TITLE I—SEDIMENT AND NUTRIENT MONITORING NETWORK 
Sec. 101. Establishment of monitoring network. 
Sec. 102. Data collection and storage responsibilities. 
Sec. 103. Relationship to existing sediment and nutrient monitoring and assess-
ment. 
Sec. 104. Collaboration with other public and private monitoring efforts. 
Sec. 105. Reporting requirements. 
Sec. 106. National research council assessment. 
TITLE II—COMPUTER MODELING AND RESEARCH 
Sec. 201. Computer modeling and research of sediment and nutrient sources. 
Sec. 202. Communication plan to distribute information. 
Sec. 203. Reporting requirements. 
TITLE III—AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS AND RELATED 
MATTERS 
Sec. 301. Authorization of appropriations. 
Sec. 302. Cost-sharing requirements. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) The terms ‘‘Upper Mississippi River Basin’’ 
and ‘‘Basin’’ mean the watershed portion of the 
Upper Mississippi River and Illinois River basins, 
from Cairo, Illinois, to the headwaters of the Mis-
sissippi River, in the States of Minnesota, Wis-
consin, Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri. The designation 
includes the Kaskaskia watershed along the Illinois 
River and the Meramec watershed along the Mis-
souri River. 
(2) The terms ‘‘Upper Mississippi River Stew-
ardship Initiative’’ and ‘‘Initiative’’ mean the activi-
ties authorized or required by this Act to monitor 
nutrients and sediment in the Upper Mississippi 
River Basin. 
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SEC. 3. RELIANCE ON SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE. 
Federal investments in the Upper Mississippi River 
Basin shall be guided by accepted and documented sci-
entific methods, including the use of documented protocols 
for data collection and data analysis, and peer review of 
data, results, and findings, and shall take into account the 
results of studies using accepted and documented scientific 
methods to identify and quantify the sources, transport, 
and fate of nutrients and sediment and to quantify the 
effect of various treatment methods or conservation meas-
ures on nutrient and sediment management. 
TITLE I—SEDIMENT AND NUTRI-
ENT MONITORING NETWORK 
SEC. 101. ESTABLISHMENT OF MONITORING NETWORK. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—As part of the Upper Mis-
sissippi River Stewardship Initiative, the Secretary of the 
Interior shall establish a sediment and nutrient moni-
toring network for the Upper Mississippi River Basin for 
the purposes of— 
(1) identifying and quantifying significant 
sources of sediment and nutrients in the Upper Mis-
sissippi River Basin; 
(2) quantifying the processes affecting mobiliza-
tion, transport, and fate of those sediments and nu-
trients on land and in water; 
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(3) quantifying the transport of those sediments 
and nutrients to and through the Upper Mississippi 
River Basin; 
(4) quantifying changes to sediment and nutri-
ent concentrations and loads over time; and 
(5) coordinating with other Federal, State, trib-
al, and local agencies on the acquisition of data to 
be used in computer modeling of the Basin, pursu-
ant to section 201. 
(b) ROLE OF UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SUR-
VEY.—The Secretary of the Interior shall carry out this 
title acting through the office of the Director of the United 
States Geological Survey. 
SEC. 102. DATA COLLECTION AND STORAGE RESPONSIBIL-
ITIES. 
(a) GUIDELINES FOR DATA COLLECTION AND STOR-
AGE.—The Secretary of the Interior shall establish guide-
lines for the effective design of data collection activities 
regarding sediment and nutrient monitoring, for the use 
of suitable and consistent methods for data collection, and 
for consistent reporting, data storage, and archiving prac-
tices. 
(b) RELEASE OF DATA.—Data resulting from sedi-
ment and nutrient monitoring and the compilation of an-
cillary information in the Upper Mississippi River Basin 
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shall be released to the public using generic station identi-
fiers and hydrologic unit codes. In the case of a monitoring 
station located on private lands, information regarding the 
location of the station shall not be disseminated without 
the landowner’s permission. 
SEC. 103. RELATIONSHIP TO EXISTING SEDIMENT AND NU-
TRIENT MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT. 
(a) INVENTORY.—To the maximum extent prac-
ticable, the Secretary of the Interior shall inventory the 
sediment and nutrient monitoring efforts in existence as 
of the date of the enactment of this Act of Federal, State, 
tribal, local, and nongovernmental entities for the purpose 
of creating a baseline understanding of overlap, data gaps 
and redundancies. 
(b) INTEGRATION.—On the basis of the inventory, 
the Secretary of the Interior shall integrate the existing 
sediment and nutrient monitoring efforts, to the maximum 
extent practicable, into the sediment and nutrient moni-
toring network required by section 101. 
(c) CONSULTATION AND USE OF EXISTING DATA.— 
In carrying out this section, the Secretary of the Interior 
shall make maximum use of data in existence as of the 
date of the enactment of this Act and of ongoing programs 
and efforts of Federal, State, tribal, local, and nongovern-
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mental entities in developing the sediment and nutrient 
monitoring network required by section 101. 
(d) COORDINATION WITH LONG-TERM ESTUARY AS-
SESSMENT PROJECT.—The Secretary of the Interior shall 
carry out this section in coordination with the long-term 
estuary assessment project authorized by section 902 of 
the Estuaries and Clean Waters Act of 2000 (Public Law 
106–457; 33 U.S.C. 2901 note). 
SEC. 104. COLLABORATION WITH OTHER PUBLIC AND PRI-
VATE MONITORING EFFORTS. 
To establish the sediment and nutrient monitoring 
network, the Secretary of the Interior shall collaborate, 
to the maximum extent practicable, with other Federal, 
State, tribal, local and private sediment and nutrient mon-
itoring and assessment programs that meet guidelines pre-
scribed under section 102(a), as determined by the Sec-
retary. 
SEC. 105. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 
The Secretary of the Interior shall report to Congress 
not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment 
of this Act on the development of the sediment and nutri-
ent monitoring network. 
SEC. 106. NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL ASSESSMENT. 
The National Research Council of the National Acad-
emy of Sciences shall conduct a comprehensive water re-
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sources assessment of the Upper Mississippi River Basin 
within 3 years after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
TITLE II—COMPUTER MODELING 
AND RESEARCH 
SEC. 201. COMPUTER MODELING AND RESEARCH OF SEDI-
MENT AND NUTRIENT SOURCES. 
(a) MODELING PROGRAM REQUIRED.—As part of the 
Upper Mississippi River Stewardship Initiative, the Direc-
tor of the United States Geological Survey shall develop 
and implement a plan to improve existing water-quality 
models to identify and quantify significant sources of sedi-
ment and nutrients in the Upper Mississippi River Basin 
at the subwatershed (12-digit Hydrologic Unit Code) 
scale. 
(b) ROLE.—Computer modeling shall be used to iden-
tify subwatersheds which are significant sources of sedi-
ment and nutrients and shall be made available for the 
purposes of targeting public and private sediment and nu-
trient management efforts. 
(c) COMPONENTS.—Sediment and nutrient models 
for the Upper Mississippi River Basin shall— 
(1) relate nutrient sources to landscape, land 
use, and land management practices; 
(2) relate sediment sources to landscape, land 
use, and land management practices; and 
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(3) quantify river channel nutrient and sedi-
ment transport and transformation processes. 
(d) COLLECTION
OF ANCILLARY INFORMATION.— 
Ancillary information shall be collected, by remote sensing 
or other appropriate means, in a GIS format to support 
modeling and management use of modeling results, includ-
ing the following: 
(1) Land use data. 
(2) Soils data. 
(3) Elevation data. 
(4) Hydrologic modifications. 
(5) Information on sediment and nutrient man-
agement actions including conservation tillage prac-
tices and other Best Management Practices. 
(6) Estimates of loads of nutrients from point 
sources and key nonpoint sources, including com-
mercial fertilizer, applications of manure, geologic 
sources, and atmospheric deposition. 
SEC. 202. COMMUNICATION PLAN TO DISTRIBUTE INFOR-
MATION. 
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Director of the United States Geo-
logical Survey shall establish a communication plan that 
includes use of the Internet to provide information includ-
ing the following: 
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(1) Accomplishments of public and private pro-
grams designed to manage sediment and nutrients 
in the Upper Mississippi River Basin. 
(2) Seasonal and annual concentrations and 
loads of sediment and nutrients in the Upper Mis-
sissippi River and its tributaries. 
SEC. 203. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 
(a) MONITORING
ACTIVITIES.—Commencing one 
year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Direc-
tor of the United States Geological Survey shall provide 
to Congress and make available to the public an annual 
report that includes data and information on concentra-
tions and loads of nutrients and sediment derived from 
monitoring activities conducted in the Upper Mississippi 
River Basin. 
(b) MODELING ACTIVITIES.—Every five years, the 
Director of the United States Geological Survey shall pro-
vide to Congress and make available to the public a 
progress report assessing changes in nutrient and sedi-
ment concentrations and loads in relation to such factors 
as climate variability and changes in land and water man-
agement practices. 
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TITLE III—AUTHORIZATION OF 
APPROPRIATIONS 
AND 
RE-
LATED MATTERS 
SEC. 301. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
(a) UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY ACTIVI-
TIES.—There is authorized to be appropriated to the 
United States Geological Survey $6,250,000 each fiscal 
year to carry out this Act (other than section 106). 
(b) WATER RESOURCE AND WATER QUALITY MAN-
AGEMENT ASSESSMENT.—There is authorized to be ap-
propriated $650,000 to allow the National Research Coun-
cil to perform the assessment required by section 106. 
SEC. 302. COST-SHARING REQUIREMENTS. 
Funds made available for the United States Geologi-
cal Survey Cooperative Water Program under section 
301(a) shall be subject to the same cost-sharing require-
ments as specified in the last proviso under the heading 
‘‘UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY—SURVEYS, IN-
VESTIGATIONS, AND RESEARCH’’ of the Department of the 
Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropria-
tions Act, 2006 (Public Law 109–54; 119 Stat. 510; 43 
U.S.C. 50). 
Æ 
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