Tiered on-the-ground implementation projects for Gulf of Mexico water quality improvements

Excerpt

Both the Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan for Reducing, Mitigating, and Controlling Hypoxia in the Northern Gulf of Mexico and Improving Water Quality in the Mississippi River Basin (USEPA 2008) and the GOMA Governors' Action Plan II for Healthy and Resilient Coasts (GOMA 2009) call for the development and implementation of nutrient reduction strategies to reduce excess nutrient loads to the Gulf of Mexico. However, it is not just the Gulf of Mexico waters that are impacted by excess nutrients. The US Environmental Protection Agency Wadeable Streams Assessment (USEPA 2006) and the National Lakes Assessment (USEPA 2010) indicated almost one-third of the nation's stream miles and 20% of the lakes contain high total phosphorus (P) and total nitrogen (N) concentrations. Over 6,000 waterbodies in the United States are impaired by nutrients (USEPA 2011). The US Environmental Protection Agency Science Advisory Board has called for a 45% reduction of both N and P loads from the Mississippi River Basin to achieve the goal of a 5,000 km² (1,930 mi²) hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico (USEPA 2007). The approach taken by several states, including Mississippi, involves reduction of excess nutrients to attain the designated uses of state waterbodies for cumulative benefits…