for Reducing, Mitigating, and Controlling Hypoxia
                          in the Northern Gulf of Mexico
Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force

                                            January 2001

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Photo  Credits
      Cover:   Louisiana Office of Tourism
   Contents:   Louisiana Office of Tourism
      Page 2:   Nancy Rabalais, Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium
      Page 6:   Nancy Rabalais, Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium
      Page 8:   Louisiana Office of Tourism (barge)
   Page 9-10:   Louisiana Office of Tourism (all)
    Page  12:   U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service
               John H. McShane, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (crane)
    Page  16:   U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service
    Page  18:   Keith Weller, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service
    Page 20:   U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Gulf of Mexico Program Office
    Page 22:   Louisiana Office of Tourism
  Page 23-24:   Ken Hammond, U.S. Department of Agriculture (catfish fisherman)
               Garry D. McMchael, U.S. Department of Agriculture (rice harvesting)
               U.S. Department of Agriculture  (wheat)
    Page 26:   Louisiana Office of Tourism

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      for Reducing, Mitigating, and Controlling Hypoxia
                          in the Northern Gulf of Mexico
Purpose	1
Background on Hypoxia in the Northern Gulf of Mexico	5
Long-Term Goals	9
Implementation Actions	 11
Framework and Approach for Reducing Hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico	 15
Adaptive Management: Action, Monitoring, and Research	 19
Indicators of Implementation and Results	23
Task Force Members	29
Acknowledgements	30
Additional Information	31
Resources and References ..                                         .31
                                         Contents

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his Action Plan describes a national strategy to
reduce the frequency, duration, size and degree of
oxygen depletion of the hypoxic zone of the northern
Gulf of Mexico (the Gulf). The Plan is the result of
several years of study and discussion by the members
of the Mississippi River I Gulf of Mexico Watershed
Nutrient Task Force (the Task Force) and many
concerned officials and citizens ivbo participated in
their deliberations. This Plan is submitted in
accordance with The Harmful Algal Bloom and
Hypoxia Research and Control Act of 1998,
Title VI of Public Law  105-383, section 604(b),
enacted on November 13, 1998.

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Many bottom-dwelling organisms,
fiich as this crab found off the coast of I.ouisiami,
   not tolerate low-oxygen conditions.

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Action Plan for Reducing, Mitigating, and Controlling Hypoxia in the Northern Gulf of Mexico
                                 his Action Plan is informed by the findings of the Committee
                                 on Environment and Natural Resources (CENR) Integrated
                         Assessment of Hypoxia in the Northern Gulf of Mexico along with
                         many comments submitted about it and the six topic reports on which
                         it is based. In addition, the Task Force considered several other signi-
                         ficant reports, including Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia: Land and Sea
                         Interactions (Downing et al., 1999), The Role of the Mississippi River
                         in Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia (Carey et  al., 1999, for the Fertilizer
                         Institute), and Clean Coastal Waters: Understanding and Reducing
                         the Effects of Nutrient Pollution (National Research Council, 2000).
                         The Task Force members drew on their  many years of experience in
                         agricultural and environmental policy in  formulating this Action Plan.
                         The Task Force also listened carefully  to dozens of statements by
                                 members of the public during its seven public meetings and
                                 in written comments.
    This plan describes an
        adaptive approach,
                   based on
           implementation,
           monitoring, and
        research to address
         known problems,
           clarify scientific
         uncertainties, and
               evaluate the
    effectiveness of efforts
        to reduce hypoxia.
Improved coordination and, in most cases, expansion of the
excellent private and government-supported efforts to
reduce losses of nutrients are central to the success of this
strategy. Throughout the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Basin
much work is under way to increase the efficiency of farming
practices and restore wetlands and riparian buffers. In
addition, industry and local governments are beginning to
undertake additional efforts to reduce nutrient loadings from
point sources and urban runoff. Also, efforts under way in
the Mississippi River Basin to identify and implement
nonstructural alternatives to flood control and to address
coastal land loss in Louisiana will contribute to reducing the
impact of nutrient loads in the Mississippi River on the
northern Gulf.  Implementation, and expansion, of those

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                                                                              Purpose
                                                Mississippi River  Basin
                                                                                f\
efforts will continue to
deliver improvements
to  water  quality
throughout the basin
and in the Gulf.

The  work of the Task
Force has provided a basin-
wide context for the continued
pursuit of both  incentive-based,
voluntary efforts for nonpoint sources
and existing regulatory controls for point
sources. Furthermore, research and monitoring
that support the proposed remedies and goals in this
plan, as well as resolution of uncertainties identified in the CENR
Integrated Assessment and elsewhere, are identified as priorities for
future action.

The Action Plan proposes an implementation approach to carry out
an initial set of 11 priority actions and, subsequently, make adjustments
to that initial approach as we evaluate results. This plan describes an
adaptive approach, based on implementation, monitoring, and research,
to address known problems, clarify scientific uncertainties, and evaluate
the effectiveness of efforts to reduce  hypoxia. Because of the
importance of enhancing these efforts by increasing support for
necessary incentives, monitoring, and research, this plan also identifies
the need for additional resources.
GULF OF MEXICO


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  acKgrouna on nypoxia
                 in the
Northern Gulf of Mexico

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Action Plan for Reducing, Mitigating, and Controlling Hypoxia in the Northern Gulf of Mexico
    About 90% of
   the nitrate load
        to the  Gulf
       comes from
          nonpoint
           sources.
               Njtrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, are essential tor
               healthy marine and freshwater environments. However, an
      overabundance can trigger excessive algal growth (or eutrophication),
      which can result in several possible ecosystem  responses. In the
      nearshore Gulf, excessive algal growth, driven primarily by excess
      nitrogen, results in a decrease in dissolved oxygen in the bottom water,
      and a corresponding loss of aquatic (water column and benthic) habitat.
      Mobile organisms leave the hypoxic zone and those that cannot leave
      die or are weakened depending on how low the oxygen level becomes
      and for how long. In the Gulf, fish, shrimp, crabs, zooplankton, and
      other important  fish prey are significantly less abundant in bottom
      waters in areas that experience hypoxia.

      Additionally, water quality throughout the Mississippi and Atchafalaya
      Rivers Basin (the Basin) has been degraded by excess nutrients. Most
      States in the Basin have significant river miles impaired by high nutrient
      concentrations, primarily phosphorus, meaning that they are not fully
      supporting aquatic life uses. In some areas groundwater supplies are
      threatened by excess nitrate, which can be a human health hazard.

      A significant  portion of the nutrients entering the Gulf from the
      Mississippi River come from human activities: discharges from sewage
      treatment and industrial wastewater treatment plants and stormwater
      runoff from city streets and farms. Nutrients from automobile exhaust
Comparative Size of Hypoxia Area (1985-2000)
    20.000.

        1985  I9U  1987  1988  1989   1990   1991   1992   1993   1994   I99S   1996   1997   1998   1999  2000  S-v«arrunning    20IS
                                                                          average     goal for
                                                                         (1996-2000)   5-vearrunning
                                                                                  average
                                                              Source Njoc> Rat-


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and fossil fuel power plants also enter the waterways and the Gulf!
through air deposition to the vast land area drained by the Mississippi
River and its tributaries. About  90% of the nitrate load to the Gulf
comes from nonpoint sources. About 56% of the nitrate load enters
the Mississippi River above the Ohio River. The Ohio River Basin
adds 34°o. High nitrogen loads come from basins receiving wastewater
discharges and draining agricultural lands in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana,
southern Minnesota, and Ohio.

The  primary approaches to reduce hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico
appear to be to 1) reduce nitrogen loads from watersheds to streams
and rivers in the Basin and 2) restore and enhance denitrification and
nitrogen retention  within the  Basin and on  the coastal plain  of
Louisiana. Annual load estimates based on water-quality measurement:
and streamflow records indicate that a 40% reduction in total nitroge
flux to the Gulf is necessary to return to average loads comparable to1
those during  1955-1970. Model simulations suggest that, short o
the 40% reduction necessary to return to levels in the mid-century,
nutrient load reductions  of about 20%-30%  would result  in a
15%-50% increase in bottom water dissolved oxygen concentrations.
Because any oxygen increase above the 2 mg/1  threshold will have a
significant  positive effect on marine life, even small reductions in
nitrogen loads are desirable.

While the primary tocus of this strategy is on reducing nitrogen loads
to the northern Gulf, many of the actions proposed through this plan
will also achieve basinwide improvements in surface-water quality by
reducing phosphorus as well. Likewise, actions  taken to address local
water quality problems in the basin will frequently also contribute to
reductions  in nitrogen loadings to the Gulf.


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he goals of this strategy are threefold and based
upon five principles:

  1.  Encourage actions that are voluntary,
      practical, and cost-effective;

   I.  Utilize existing programs, including existing
      State and Federal regulatory mechanisms;

  3.  Follow adaptive management;

  4.  Identify additional funding needs and sources
      during the annual Agency budget process; and,

  5.  Provide measurable outcomes as outlined
      beloiv in the three goals and strategies.

Coastal Goal: By the year 2015, subject to the availability of
additional resources, reduce the 5-year running average areal extent
of the Gulf of Mexico  hypoxic /one to less than 5,000 square
kilometers through implementation of specific, practical, and cost-
effective voluntary actions by all States, Tribes, and all categories of
sources and removals within the Mississippi.'Atchafalaya River Basin
to reduce the annual discharge of nitrogen into the Gulf.

\V ithin Basin Goal: To restore and protect the waters of the 31
States and Tribal lands within the Mississippi Atchafalaya River Basin
through implementation of nutrient and sediment reduction actions
to protect public health and aquatic life as well as  reduce negative
impacts of \\ ater pollution on the Gulf of Mexico.

Quality of Life Goal: To improve the communities and economic
conditions  across the  Mississippi Atchafalaya  River  Basin, in
particular the agriculture, fisheries, and recreation sectors, through
improved public and private land  management and a cooperative,
incentive based approach.

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Long-Term Goals

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he guiding principle of this plan is that when
establishing priorities for watershed restoration,
States, Tribes, and Federal agencies within the
Mississippi and Atchafalaya River Basin will
consider the potential for benefits to the Gulf of
Mexico, direct current and increased resources to
cost-effective, practical actions that will reduce
discharges and runoff of nutrients in the Mississippi
and Atchafalaya River Basin, and give priority to
watersheds with the highest yields (loads per unit
area) of nitrogen to the Gulf as well as  being likely
to have local benefits.
Using available data, tools, and local partnerships,
the Task Force will serve as the national forum to
encourage and coordinate implementation, including
assessments, research, monitoring, and modeling,
and promote adaptive management, including
evaluation of progress, updates of goals and
strategies, and solicitation of continued financial
support, to achieve the goals described on page 9.
The Action Plan assumes continuation of the
Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed
Nutrient Task Force with invitations for
participation by additional States and Tribes in the
Basin. The Plan also assumes that Federal, State,
and Tribal governments will pursue new legislative
authorities needed to implement proposed actions
and will identify and propose appropriations needed
to accomplish tasks not presently funded.

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Action Plan for Reducing, Mitigating, and Controlling Hypoxia in the Northern Gulf of Mexico
The following short-term actions and time frames are proposed to achieve
the long-term goals outlined above:
   I
      By December 2000, the Task Force, with
      input from the States and Tribes within the
      Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin, will
      develop and submit to the appropriate Fed-
      eral Agencies an integrated budget proposal
      for additional  funds for voluntary technical
      and financial assistance, education, environ-
      mental enhancement, research, and moni-
      toring programs to support the actions
      oudined in the Action Plan;
                                  By Spring 2002, Coastal States, Tribes,
                                  and relevant Federal agencies will greatly
                                  expand the long-term monitoring program
                                  for the hypoxic zone, including greater
                                  temporal and spatial data collection, mea-
                                  surements of macro-nutrient and micro-
                                  nutrient concentrations and hypoxiaas well
                                  as measures of the biochemical processes
                                  that regulate the inputs, fate, and distri-
                                  bution of nutrients and organic material;
      By Summer 200 /, States and Tribes in the
      Basin, in consultation with the Task Force,
      will establish  sub-basin committees to
      coordinate implementation of the Action
      Plan by major sub-basins, including coord-
      ination among  smaller watersheds, Tribes,
      and States in each of those sub-basins;
      By Fall 2001, the Task Force will develop
      an integrated Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia Research
      Strategy to  coordinate  and  promote
      necessary research and modeling efforts to
      reduce uncertainties regarding the sources,
      effects (including  economic effects in the
      Gulf as well as the basin), and geochemical
      processes for hypoxia in the Gulf;
                                   By Spring 2002, States, Tribes, and
                                   Federal agencies within the Mississippi and
                                   Atchafalaya River  Basin will expand the
                                   existing monitoring efforts within the Basin
                                   to  provide both  a coarse resolution
                                   assessment of the nutrient contribution of
                                   various sub-basins and a high resolution
                                   modeling technique in these smaller
                                   watersheds  to  identify additional
                                   management actions to help mitigate
                                   nitrogen losses to  the Gulf, and nutrient
                                   loadings to local waters, based on the interim
                                   guidance established by the National Water
                                   Quality Monitoring Council;
                                   By Fall 2002, States, Tribes, and Federal
                                   agencies within  the Mississippi and
                                   Atchafalaya River Basin, using available data
                                   and tools, local partnerships, and coordi-
                       > Budget proposal
                         (December)
                 • Establish sub-basin committees
                     > Research strategy       • Expand monitoring program in Gulf

                                      • Expand monitoring program in Basin
13
Winter 2000
Summer 2001
Fall 2001
Spring 2002

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                                                                                         Implementation Actions
                    nation through  sub-basin committees,
                    described in action #2, will develop strate-
                    gies for nutrient reduction. These strategies
                    will include setting reduction targets for
                    nitrogen losses to surface waters, estab-
                    lishing a baseline of existing efforts for nutri-
                    ent management, identifying opportunities
                    to  restore floodplain wetlands  (including
                    restoration of river inflows) along and adja-
                    cent to the Mississippi River, detailing needs
                    for additional assistance to meet their goals,
                    and promoting additional funding;
                   By December 2002, the U.S. Army Corps
                   of Engineers (COE), in cooperation with
                   States, Tribes, and other Federal agencies,
                   will, if authorized by the Congress and
                   funded in  the Fall of 2001, complete a
                   reconnaissance-level  study of potential
                   nutrient reduction actions that could be
                   achieved by modifying COE projects or
                   project operations. Prior to completion
                   of the reconnaissance study, the COE will
                   incorporate nitrogen reduction consider-
                   ations, not requiring major modification of
                   significant new costs, into all project
                   implementation actions;
               8
                   By January 2003,  or on a time frame
                   established by the sub-basin committees,
                   Clean Water Act permitting authorities
                   within the Mississippi and Atchafalaya River
                   Basin will identify point source dischargers
                   with significant discharges of nutrients and
                   undertake steps to reduce those loadings,
                   consistent with action #6;
                                                   By Spring 2003, or on a time frame es-
                                                   tablished by the sub-basin committees,
                                                   States and Tribes within the Mississippi and
                                                   Atchafalaya River Basin, with support from
                                                   Federal agencies, will increase assistance to
                                                   landowners for voluntary actions to restore,
                                                   enhance, or create wetlands and vegetative
                                                   or forested buffers along rivers and streams
                                                   within priority watersheds consistent with
                                                   action #6;
                                                                      10
                                                   By Spring 2003, or on a time frame es-
                                                   tablished by the sub-basin committees,
                                                   States and Tribes within the Mississippi and
                                                   Atchafalaya River Basin, with support from
                                                   Federal agencies, will  increase assistance
                                                   to agricultural producers, other landown-
                                                   ers,  and businesses  for the voluntary
                                                   implementation of best management prac-
                                                   tices (BMPs), which are effective in ad-
                                                   dressing loss of nitrogen to waterbodies,
                                                   consistent with action #6; and
                                              II
                                                   By December 2005, and every five years
                                                   thereafter, the Task Force will assess the
                                                   nutrient load reductions achieved and the
                                                   response of the hypoxic zone, water
                                                   quality throughout  the  Basin,  and
                                                   economic and social effects. Based on this
                                                   assessment, the Task Force will determine
                                                   appropriate  actions  to  continue  to
                                                   implement this strategy or, if  necessary,
                                                   revise the strategy.
• Strategies for nutrient reduction
  • U.5. COE completes
reconnaissance study (December)
  • Point source actions
     (January, 2003)
Wetland and buffer actions begin

     • BMPs begin
Revisit and reevaluate strategy
     (December)
       Fall 2002
     Winter 2002
     Spring 2003
    Winter 2005
14

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                    here are no simple solutions that will reduce hypoxia
                    in the Gulf. An optimal approach would take
                    advantage of the full range of possible actions to
                    reduce nutrient loads and increase nitrogen retention
                    and denitrification. This should proceed within a
                    framework that encourages adaptive management
                    and accomplishes this in a cost-effective manner.
                    While reduction of nitrogen is the principal focus of
                    this framework, many of the actions needed to
                    reduce nitrogen loads will complement and enhance
                    existing efforts to restore water quality throughout
                    the basin. With additional assistance, this national
                    effort to reduce Gulf hypoxia ivill be implemented
                    within the existing array of State and Federal laws,
                    programs, and private initiatives.
15

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rti

        Framework and
          Approach for
       Reducing Hypoxia
    in the Gulf of Mexico
                         16

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Action Plan for Reducing, Mitigating, and Controlling Hypoxia in the Northern Gulf of Mexico
                                             T.
                                 he tools provided by the Clean Water Act, and the programs
                                 established under the last several Farm Bills, the Coastal
                         Wetlands  Planning, Protection, and Restoration Act, and Water
                         Resources Development Acts, are critical to implementing this plan.
                         Because nutrient overenrichment  is a widespread problem, these
                         existing national programs and initiatives incorporate specific elements
                         intended to reduce nutrient loadings to surface waters and to foster
                         restoration of natural habitats capable of removing nutrients from
                         waters. They include the following:

                             •   encouraging nonpoint source pollutant reductions under the
                                Clean Water Act, the Farm Bill, Coastal Zone Amendments
                                and Reauthorization Act, and State cost-sharing programs;

                             •   implementation of the Environmental Quality Incentives
                                Program (EQIP) to assist grain and livestock producers in
                                reducing excessive nutrients' movement to water resources;

                             •   implementation of the Conservation Reserve Program,
                                Wetlands Reserve Program, Corps of Engineers
                                Environmental Restoration  Programs, and Agricultural
                                Extension Education Programs to promote restoration and
                                enhancement of natural systems for nitrogen retention and
                                denitrification;

                             •   implementation of nutrient  management through State and
                                Tribal efforts to implement watershed-based approaches to
                                water quality management,  including monitoring and
                                assessing waters, adoption of water quality standards, which
                                include nutrient criteria, developing total maximum daily
17

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                        Framework and Approach for Reducing Hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico
      loads (TMDLs), and implementing point source
      controls for nutrients through the National Pollutant
      Discharge Elimination System (NPDES);

   •  promoting public-private partnerships to restore
      buffers;

   •  promoting cost-effective flood control alternatives
      and implementing projects under the Coastal
      Wetlands Planning, Protection, and Restoration Act
      that result in nitrogen removal from the Mississippi
      and Atchafalaya Rivers;

   •  supporting actions by non-water quality State and Tribal
      agencies, private landowners, and agricultural and other
      industries to reduce nitrogen loadings to the basin; and

   •  providing voluntary incentives for nitrogen reductions from
      point and nonpoint sources.

This plan recognizes and builds upon these requirements,  programs,
and initiatives. A successful strategy to restore water quality in the
Gulf of Mexico will almost certainly benefit water quality throughout
the Mississippi and Atchafalaya River Basin.
                                                                                   18

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aptive nanageme
 Action, Monitoring,
      and Research

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Action Plan for Reducing, Mitigating, and Controlling Hypoxia in the Northern Gulf of Mexico
                        T
          The best current
     science indicates that
   sub-basin strategies, in
     the aggregate, should
   be aimed at achieving a
     30% reduction (from
     the average discharge
    in the 1980-1996 time
         frame) in nitrogen
    discharges to the Gulf
      (on a 5-year running
             average) to be
        consistent with the
          Coastal Goal for
         reducing the areal
          extent ofhypoxia
                in the Gulf.
I        his adaptive approach should consist of the following
        components:

Action: implementing the actions identified in this plan, including
developing sub-basin strategies based on state strategies, initiating
additional monitoring and research, and pursuing a national
commitment to supporting actions to reduce and mitigate the impacts
of hypoxia in the Gulf. The best current science indicates that sub-
          basin  strategies,  in the  aggregate, should be aimed at
          achieving a 30% reduction (from the average discharge in
          the 1980-1996 time frame) in nitrogen discharges to the
          Gulf (on a 5-year running average) to be consistent with
          the Coastal Goal for reducing the areal extent of hypoxia
          in the Gulf;
         Education: increasing the stakeholder and national
         awareness of the causes and effects of hypoxia, the actions
         under way or planned to reduce those effects, and the role
         of State, local, and Tribal governments as well as individual
         landowners, citizens, and businesses to contribute to the
         solution. Make this information available through electronic
         media and workshops sharing the latest news on successful
         approaches and reductions;

         Monitoring:  increasing the scale and frequency of
         monitoring of both the extent of the hypoxic zone and the
         sources of nutrients and conditions of waters throughout
         the basin;
21

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                                    Adaptive M;
Research and Modeling:
reducing the uncertainties
in the effects of the hyp-
oxic zone, the sources,
contributing factors and
the biochemical processes
that  underlie the causes
and effects of the hypoxic
zone, and the social and
economic impacts of vari-
ous control strategies; and

Evaluation and Adaptation: reviewing periodically the results of moni-
toring and research to assess changing conditions,  evaluate per-
formance of specific management actions, and revise this plan, through
the Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force.

This plan seeks to take  maximum advantage  of water quality
improvement efforts under way or planned nationally and proposes a
mechanism to better focus those efforts. Water resources within the
Basin—rivers, wetlands, lakes, estuaries, and streams—and the (nilt
of Mexico are expected to benefit from these efforts. Many specific
water quality improvement actions can be undertaken by industries,
municipalities, farmers, ranchers, and other citizens. These actions can
raise property values, conserve soil, increase productivity, reduce input
costs, and provide habitat for game and fish and revenue from hunting,
fishing, and other recreation. Because of the economic benefits of these
measures to the landowners and  other stakeholders who undertake
them, education and voluntary, incentive-based approaches can be
effective in promoting such actions.
                                                                                    22

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ffective implementation of an action plan to reduce
the size and effect of the hypoxic zone in the
Northern Gulf of Mexico and to improve water
quality within the Mississippi and Atchafalaya River
Basin will require a monitoring strategy that
measures progress toward achieving both long-term
and short-term goals. Feedback from such a
monitoring strategy will facilitate an adaptive
management framework that enables continual
improvement of the action plan with increasing
knowledge of the factors and processes controlling
nutrient losses,  their effects on water quality, and
the effectiveness of management actions.

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mplementation
   and Results

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Action Plan for Reducing, Mitigating, and Controlling Hypoxia in the Northern Gulf of Mexico
         The strategy must
      include periodic data
  analysis, interpretation,
       and reporting to all
      stakeholders that are
      involved with design
    and implementation of
              management,
          remediation, and
       restoration actions.
         Amultiscale, multidisciplinary, and long-term monitoring
         strategy is one of the key implementation actions described
on pages 13 and 14. The strategy must include measurement of
indicators of progress in implementing management or programmatic
actions, indicators of environmental response of water quality in the
Mississippi and Atchafalaya River Basin and hypoxia in the Gulf of
Mexico, and indicators of economic conditions that can be used to
gauge the significance and implications of management actions. It must
quantify environmental trends and differentiate among trends caused
by changes in climate, streamflow, nutrient and landscape management
measures, Gulf hydrodynamics, and other concurrent factors. Variables
should be measured to quantify the physical, chemical, and biological
processes that affect the cause-and-effect relationships between nutrient
inputs and resulting environmental quality. The strategy must include
periodic data analysis, interpretation, and reporting to all stakeholders
that are involved with design and implementation of management,
remediation, and restoration actions. Analysis and interpretation must
         use models that integrate knowledge  across scales and
         hydrologic compartments from the smallest watershed to
         the Mississippi and Atchafalaya River Basin and the Gulf of
         Mexico.
        A coordinated and supporting research strategy is integral
        to maintenance of an effective monitoring strategy and an
        adaptive management framework for action. Research efforts
        can be targeted on improving monitoring designs, improving
        the interpretation of monitoring output, and increasing the
        predictive power of models and other assessment tools used
        to design and evaluate management actions.
25

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                                                   India


A baseline condition should be established for all indicators and the
monitoring strategy in general to quantify the improvements associated
with management action. The expected delay  in the response of
indicators to management  actions  indicates  that  additional
improvements in water quality will continue to be realized from actions,
that have already been implemented, as well as from future management
actions. The CENR science assessment has provided large-scale (Basin
and Gulf scale) estimates of baseline conditions in the Mississippi and
Atchafalaya River Basin (generally tor the period  1980-1996) and the
Gulf of Mexico (generally for the period 19S5-2000). Additional
information available from other sources at more local scales should
be included in these definitions of baseline conditions. In addition,
more recent information may be available to improve these baseline
definitions. The 1997 Hypoxia Response Interagency Activity Report
provides an initial listing of Federal programs that could be evaluated
for participation through programmatic indicators. Baseline conditions
will need to be defined for these indicators.


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Action Plan for Reducing, Mitigating, and Controlling Hypoxia in the Northern Gulf of Mexico


            Indicators that have been considered for the monitoring strategy
            are listed below. A more detailed and comprehensive evaluation
            of indicators will be conducted as part of preparing sub-basin
            strategies under Implementation Action #6.


             Environmental Indicators
              O  Dissolved ox/gen concentrations within the current hypoxic zone increase
                 (above 2 mg/l), resulting in a reduction in the duration and spatial extent of the
                 hypoxic zone. Data should provide resolution of the spatial extent and
                 duration of the hypoxic zone.

              O  Seasonal/annual average nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations and mass
                 loadings are reduced at key river and tributary stations. Measurement stations
                 should represent watershed scales ranging from the local scales at which
                 specific management actions are tested to the scale of the Mississippi and
                 Atchafalaya River Basin as it discharges to the Gulf.

              O  Bottom-dwelling communities in the current hypoxic zone in the northern
                 Gulf return to a diversity and abundance characteristic of non-hypoxic
                 conditions, and normal migratory patterns of key species are restored.
              Economic Indicators

              O  Population

              O  Gross Domestic Product

              O  Industrial Output

              O  Net Farm Income

              O  Land Area in Crop Production

              O  Agricultural Output in numbers of animals and bushels of commodity crop

              O  Fisheries
27

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                                                  Indicators of Implementation and Results
Programmatic Indicators
The following indicators will be tracked at various scales. In general, nonpoint
sources will be tracked at 8-digit Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC) basins and point
sources by discharge location or 8-digit HUC basin:
O Vegetative or forested buffers established along rivers and streams of priority
   watersheds.
O  Producer/acres enrolled in CRP and WRR
O Acres in conservation tillage.

O Producers implementing nutrient management plans and the number of acres
   affected.
O  States with fully approved Nonpoint Pollution Control Programs.
O  Percent population served by secondary treatment.

O  Percent population served by Advanced Waste Treatment/Biological Nutrient
    Removal.
O  Reduction in discharges of nitrogen and phosphorus for municipalities.
O  Number of municipal stormwater programs approved.
O  Estimated/monitored reductions in nitrogen and phosphorus (or surrogate
    indicators) for industrial point sources.
O  Number of 303(d) water segments listed because of nutrient impairment.
O  Number and percent of wetland acres restored, enhanced, or created.
O Completion of TMDLs for nutrient-impaired waters.
O  Number of States and Tribes within the Mississippi and Atchafalaya River Basin
    achieving Enhanced Benefits status under the 319 Program.
O  Number of projects and amount of dollars directed through EQIP, CRR WRR
    and section 319 in accordance with sub-basin strategies.
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Action Plan for Reducing, Mitigating, and Controlling Hypoxia in the Northern Gulf of Mexico
       Mississippi Ka¥©r/©yDf ©f [Mlesde© Watershed MytirDeoiit Task Fore©

       Members
       Brigadier General Edwin J. Arnold, Jr., U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mississippi Valley Division
       Rosina Bierbaum, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
       Charles Chisolm, Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality
       J. Charles Fox, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
       J. Dale Givens, Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality
       I. Miley Gonzalez, U.S. Department of Agriculture
       Charles Groat, U.S. Department of Interior-U.S. Geological Survey
       Joe Hampton, Illinois Department of Agriculture
       Elgie Holstein, U.S. Department of Commerce-National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
       Glenda Humiston, U.S. Department of Agriculture
       Patty Judge, Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship
       Audrey Kohnen, Prairie Island Indian Community
       Stephen Mahfood, Missouri Natural Resources Department
       Phillip Martin, Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians
       George Meyer, Wisconsin Natural Resources Department
       Stephen Saunders, U.S. Department of Interior-Fish and Wildlife and Parks
       Lois J. Schiffer, U.S. Department of Justice
       Karen Studders, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
       Dan Wheeler, Tennessee Department of Agriculture
       J. Randy Young, Arkansas Soil and Water Conservation Commission

       Former Members
       Major General Phillip Anderson, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
       Bradley M. Campbell, Council on Environmental Quality
       Darrell Campbell, Prairie Island Indian Community
       Dale M. Cochran, Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship
       Becky Doyle, Illinois Department of Agriculture
       Thomas Hebert, U.S. Department of Agriculture
       Peder Larson, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
       James I. Palmer, Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality
       Robert Perciasepe, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
       Mark Schaefer, U.S. Department of Interior
       David A.  Shorr, Missouri Natural Resources Department
       Gordon Wegwart, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
       Sally Yozell, U.S. Department of Commerce-National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
       John Zirschky, U.S. Department of the Army
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                                                                                Acknowledgements
 Special thanks go to all the many Federal, State, and Tribal representatives and their staffs who supported
 the efforts of the Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force. Their diverse
 knowledge and expertise contributed to the successful collaboration and consensus building needed to
 produce this plan. In addition, the diligent efforts of all the interested parties throughout the Mississippi
 River Basin who provided comments and attended the Task Force meetings are greatly appreciated.

 Coordination Committee for the Mississippi River I Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient
 Task Force (Current and Former Members):
 Tribes
 Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians - Bernadette Hudnell
 Prairie Island Indian Community - Heather Westra
 State Agencies
 Arkansas Soil and Water Conservation Commission - Earl Smith
 Illinois Department of Agriculture - Warren Goetsch
 Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Soil Conservation Division - Jim Gulliford
 Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality - Linda Korn Levy, Dugan Sabins
 Minnesota Pollution Control Agency - Wayne P. Anderson
 Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality - Phil Bass
 Missouri Natural Resources Department - Ron Kucera
 Tennessee Department of Agriculture - Mike Countess
 Wisconsin Natural Resources Department - Bruce Baker, Charles Ledin
 Federal Agencies
 Council on Environmental Quality - William Leary
 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - Don Pry or, Don Scavia
 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - Barry Kennedy, Tom Pullen
 V.S. Department of Agriculture - Larry Adams, Dale Bucks, Howard Hankin, Ron Harris, Mike O'Neill,
                             Tim Strickland, Fred Swader
 U.S. Department of Justice - Bruce Nilles, Lisa Russell, Scott Siff
 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - James Giattina, Robert Way land
 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - David Fruge, Doug Fruge,  Dale Hall
 U.S. Geological Survey - Herb Buxton, Jeff Williams
 White House Office of Science and Technology Policy - Mark T. Anderson

 Staff Support for the Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force
 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - Mary Belefski, Rachel Doughty, Larinda Tervelt, John Wilson
 U.S. Geological Survey - Don Goolsby
 Special Contributors
 Honorable Gerald L. Baliles, Governor of Virginia 1986-1990 and author of
   "Preserving the Chesapeake"
John Barry, author of "The Rising Tide"
 Bill Matuszeski, Director, Chesapeake Bay Program
Thomas Simpson, Maryland Department of Agriculture and University of Maryland


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Action Plan for Reducing, Mitigating, and Controlling Hypoxia in the Northern Gulf of Mexico
       Additional Information
       The Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force prepared this document following
       seven public meetings. As pan of a process of considering options for responding to Gulf of Mexico hypoxia,
       a Federal interagency working group asked the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to
       conduct a scientific assessment of the causes and consequences of Gulf hypoxia through its Committee on
       Environment and Natural Resources. The working group then expanded to include States and Tribes and
       established the Task Force during the fall of 1997. The charge to submit a scientific assessment of hypoxia
       and a plan for reducing, mitigating, and controlling hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico was written into law at
       the end of the 105th Congress (section 604(a) and (b) of Public Law 105-383). The Mississippi River/Gulf of
       Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force held public meetings throughout the Mississippi River Basin to
       inform the public of the progress toward development of the assessment and action plan.

       First Meeting                       Second/Meeting                  Third Meeting
       December 4,1997                   April 8-9,1998                   September 24,1998
       Arlington, Virginia                  New Orleans, Louisiana           Bloomington, Minnesota

       Fourth /Meeting                     Fifth /Meeting                    Sixth /Meeting
       June 30 through July 1,1999          November 18,1999               June 15-16,2000
       Memphis, Tennessee                 Chicago, Illinois                  St. Louis, Missouri

       Seventh /Meeting
       October 11,2000
       Baton Rouge, Louisiana

       Resources
       EPA's Mississippi River Basin homepage at www.epa.gov/msbasin.

       Index of public comments received on the Draft Action Plan. Available on EPA's web site at
       www.epa.gov/msbasin/hypoxiacomments.

       Integrated Assessment of Hypoxia in the Northern Gulf of Mexico, May 2000. National  Science and
       Technology Council Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, Washington, DC. For copies or
       more information, contact National Ocean Service National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
       National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, Coastal Ocean Program, 1315 East-West Highway, Room
       9700, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Phone: (301) 713-3338; fax: (301)713-4044;
       e-mail: coastalocean@cop.noaa.gov. The report is also available on NOAA's Hypoxia in the Gulf web
       site at www.nos.noaa.gov/products/pubs_hypox.html.

       Analysis of Point Source Nutrient Loadings in the Mississippi River System. Available on EPA's web site
       at www.epa.gov/msbasin/loadings.html.

       References
       Carey, Anne E., et al. 1999. The Role of the Mississippi River in the Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia,
       Report No. 70. Environmental Institute, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL.

       Downing, John A., et al. 1999. Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia: Land and Sea Interactions. Task Force Report
       No. 134. Council for Agricultural Science and Technology, Ames, Iowa. For copies, contact Council for
       Agricultural Science and Technology, 4420 West Lincoln Way, Ames, IA 50014-3447.
       Phone: (515) 292-2125; fax: (515) 292-4512; e-mail: cast@cast-science.org. The report is also available
       on the CAST web site at www.cast-science.org.

       National Research Council. 2000. Clean Coastal Waters: Understanding and Reducing the Effects of
       Nutrient Pollution. Committee on the Causes and Management of Coastal Eutrophication, Ocean Studies
       Board and Water Science and Technology Board, Commission on Geosciences, Environment, and
       Resources. National Academy Press, Washington, DC.


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For copies of this report, contact:

Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (4503F)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460

Mary Belefski: (202) 260-7061, e-mail: belefski.mary@epa.gov
or
John Wilson: (202) 260-7878, e-mail: wilson.john@epa.gov

web site: www.epa.gov/msbasin

For citation of this document, use the following:

Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force.
2001. Action Plan for Reducing, Mitigating, and Controlling
Hypoxia in the Northern Gulf of Mexico. Washington, DC.

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