support Voluntary Nutrient Runoff Management Programs

Washington, DC – Today, Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-09), and Congressman Mike Gallagher (WI-08) introduced the Healthy Farms Healthy Watersheds Act of 2023, a bipartisan, budget-neutral bill to support efficacy in voluntary nutrient runoff management programs that fight harmful algal blooms. Harmful algal blooms (HABs) adversely affect water quality in all 50 states – harming human health, hindering tourism and regional economies, and sinking property values and waterfront business.   

Despite federal agencies spending billions of dollars assisting farmers and producers in adopting management practices to improve water quality, HABs persist across all 50 states, including in significant water bodies such as the Great Lakes and Chesapeake Bay. The Healthy Farms Healthy Watersheds Act of 2023 provides a new strategy to make federal investments more effective by focusing Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) resources on one of the most critical drivers of HABs – dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP). Concentrating efforts in priority watersheds focuses valuable attention and resources on areas where DRP reduction has the highest potential to improve water quality. This increases the likelihood of success in reducing the frequency and extent of harmful algal blooms throughout the US. 

“Today alongside my Midwest colleague Mike Gallagher, I introduced the bipartisan Healthy Farms Healthy Watersheds Act of 2023, which encourages voluntary USDA programs to strategically apply resources to maximize watershed health with existing dollars,” said Congresswoman Kaptur. “Harmful algal blooms are caused, in part, by the loading of excessive levels of phosphorus into lakes, rivers, and bays from farms and animal feeding operations. Since 2010, communities affected by HABs are estimated to have spent over $1 Billion to prevent and mitigate the effects of monthslong seasonal blooms. Despite federal agencies spending billions to help farmers adopt management practices to improve water quality, the problem persists across America, including in significant bodies of water like Lake Erie. The Healthy Farms Healthy Watersheds Act of 2023 provides a new strategy to make federal investments more effective. The legislation focuses Natural Resources Conservation Service resources on the exact substances and localities that are contributing most to harmful algal blooms.” 

“Even though the federal government has spent billions of dollars trying to protect our waterways from harmful algal blooms, we still deal with the issue in Northeast Wisconsin and across the country,” said Congressman Gallagher. “The Healthy Farms Healthy Watershed Act would require the government to take a budget-neutral, innovative approach to the way we’re treating harmful algal blooms to ensure we’re targeting the root cause of the problem and not continuing to fund the status quo. Northeast Wisconsin has always been a leader for watershed management practices and this bill will support our cutting-edge solutions to addressing harmful algal blooms in our waterways. 

“Reducing harmful nutrient runoff in the Great Lakes is critical to protecting fisheries and human health as well as growing Wisconsin’s booming tourism economy,” said Elizabeth Koehler, Executive Director of The Nature Conservancy in Wisconsin. “We applaud Congressman Mike Gallagher and Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur’s strong, bipartisan action to improve water quality, stop dangerous algal blooms before they start, and promote regenerative agriculture across all 50 states.” 

“Lake Erie is one of Ohio’s greatest natural resources and the continued presence of harmful algal blooms poses a threat to our state’s health and prosperity. We thank Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur and Congressman Mike Gallagher for introducing this crucial bill to protect freshwater resources in Ohio and across the country. By prioritizing nutrient reduction in key watersheds, this bipartisan and budget-neutral initiative takes steps to improve water quality, preserve vital ecosystems, and support the agricultural community,” said Bill Stanley, State Director of the Nature Conservancy in Ohio. 

"Recognizing Dissolved Reactive Phosphorous as the primary driver of harmful algal blooms (HABs) in Lake Erie and elsewhere is important,” said Rob Michaels, Senior Attorney, Environmental Law & Policy Center. “The Environmental Law & Policy Center welcomes this bill to ensure existing programs are targeted and targeting the right pollutant with plans to reduce it. Putting in place monitoring, testing and other elements can help ensure dollars spent achieve results."

“More than 40 million Americans rely on the Great Lakes for their drinking water. In 2014, a harmful algal bloom on Lake Erie shut down Toledo’s water system” said Don Jodrey, Director of Federal Government Relations for the Alliance for the Great Lakes. “Half a million people were unable to drink their water, cook with it, or even brush their teeth. By better targeting farm bill conservation funds at critical watersheds and on critical pollutants like dissolved reactive phosphorus, we can help producers implement practices that keep bloom fueling nutrients on the farm and out of the Great Lakes. Without increasing spending, the Healthy Farms Watersheds Act pilot program focuses conservation attention where it is needed most.” 

Healthy Farms Healthy Watersheds Act of 2023 does the following: 

• The Healthy Farms Healthy Watersheds Act of 2023 establishes a pilot program under NRCS’ Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). The pilot strategically focuses existing NRCS conservation programs on minimizing DRP in federally recognized “priority watersheds.” These small, sub-watersheds in critical conservation areas have been identified as areas where DRP reduction has the greatest potential to improve water quality.
  • In the Great Lakes region, priority watersheds have been delineated under the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative in the Lower Fox River, Saginaw River, Maumee River, and Genesee River basins in Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. 
  • Priority watersheds have also been delineated in the states of New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia, and Delaware under the Chesapeake Bay Program. 
• Under the Healthy Farms Healthy Watersheds Action Program established by the Act, NRCS will prepare and implement action plans for priority watersheds. Each plan will maximize DRP reduction in the priority watershed for fiscal years 2025 through 2031 and include localized implementation goals paired with an adaptive management plan to flexibly implement the work. Plans also require a blueprint to enhance outreach to eligible partners and producers. 
• The HFHW Action Program is designed to be implemented using funding already appropriated to carry out EQIP and other existing NRCS conservation programs. 

The legislation is supported by The Environmental Law & Policy Center, The Alliance for the Great Lakes, The Green Bay Metropolitan Sewerage District, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, The Nature Conservancy in Wisconsin, The Nature Conservancy in Ohio. 

A one pager for the Healthy Farms Healthy Watersheds Act of 2023 can be found by clicking here, and full bill text can be found by clicking here. Congresswoman Kaptur’s floor remarks on introduction can be found by clicking here. 

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