DuPont Pledges $250,000 to Nature Conservancy for Water Quality ...(grant from DuPont will match funds pledg...),Health

"Agriculture is making tremendous strides in protecting the environment," said Dean Oestreich, DuPont vice president and general manager and president of Pioneer Hi-Bred. "Today farmers are using conservation tillage, buffer strips, terraces and other means to hold the soil and nutrients in place. But we know there is more agriculture can do. This pledge looks at ways we can continue to improve nutrient management and water quality in a sustainable manner without impacting farmer productivity and profitability."

In addition to financial support, DuPont and its Pioneer business will be actively involved in the project by providing agriculture expertise and engaging farmers to work in the project.

The Boone River watershed encompasses about 581,110 acres in six central counties in Iowa, which flows into the Des Moines River then into the Mississippi River. Funding from DuPont will begin implementation of a three-phase monitoring plan within the Boone River watershed to help develop the measurable ecological restoration goals at the watershed scale.

The Mackinaw River drains the fourth largest watershed of the Illinois River system with almost 740,000 acres. This watershed contains some of the most productive agricultural land in the United States. Nearly 80 percent of the watershed currently is in highly productive agriculture of corn and soybeans.

As a part of its 2015 Sustainability Goals, DuPont has committed to reducing water consumption by at least 30 percent over the next 10 years at its global sites where the renewable freshwater supply is either scarce or stressed as determined by the United Nations analysis of river basins globally. For all other sites, DuPont will hold water consumption flat on an ab
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