In 2006, 19-year-old Jessica Whiston inherited 20 acres of land that her grandparents once farmed in Quincy, Illinois. The land had sat dormant since the 1980s and was overgrown, but Whiston and her husband Bradley worked to turn it into a productive farm. The couple were eventually able to produce 100,000 pounds of vegetables a season.
In July 2015, a powerful storm tore through Quincy, downing massive trees and knocking out power for several counties. Seven and a half inches of rain fell in less than an hour, causing the creek behind the farm to overflow. Six feet of black water, inundated with chemical fertilizers and pesticides and runoff from animal operations nearby, flooded her fields.
“We lost everything,” said Whiston. “We didn’t have enough money to replant and we didn’t have any money to pay our mortgage. I just thought, ‘Well, that was it. We tried really hard and there’s no coming back from this.’”
Severe weather caused by climate change, such as more frequent flooding, was one issue Illinois lawmakers tried to address during this year’s legislative session, which ended May 29.
Among the bills that did not pass is a piece of legislation that sought to restore protections for wetlands stripped last year in a United States Supreme Court decision. In May 2023, federal protections for wetlands were gutted, weakening Clean Water Act protections for millions of acres of wetlands across the U.S.
An Illinois bill, SB 771, or the Wetlands Protection Act, that would have reinstated those protections in the state passed in committee, but failed to make it to the chamber floors of the General Assembly. The bill will be considered again during the veto session this fall.
“We’re definitely disappointed the legislature didn’t act right away,” said Jennifer Walling, executive director for the Illinois Environmental Council. “They need to. This is an election issue, and we could be in even worse shape with a different president.”
Sponsors of the bill said a law is needed for Illinois to fill the gap left by the Supreme Court decision. The reinstatement of regulations would ultimately help reduce flooding in vulnerable communities and improve water quality, proponents said.
One major opponent of the legislation was the Illinois Farm Bureau, which also signed onto the federal lawsuit that eventually reversed wetland protections. Chris Davis, the farm bureau’s director of state legislation, said its opposition stemmed from not enough protections for landowners.
“Illinois Farm Bureau agrees wetlands provide certain benefits and supports reasonable efforts to discourage their conversion,” Davis said in an emailed statement. “However, this should not mean that, in all instances, wetland conversion is unnecessary or that private landowners should solely bear the cost of protecting wetlands.”
Sen. Laura Ellman (D-Naperville), sponsor of the senate Wetlands Protection Bill, said that she’s still committed to working with the farm bureau this summer.
“I still want to engage with the farm bureau, in spite of them never being able to support the bill or probably even be neutral,” she said, “to help make our bill better and to serve their members, our Illinois farmers. They can still help make the bill better.”
House bill sponsor Rep. Anna Moeller (D-Elgin) did not return requests for comment.
For Liz Rupel, lead organizer with the Illinois Stewardship Alliance, the 2024 legislative season was “a mixed bag” when it comes to conservation in agriculture. While some conservation bills passed this legislative session, including increased funding for socially-disadvantaged farmers, more money for cover crop assistance programs, and funding toward planting native wetland and prairie plants, other bills that could have an impact did not pass, she said.
One of the “most devastating setbacks,” she said, is budget cuts for an important agricultural conservation program. The Soil and Water Conservation District’s operating budget was slashed in half. The organization provides technical assistance to farmers who implement conservation practices, like planting cover crops to prevent dust storms or installing or restoring a wetland on their property to prevent flooding.
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