FY 2010 OPERATING PLAN
Mississippi River I
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
A COMPILATION OF ACTIONS TO IMPLEMENT
THE	GULF HYPOXIA

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
FY 2010 OPERATING PLAN
A COMPILATION OF ACTIONS TO IMPLEMENT
THE GULF HYPOXIA ACTION PLAN 2008
The Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008 provides an overview of how federal agencies, states, and tribes within the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin
are working together to take action to reduce the size of the hypoxic zone, while protecting and restoring the human and natural resources of the
Mississippi River Basin. The Task Force has committed to using an adaptive management approach to guide the implementation of the Action
Plan, as well as future reassessments. This approach involves continual feedback between the effects of management actions and the interpretation
of new scientific information to improve and inform management strategies, and to target actions within watersheds where they will be most
This FY 2010 Operating Plan is a compilation of actions that the various state and federal members of the Task Force have planned to undertake
during FY 2010 to implement the Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008. Each item in this Operating Plan specifically implements one of the 11 actions in
the 2008 Action Plan. The Operating Plan includes, where known, background information on milestones reached in FY 2009 and actions to be
undertaken in FY 2010. In some cases the plan identifies critical needs for the next fiscal year to acknowledge and analyze barriers to progress and
to assist in state and federal planning and funding. Inclusion of an action in this operating plan is at the discretion of the individual Task
Force agencies and does not convey endorsement by all the members of the Task Force. Rather, these items are listed here to
illuminate the cumulative efforts of the individual Task Force agencies in implementing the Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008.
In addition to the activities listed in the FY 2010 Operating Plan that specifically address the actions in the 2008 Action Plan, Task Force member
organizations are engaged in numerous other ongoing activities that result in improvements to state and local water quality and the reduction and
mitigation of hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico. The Appendix at the end of this document has been developed to highlight these complementary
actions. The Appendix is by no means a comprehensive list, and it will change as projects are completed, new projects are proposed and funded,
and items are incorporated into the state and federal nutrient reduction strategies as they are developed.
In addition to the yearly Operating Plans and Appendices, this year the Task Force will also issue an annual report that will measure the results of
these actions. Task Force agencies will use this information and input from the public in an adaptive management process to modify their actions
as needed for subsequent Operating Plans and Appendices.
effective.
1

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
w Watershed Nutrient
FY 2010 Operating Plan
V
1. Complete and implement comprehensive nitrogen and phosphorus reduction strategies for states within the Mississippi/
Atchafalaya River Basin encompassing watersheds with significant contributions of nitrogen and phosphorus to the surface waters
of the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin, and ultimately to the Gulf of Mexico.
Coordinating Committee Action Lead: EPA, Illinois
Summary of Expected Results
A few states, with assistance from federal agencies, have begun to develop nutrient reduction strategies, including the most appropriate watersheds
to target. This will be an important first step in reducing nutrients delivered to the Gulf of Mexico. However, full implementation on this action
will require significant additional funding.
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
Mississippi/Atchafalaya
River Basin (MARB)
States
Identify planned nutrient reduction activities and
the corresponding availability and needs for
funding. Continue developing nutrient reduction
strategies, including an analysis of
implementation costs.
Ongoing
Funding for state-level nutrient
reduction strategies at a cost of
$200,000 to $500,000 per state.
Subbasin Committees
(SBC)
Continue coordinated work on state-level nutrient
reduction plans.
Continue progress on coordinated policy
decisions, budgeting, and message among federal
agencies and within agencies, and on state level
among state agencies.
Ongoing
$150,000 for operating budget
for each established Subbasin
Committee (2-3 years).
Illinois
Identify planned nutrient reduction activities and
the corresponding availability and needs for
funding.
Begin developing nutrient reduction strategies,
including an analysis of implementation costs.
Ongoing
Initiate state agency discussions regarding
feasibility of developing strategy.
Initiate 18-month study of nutrient loadings in
Illinois watersheds.
Adequate funding to develop
nutrient reduction strategy.

Continued work on coordinated effort on state-
level nutrient reduction plans.
Ongoing


Continued progress on coordinated policy
decisions, budgeting, and message among federal
agencies and within agencies, and on state level
among state agencies.


2

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
w Watershed Nutrient
FY 2010 Operating Plan
V
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
Iowa
Continue to identify methodologies and
leadership from the technical and social sciences
for developing a state-level strategy for nutrient
reductions, for use at such time as federal funding
is made available to develop the strategy.
Ongoing
Federal funding to Iowa to
develop state-level strategy
Completed the Cedar River watershed study to
assess the needed management practices, level of
deployment, targeted locations, and resources
needed to meet the nutrient reduction targets of
the hypoxia goal to inform future state-level
strategy development.
Complete the final report and publish/disseminate
the report and findings
Louisiana
Identify planned nutrient reduction activities and
the corresponding availability and needs for
funding.
Ongoing
Continue progress on coordinated policy
decisions, budgeting, and message among federal
agencies and within agencies, and on state level
among state agencies.
Ongoing
Continue to develop state-level nutrient reduction
strategy. Presented and discussed Louisiana
Nutrient Reduction Strategy at US Department of
Agriculture (USDA) Louisiana State Technical
Committee meetings in 2008/2009, and 2008 LA
Environmental Leadership Program (ELP)
Nutrient Reduction Workgroup meeting. At these
meetings, also discussed and gave update on
activities of Hypoxia Task Force and status of
petitions and initiatives for nutrient reduction.
Received commitment from the Natural
Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and
agriculture participants to give priority where
possible to nutrient reduction in application of
Farm Bill programs.
Continue refinement of goals, target watersheds,
best management practices (BMPs), and
technology-based point source technologies for
inclusion in Louisiana Nutrient Reduction
Strategy. This effort will include communication
outreach on the status of strategy development
with federal, state, and local Louisiana agencies,
including at USDA State Technical Committee
meetings, LA ELP meetings and award
ceremonies, and with local Louisiana Soil and
Water Conservation District meetings and
activities. Louisiana Department of Environmental
Quality (DEQ) will integrate the newly
implemented statewide watershed program and
designated watershed coordinators into needs of
the nutrient reduction strategy and solicit their
support and input.
A unified federal and state effort
to find and procure funding for
Mississippi River Basin states.
Develop and apply
comprehensive nutrient
reduction strategies.
3

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
w Watershed Nutrient
FY 2010 Operating Plan
V
Lead Agency	FY 2009 Actions	FY 2010 Planned Actions	Critical Needs for 2011
Louisiana (cont)	Louisiana also worked with the State of
Mississippi and other Gulf states through a Gulf of
Mexico Alliance National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) grant to
facilitate the development of a nutrient reduction
strategy/template for coastal watersheds to
ensure consistent, flexible approach. (See State of
Mississippi's description of this project.)
Minnesota	Identify planned nutrient reduction activities and Continue to work on individual strategies.
the corresponding availability and needs for	Evaluate adequacy of existing databases,
funding.
Develop nutrient reduction strategies, including
an analysis of implementation costs.
Initial focus on developing databases and program
pilot/demos. Lake Pepin Nutrient strategy is under
way. Initiation of coordinated strategy
identification and documentation is on hold.
Continue work on coordinated effort on state-
level nutrient reduction plans.
Continue progress on coordinated policy
decisions, budgeting, and message among federal
agencies and within agencies, and on state level
among state agencies.
Provided presentation to Water Policy forum
within Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
(MPCA). Developing data, research, and
demonstrations before undertaking state-
coordinated plan for nutrient reduction.
Nitrogen Contributions to the Mississippi River State legislature did not provide matching funds.
Basin in partnership with the Minnesota Dept. of Federal funds were returned. No immediate plans
Agriculture and University of Minnesota.	to resubmit this strategic activity.
Discuss work plan schedule for consolidating
individual strategies into overall state strategy
document.
4

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
w Watershed Nutrient
FY 2010 Operating Plan
V
Lead Agency	FY 2009 Actions	FY 2010 Planned Actions	Critical Needs for 2011
Minnesota (cont)	Develop eutrophication standards for rivers.	Develop draft rule criteria. Also developing criteria Adequate staffing is necessary to
_......	.	specific to the Mississippi River pools, considering complete this work.
Triennia rue revision process was started.	... .. ,-c . ¦ .. . , , c
K	nitrate aquatic life toxicity standards for rivers.
Public notice of intent to revise water quality
standards (done 7/09).
Produced technical reports related to
standards development.
Draft 2008-2012 Nonpoint Source Management
Program Plan recently came off notice for public
comment and has been sent to EPAforapproval.
Draft language/criteria (end of 2009).
Clean Water Act (ONA) §319 grant applications
were accepted through 10/10/08.
Notifications of grant awards were made by
end of the 2008 calendar year.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
awarded CWA §319 grants in 7/09.
Plan is completed and accessible through the
Web at www.pca.state.mn.us/water/
nonpoint/mplan.html.
Mississippi	Development of a Nutrient Reduction Strategy Ongoing; Completion date: 9/30/09 for initial	$75,000 (EPA)
Template for the Mississippi Delta; Co-leads - draft.
Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality
(MDEQ), Delta Farmers Advocating Resource
Management (FARM)
Implementation of the Nutrient Reduction	Ongoing
Strategy Template through the
development/revision of local watershed
management plans in selected Mississippi Delta
watersheds.
Harris Bayou (new riverine nutrient reduction Start Date: 9/09; Completion Date: 6/10. Finalize
watershed project); Lead - Delta FARM	Local Watershed Management Plan.
Work plans due August 25, 2009.
Applications due forthe next round of funding in
summer 2010.
Continued high-level funding is
extremely important to fund
these projects. Also, adequate
staffing is critical to modify the
plan to make it a more current,
living document.
5

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions Critical Needs for 2011
Mississippi (cont)
Porter's Bayou (new riverine nutrient reduction
watershed project); Lead - Delta FARM
Start Date: 9/09; Completion Date: 6/10. Finalize
Local Watershed Management Plan.

Steele Bayou (existing riverine watershed
project with revised nutrient reduction
component); Leads - US Army Corps of
Engineers (USACE), Delta FARM
Start Date: 9/09; Completion Date: 6/10. Revise
Local Watershed Management Plan to include
nutrient reduction strategy.

Lake Washington (existing lake watershed
project with revised nutrient reduction
component); Lead - MS Soil and Water
Conservation Commission, Washington
County Soil & Water District
State Date: 8/09; Completion Date 6/10. Revise
Local Watershed Management Plan to include
nutrient reduction strategy.

Wolf/Broad Lake (existing lake watershed
project with revised nutrient reduction
component); Lead - Delta FARM
Start Date: 6/09; Completion Date: 6/10. Revise
Local Watershed Management Plan to include
nutrient reduction strategy.

Bee Lake (existing lake watershed project with
revised nutrient reduction components-
Lead - Delta Wildlife.
Start Date: 9/09; Completion Date: 6/10. Revise
Local Watershed Management Plan to include
nutrient reduction strategy.

Pre-implementation monitoring to quantify
changes in water quality in the selected Delta
watersheds.
Ongoing

Harris Bayou (new riverine nutrient reduction
watershed project); Lead - Delta FARM
Start Date: 9/09. Develop and Implement Water
Quality Monitoring Plan with nutrient monitoring.

Porter's Bayou (new riverine nutrient reduction
watershed project); Lead - Delta FARM
Start Date: 9/09. Develop and Implement Water
Quality Monitoring Plan with nutrient monitoring.

Steele Bayou (existing riverine watershed
project with revised nutrient reduction
component); Leads-USACE, Delta FARM
Ongoing. Revise and continue to Implement
Water Quality Monitoring Plan with nutrient
monitoring.
FY 2010 Operating Plan
6

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
Lead Agency FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions Critical Needs for 2011
Mississippi (cont) Lake Washington (existing lake watershed
project with revised nutrient reduction
component); Lead - MS Soil & Water
Conservation Commission, Washington
County Soil & Water District.
Ongoing. Continue to Implement Water Quality
Monitoring Plan with nutrient monitoring.
Wolf/Broad Lake (existing lake watershed
project with revised nutrient reduction
component); Lead - Delta FARM
Ongoing. Revise and Implement Water Quality
Monitoring Plan with nutrient monitoring.
Bee Lake (existing lake watershed project with
revised nutrient reduction components-
Lead - Delta Wildlife.
Ongoing
Implementation of Local Watershed Management
Plans in the selected delta watersheds.

Harris Bayou (new riverine nutrient reduction
watershed project); Lead - Delta FARM
Start Date: 9/09; Completion Date: 6/10.
Implement Local Watershed Management Plan.
Porter's Bayou (new riverine nutrient reduction
watershed project); Lead - Delta FARM
Start Date: 9/09; Completion Date: 6/10.
Implement Local Watershed Management Plan.
Steele Bayou (existing riverine watershed
project with revised nutrient reduction
component); Leads-USACE, Delta FARM
Start Date: 9/09; Completion Date: 6/10.
Implement Revised Local Watershed
Management Plan.
Lake Washington (existing lake watershed
project with revised nutrient reduction
component); Lead - MS Soil & Water
Conservation Commission, Washington
County Soil & Water District.
Start Date: 9/09; Completion Date: 6/10.
Implement Revised Local Watershed
Management Plan.
Wolf/Broad Lake (existing lake watershed
project with revised nutrient reduction
component); Lead - Delta FARM
Start Date: 9/09; Completion Date: 6/10.
Implement Revised Local Watershed
Management Plan.
Bee Lake (existing lake watershed project with
revised nutrient reduction components-
Lead - Delta Wildlife.

FY 2010 Operating Plan
7

-------
FY 2010 Operating Plan

Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
Lead Agency FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
Mississippi (cont) Post-implementation monitoring to quantify
changes in water quality in the selected delta
watersheds.


Harris Bayou (new riverine nutrient reduction
watershed project); Lead - Delta FARM
Start Date: TBD

Porter's Bayou (new riverine nutrient reduction
watershed project); Lead - Delta FARM
Start Date: TBD

Steele Bayou (existing riverine watershed
project with revised nutrient reduction
component); Leads -USACE, Delta FARM
Start Date: TBD. Post-implementation monitoring
(with nutrients).

Lake Washington (existing lake watershed
project with revised nutrient reduction
component); Lead - MS Soil & Water
Conservation Commission, Washington
County Soil & Water District.
Start Date: TBD. Post-implementation monitoring
(with nutrients).

Wolf/Broad Lake (existing lake watershed
project with revised nutrient reduction
component); Lead - Delta FARM
Start Date: TBD. Post-implementation monitoring
(with nutrients).

Bee Lake (existing lake watershed project with
revised nutrient reduction component); Lead -
Delta Wildlife.
Start Date: 10/09. Post-implementation
monitoring (with nutrients).

Farmer-to-farmer exchange with upper
Mississippi River state: Delta farmers to upper
Mississippi River state (Spring 2009), and upper
Mississippi River state farmers to Mississippi Delta
and Gulf of Mexico (Summer 2009).
Ongoing. Delta Farmers to Iowa (6/10); Iowa
Farmers to Delta (7/10).

Future Action - post-2011:
Project Evaluation and Assessment. Start Date:
10/11; Completion Date: TBD.
On Hold

8

-------
FY 2010 Operating Plan

Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
Lead Agency FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
Mississippi (cont) Template Transferability. Coordination with
Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin (MARB) and
Gulf Coast states will be a part of this effort to
maximize the flow and use of information
developed through this effort. Start date 10/11.
Ongoing. Coordination with MARB and Gulf Coast
States to maximize transfer of strategy.

Development of an Aligned Nutrient Reduction
Strategy Template for Coastal Watersheds. Start
Date: 10/08; Completion Date: 4/09.
Ongoing. Draft template will be completed by
12/09.

Implementation of the Coastal Watershed
Nutrient Reduction Strategy Template through
the development of Local Watershed
Management Plans in selected Mississippi coastal
watersheds. Start Date: 10/09; Completion Date:
TBD.
Develop Local Watershed Management Plan.

Pre-implementation monitoring to quantify
changes in water quality in selected coastal
watersheds.
Start Date: TBD; Completion Date: TBD. Develop
Local Watershed Management Plan.

Implementation of Local Watershed Management
Plans in the selected coastal watersheds.
Start Date: TBD; Completion Date: TBD. Develop
Local Watershed Management Plan.

Post-implementation monitoring to quantify
changes in water quality in the selected coastal
watersheds.
Start Date: TBD; Completion Date: TBD. Develop
Local Watershed Management Plan.

Project evaluation and assessment/comparison of
the pre and post-implementation water quality
data and the use of other assessment tools to
provide a better understanding of what nutrient,
sediment, and other pollutant load reductions are
achievable.
Start Date: TBD

Delta Wildlife and Monsanto Company-
Implementation of nutrient reduction best
management practices to support
implementation of the Mississippi Delta Nutrient
Reduction Strategy.
Ongoing. Implementation of nutrient reduction
best management practices to support
implementation of the Mississippi Delta Nutrient
Reduction Strategy.

9

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
w Watershed Nutrient
FY 2010 Operating Plan
V
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
Mississippi (cont)

Delta FARM - Implementation of nutrient
reduction best management practices to support
implementation of the Mississippi Delta Nutrient
Reduction Strategy.



NRCS-Technical and funding resourcesto
support implementation of the Mississippi Delta
Nutrient Reduction Strategy.

Missouri
Identify planned nutrient reduction activities and
the corresponding availability of and need for
funding.
Begin developing nutrient reduction strategies,
including an analysis of implementation costs.
A needs assessment was conducted forthe
state's Soil and Water districts in an effort to
determine which stewardship practices would
resonate with producers in each district.
A new "tool kit" of water quality protection
practices was made available statewide to
support the needs assessment process.
The needs assessment results have been used to
compartmentalize the funding to the districts to
allow new resource concerns to be addressed. A
significant number of these new tools are water-
quality-related and address the sources of
nutrients to rivers and streams.
Provide professional
development for staff and public
outreach to promote the
adoption of new practices
available for each district as part
of the needs assessment process.

Continue coordinated work on state level nutrient
reduction plans.
Continue progress on coordinated policy
decisions, budgeting, and message among federal
agencies and within agencies, and on state level
among state agencies.
Continued coordination and a systematic effort
within the Department of Natural Resources to
involve staff across divisions.
Participation in planning meetings and overall
Department strategic planning efforts.


Continue to work to provide coordination
between the various programs in the state.



Formal coordination between staff working on
numeric nutrient standards, §319 nonpoint
source prevention programming, and the
state's Soil and Water Conservation Program.


10

-------
FY 2010 Operating Plan

Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
Missouri (cont)
Continue development of rulemaking for
establishing statewide nutrient criteria for lakes
and reservoirs.
Initiated a workgroup to determine the
watersheds that will most likely be impacted
by the establishment of nutrient criteria.
Continue efforts establishing reference
streams and rivers for use in future nutrient
criteria development on flowing waters of the
state.
Currently in negotiation with EPA on final
rulemaking. The draft procedures and
approach defined by the Department of
Natural Resources have been approved by the
Clean Water Commission.
Refine process with EPA and return to Clean
Water Commission for final approval and
movement forward with formal rulemaking.
Initiated a formal workgroup to develop numeric
nutrient criteria for rivers and streams.

Ohio
Identify planned nutrient reduction activities and
the corresponding availability and needs for
funding.
Begin developing nutrient reduction strategies
including an analysis of implementation costs.
Ongoing
Will look similar to those reported in 2009 Ohio
report.
Same as those reported for 2009
unless other states wish to alter
cost estimates of $200,000 to
$500,000 per state.

Continued work on coordinated effort on state
level nutrient reduction plans.
Continued progress on coordinated policy
decisions, budgeting and message among federal
agencies and within agencies, and on state level
among state agencies.
Ongoing
Some increased activity within the Ohio River
Basin due to support from Targeted Watershed
Grants through the Electric Power Research
Institute (EPRI) through the Ohio River Valley
Water Sanitation Commission (ORSANCO).
Same as those reported for 2009.
$150,000 for operating budget
for each established Subbasin
Committee (2-3 years).
11

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
Wisconsin
Continued work on coordinated effort on state-
level nutrient reduction plans.
Continued progress on coordinated policy
decisions, budgeting, and message among federal
agencies and within agencies, and on state level
among state agencies.
Achieved 68% reduction in phosphorus
discharged from wastewater treatment plants
(WWTP) since 1993.
Municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4)
and concentrated animal feeding operation
(CAFO) permits require nutrient management.
18% of farm acreage with "Adequate" nutrient
management plans.
Nutrient WQS criteria development for lakes and
rivers

Task Force Federal
Agencies
Task Force federal members to provide input and
assistance as needed and able to states in
development of nutrient reduction strategies.
Ongoing

US Environmental
Protection Agency
(USEPA)
Office of Science and Technology (OST) working
to finalize technical guidance for states to assist
with the derivation of numeric nutrient criteria
based on stressor-response variables.
Ongoing


EPA Region 6 to provide technical assistance to
the State of Louisiana in the state's efforts to
develop comprehensive nitrogen and phosphorus
reduction strategies, provided the state welcomes
this assistance, and limited to assistance that can
be provided within existing staffing and budgetary
constraints.
Ongoing correspondence with states regarding
consideration of SPARROW information in state
strategy development.
Additional resources, especially
travel funds, to aid in efforts with
State of Louisiana.
12
FY 2010 Operating Plan

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
w Watershed Nutrient
FY 2010 Operating Plan
V
Lead Agency	FY 2009 Actions	FY 2010 Planned Actions	Critical Needs for 2011
USEPA(cont)	Gulf of Mexico program office funded and began Ongoing
work on the cooperative agreement Development
of Nutrient Reduction Strategies for the MS Delta.
Draft Delta Nutrient Reduction Strategies
document sent out for comment by Delta FARM
and MDEQ (Gulf of Mexico Program Office
(GMPO) staff on development teams).
TF federal members to provide input and
assistance as needed and able to states in
development of nutrient reduction strategies.
Gulf of Mexico Program professional staff
participated on the teams responsible forthe
draft Delta Nutrient Reduction Strategies
document, which has been distributed for
comment. The cooperative agreement
Development of Nutrient Reduction Strategies
for the MS Delta was funded, and work is
ongoing with MDEQ.
Gulf of Mexico Program funded and began
work with Louisiana State University (LSU) on
the cooperative agreement Using Wetlands for
Nutrient Reduction in the Mississippi Basin:
Potential for Minimizing Greenhouse Gases.
This project pulses river floodwater into
natural, restored, and constructed wetlands to
determine nutrient and greenhouse gas
removal/creation levels.
National Oceanic and Task Force federal members to provide input and Ongoing
Atmospheric	assistance as needed and able to states in
Administration (NOAA) development of nutrient reduction strategies.
Provided funding to Mississippi and Gulf of Mexico
Alliance forthe development of nutrient reduction
strategies and a nutrient criteria framework.
Ongoing	Increased funding for states and
tribes to implement known/
proven nutrient reduction
strategies (e.g., wetlands,
fertilizer ordinances, urban
stormwater BMPs).
Study completed, follow-up actions in progress.
13

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
US Army Corps of
Engineers (USACE)
Task Force federal members to provide input and
assistance as needed and able to states in
development of nutrient reduction strategies.
Ongoing


Identify planned nutrient reduction activities and
the corresponding availability of and need for
funding.
Get report approval by vertical team; begin
identified projects associated with Corps
navigation channels.
Cost share and funds from
identified sources.

LA Beneficial Use of Dredged Material report
developed and currently under review. Program
was developed under Louisiana Coastal Area
program.



Continued coordinated work on state-level
nutrient reduction plans.
Provide help to Phase II Iowa CREP as program
develops for permit efforts.


Continued progress on coordinated policy
decisions, budgeting, and message among federal
agencies and within agencies, and on state level
among state agencies. Provided help to Iowa for
its wetland Conservation Reserve Enhancement
Program (CREP) permits, Phase 1.


US Department of
Agriculture (USDA)
Task Force federal members to provide input and
assistance as needed and able to states in
development of nutrient reduction strategies.
Ongoing

US Department of the
Interior (USDOI)-
National Park Service
(NPS)
Task Force federal members to provide input and
assistance as needed and able to states in
development of nutrient reduction strategies.
Ongoing

USDOI-US Geological
Survey (USGS)
Task Force federal members to provide input and
assistance as needed and able to states in
development of nutrient reduction strategies.
Ongoing


Commitment by agency to begin to align listed
programs with needs for hypoxia.
Ongoing

FY 2010 Operating Plan
14

-------
V
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
w Watershed Nutrient
FY 2010 Operating Plan
2. Complete and implement comprehensive nitrogen and phosphorus reduction strategies for appropriate basin-wide federal
programs and projects. Target first those federal programs and projects with significant federal lead or co-implementation
responsibilities.
Coordinating Committee Action Lead: EPA
Summary of Expected Results
By the end of FY09, all federal agencies on the Task Force will have compiled a list of major projects and programs with the greatest possibilities
to impact nutrient levels.
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
Lower Mississippi River
Subbasin Committee
(LMRSBC)
Work with lower river basin states and
stakeholders to coordinate development of
nutrient reduction plans and strategies
Ongoing


Completion of second EPA funding grant for
Subbasin Committee.
Completed

US Environmental
Protection Agency
(USEPA)
EPA/Office of Wastewater Management (OWM) -
Promote watershed-based permitting for
implementing nutrient criteria in permits.
Ongoing


EPA/OST - EPA Headquarters and Regions
providing technical support to MARB states in
developing numeric nutrient criteria, as well as
advancing research to reduce the scientific
uncertainties regarding source, fate, and
transport of nitrogen and phosphorus.
Ongoing


Gulf of Mexico Program funded and began
cooperative agreement work with MDEQ on St.
Louis Bay pilot nutrient criteria project,
"Development of Pilot Nutrient Criteria for a
Mississippi Estuary." Held workshop with Gulf of
Mexico Alliance (GOMA) partners to plan the
implementation of this project.
Ongoing
The results of this work will eventually support
nutrient efforts in all Gulf states, including the
Mississippi River drainage.


List of programs with greatest impacts on
nutrient levels, by agency.
Initial Assessment and Watershed Protection
Division (AWPD)/Watershed Branch (WB)
compilation completed. Effort is ongoing.

15

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
w Watershed Nutrient
FY 2010 Operating Plan
V
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
USEPA (cont)

Iowa CREP & Iowa Initiative (USDA); Delta FARM.
(Mississippi); Mollicy Farms, Louisiana (US Fish
and Wildlife Service (USFWS)); Gulf of Mexico
Alliance coordinated Governors Action Plan with
specific nutrient "Action Steps".
Agency expanded use of
constructed, restored, and
natural wetlands to remove
nutrients.

Commitment by EPA to begin to align listed
programs with needs for hypoxia.
Continue National Academy of Sciences (NAS)
project to assess implications of CWA §303(d)
programs on nitrogen- and phosphorus-impaired
waters. Work with basin states as they compile
and submit §303(d) lists in 2011.

US Army Corps of
Engineers (USACE)
List of programs with greatest impacts on
nutrient levels, by agency.
After §5022 guidance is released, will reach out to
other divisions and add to the project list.


Commitment by agency to begin to align listed
programs with needs for hypoxia, such as Water
Resources Development Act (WRDA) §5022.
Ongoing. Get guidance signed and distributed as
appropriate. Begin looking at resource leveraging
once guidance is final.

US Department of
Agriculture (USDA)
Commitment by USDA to begin to align listed
programs with needs for hypoxia.
Depends on outcome of Working Agricultural
Lands abstract at September Task Force meeting.
Adequate financial and technical
resources and partner
participation.

List of programs with greatest impacts on
nutrient levels, by agency.
April 2009-Developed Mississippi River Basin
(MRB) performance indicators forthe
Conservation Reserve Program (CRP).
Develop and begin implementing an Agricultural
Working Lands Initiative to accelerate nutrient
management and reduce loadings in identified
watersheds within the Mississippi River Basin.


Commitment by agency to begin to align listed
programs with needs for hypoxia.
June 29 - Published interim rule for Farmable
Wetland Program (FWP).

Develop interagency
coordination strategy to leverage
state, federal, and non-
governmental organization
(NGO) funding for developing
constructed wetlands under FWP
to provide nitrogen removal in
row-crop agricultural drainage
areas.
16

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
US Department of the
Interior (USDOI)-
National Park Service
(NPS)
Continue to implement basin-wide nutrient
reduction plans fortwo national park units in the
Upper Mississippi River Basin (St. Croix National
Scenic Riverway, through its Nutrient Reduction
Goal for 2020, and Mississippi National River and
Recreation Area, through its involvement in
Minnesota's Lake Pepin TMDL process).
Ongoing


Continue contributing to the Yellow River
Initiative and its efforts to reduce erosion and
related nutrients affecting the Yellow River in and
near Effigy Mounds National Monument.
Ongoing


Commitment by NPS to begin to align listed
programs with needs for hypoxia.
Ongoing

FY 2010 Operating Plan
17

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
w Watershed Nutrient
FY 2010 Operating Plan
V
3. While developing comprehensive state and federal nitrogen and phosphorus reduction strategies and continuing current reduction
efforts, examine and, where possible, implement opportunities to enhance protection of the Gulf and local water quality through
existing federal and state water quality, water management and conservation programs.
Coordinating Committee Action Lead: USDA, USACE
Summary of Expected Results
State and federal partners will examine programs that could be aligned to maximize benefits to alleviate hypoxia and improve water quality in the
MARB, including nutrient loss to MARB surface waters and nutrient removal in the lower Mississippi Basin. Programs could include wildlife
habitat enhancement, conservation practices, navigation controls, wastewater discharge permit programs, and the like. Task Force members will
review the programs within their purview, determining how appropriate adjustments might be made to the implementation of these programs to
best achieve additional nutrient retention and capture benefits. MARB states are implementing best management practices in local watersheds to
ensure significant additional focus on nutrient reduction efforts.
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
Illinois
Continue to work with federal agencies on
Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP),
CRP, CREP, and Wetland Reserve.
Technical assistance provided through §319 funds
for staffing of Soil and Water Conservation
Districts (SWCD) personnel.
State side of CREP fully funded to implement the
remaining 106,000 acres in CREP memorandum
of understanding (MOU).
Ongoing
Will submit proposal to USDA to reopen CREP
program and expand statewide and add
additional practices that will help with nutrient
reduction.
Funding for monitoring and
assessment of practice
implementation.

Enforce siting and construction requirements of
Livestock Management Facilities Act (LMFA).
Under LMFA, livestock waste-handling facilities
are required to be designed, constructed, and
maintained to be zero-discharge facilities.
Ongoing


Reviewed 87 applications.


18

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
Illinois (cont)
Enforce livestock waste management plan
requirements of the LMFA. Livestock producers
with animal unit capacities of 1,000 animal units
or greater are required to prepare and implement
a waste management plan.
Received 195 waste management plans and/or
certifications.
Ongoing


Cost-share the construction of soil and water
conservation practices in nutrient-impaired total
maximum daily load (TMDL) watersheds and
throughout the state.
Ongoing


In 2009 provided $552,846 in cost-share and
incentive payments for 222 conservation
practices projects funded through §319 nonpoint
source grant program.



Cost-share the development and implementation
of farm nutrient management plans statewide.
Ongoing


Sixty-six plans written and 37 plans implemented
in 2009.


Iowa
Continue and expand implementation of the Iowa
CREP constructing targeted nitrogen-removal
wetlands removing 40%-go% nitrate from large
cropland drainage areas.
Ongoing
Funding increase to allow
program expansion.

Continue implementation of Iowa-funded and
-led water quality programs and initiatives for
nonpoint source landscapes, many of which
directly address and reduce nutrient and
sediment transport to water resources.
Ongoing

FY 2010 Operating Plan
19

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
w Watershed Nutrient
FY 2010 Operating Plan
V
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
Iowa (cont)
Continue to provide state and local support to
federally funded Farm Bill conservation and water
quality programs, much of which provides
technical and financial assistance to landowners
to reduce nutrient and sediment transport to
water resources.
Ongoing
Louisiana
Continued to work with federal agencies on EQIP,
CRP, CREP, and Wetland Reserve. For FY
2007/2008 supported USDA in implementing
approximately 97,813 acres of BMPs in the
targeted Ouachita River Basin/Upper Mississippi
River Alluvial Plains Ecoregion through EQIP;
51,689 acres through CRP; 15,793 acres through
WRP; 50,oooacres through CREP; and 1,259 acres
through the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program
(WHIP).
Expand work with USDAthrough participation on
LA State Technical Committee to apply Farm Bill
programs for nutrient reduction in targeted
watersheds having the most nutrient drainage to
the Gulf.
Support USDA/NRCS in its planned Gulf of
Mexico/Hypoxia Nutrient Management Initiative
through more innovative use of Farm Bill
programs. Support development of watershed
information for LA NRCS State Conservationist to
help in a unified Louisiana responsetothe
national NRCS hypoxia initiative. Work with
Louisiana USDA offices (NRCS/FSA/ARS) to
coordinate nutrient reduction work between
federal and state programs and funding.
National and state support for
use of Farm Bill programs for
nutrient reductions in all
Mississippi River Basin
watersheds.
20

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
w Watershed Nutrient
FY 2010 Operating Plan
V
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
Louisiana (cont)
Support Louisiana Environmental Leadership
Program with Louisiana industries and
municipalities to implement technology-based
nutrient removal in wastewaters. Held annual LA
ELP nutrient reduction workgroup meeting in
10/08. Discussed Hypoxia Task Force activities,
nutrient reduction strategy, EPA petitions to
develop nutrient standards and TMDLs and heard
reports on technology-based nutrient reductions
by LA ELP member industries and municipalities.
Recognized Marathon Petroleum Company, LA
Refining Division, with special 2009 LA ELP award
for nitrate reduction to the Mississippi River.
Marathon successfully implemented a new
nitrogen removal technology system that was
shown to have a nitrogen removal efficiency of
89.7%, resulting in 78,745 pounds of nitrates
removed from the river discharge in 2007.
Hold annual LAELP nutrient reduction workgroup
meetings to present current hypoxia information
and continue implementation of technology-
based nutrient discharge reductions. Continue to
recognize nutrient discharge reductions to the
Mississippi Riverand Gulf with special nutrient
reduction ELP awards. Supported a proposal by
the University of New Orleans in response to EPA
Gulf of Mexico Program Office request for
proposals (RFP) to update data and information
on nutrient releases to the Mississippi River. If
funded, will update previous report on nutrient
releases published in 2000.
National support for
development of cost-effective
technology-based nutrient
removal approaches and
outreach supporting activities to
assist financially limited
municipalities in implementing
nutrient removal technologies.
Implementing nutrient BMPs in LA watersheds
through LA Dept. of Agriculture and Forestry
(LDAF) and local SWCDs. For FY 2007/2008 the
LDAF/SWCDs implemented agriculture BMPs
using incremental §319 funds on approximately
11,000 acres in the targeted Ouachita River
Basin/Upper Mississippi River Alluvial Plains
Ecoregion. Included among these BMPs were
conservation residue management, field borders,
prescribed grazing, and nutrient management. In
addition, the Vermilion SWCD, in partnership with
USDA and Louisiana Department of
Environmental Quality (LDEQ), has initiated the
Coulee Baton Microwatershed Project to address
water quality problems, especially nutrient
releases caused by both agricultural nonpoint
source and local sewage issues. Coulee Baton
microwatershed was selected because of its
proximity to and drainage tothe Gulf of Mexico.
Continue Louisiana Nonpoint Source Program
§319 funding of LDAF/SWCD BMP application
work in the targeted Ouachita River Basin/Upper
Mississippi River Alluvial Plains Ecoregion, which
drains the largest Louisiana land-derived nutrient
loads to the Gulf. Work closely with LDAF/SWCD
and USDA to get the best nutrient BMPs
implemented in the targeted watersheds by
coordinating state and federal programs and
funding.
Continued close coordination
between Louisiana USDA and
state agricultural and
environmental programs and
adequate funding to support
planned activities.
21

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
Minnesota
Continued to work with federal agencies on EQIP,
CRP, CREP, and Wetland Reserve. Provided
presentation to State Technical Committee (STC)
on Hypoxia Action Plan, in anticipation of FY10
focused nutrient initiative. NRCS selected
Cannon, Crow, and Le Sueur rivers for EQIP/Farm
Bill program focus.
Define approach for focus watersheds.
Establish monitoring approach.


Continued development of the Lake Pepin TMDL.
Public review/EPA approval between 2/09 and
7/09-
Continue work on analysis and initiate nitrogen
reduction strategies for selected watersheds.


Develop implementation plan 4/09-12/09.



Undertake project to develop nitrogen
reduction implementation strategies to
integrate into Lake Pepin TMDL
implementation plan.



Continue development of the Minnesota River
TMDL.

Federal cost-sharing programs
need to be used/modified for
implementation.

Stakeholder meeting process completed.
Computer modeling completed.
Allocation methodology developed.
Complete the draft TMDL report, put on public
notice, and submit to EPA for approval.
Begin work on the implementation plan,
assuming EPA approval.
Need to know specific practices
to implement in watershed
(priority and targeting
assistance).
Funding for implementation.
Mississippi
Continue to work with federal agencies on EQIP,
CRP, CREP, and Wetland Reserve.
Ongoing. Continue to identify/solicit
funding/leverage opportunities.
Support for nutrient reduction
watershed projects through
these programs.

Potential federal program support for the
activities under Action 1 will be identified and
solicited through federal agencies with offices in
Mississippi. Start Date: 10/08; Completion Date:
9/09.
Continuing during development and
implementation of local watershed management
plans that implement the delta and coastal
watershed nutrient reduction strategy templates.
Federal program support for
implementation of local
watershed management plans
that implementthe delta and
coastal watershed nutrient
reduction strategy templates
from Farm Bill and other sources.
22
FY 2010 Operating Plan

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
Mississippi (cont)
Leadership and support of the Gulf of Mexico
Alliance Nutrient Reduction Priority Issue Team.
Mississippi is the lead state for GOMA's Nutrient
Reduction Priority Issue Team (PIT). Start Date:
10/08; Completion Date: Ongoing.
Continuing leadership and support of the GOMA
Nutrient Reduction PIT and its activities.
Continued state funding and
program support.

Enhanced nutrient reduction/hypoxia focus for
Mississippi's Basin Management Approach.
Completed.
Continued nutrient reduction/hypoxia focus for
Mississippi's Basin Management Approach.


Continue implementation of Mississippi's
Nutrient Criteria Development Plan.
Ongoing through 2011 (per current Nutrient
Criteria Development Plan).
Funding support for monitoring
and nutrient criteria
development.

Creation of Special Projects Team to coordinate
MDEQ efforts to supportthe Mississippi
River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Task Force and
its Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008 and the GOMA
and its Governors' Action Plan.
Ongoing


Creation of three full-time equivalents (FTEs) to
provide additional staff support.
Continue two FTEs;
create/hire third FTE.
Continuing funding support
(§319, state).

Regional Coordinator hired and established for
the Nutrient Reduction PIT.
Ongoing
Continuing funding support for
the GOMA Nutrient Reduction
PIT Coordinator (NOAA).

Funding for coordination, collaboration, and
participation in support of GOMA activities.
Ongoing
Continuing funding support
(NOAA).
Missouri
Continue to work with federal agencies on EQIP,
CRP, CREP, and Wetland Reserve.
Recently worked with NRCS to suggest state
watersheds for application of the new EQIP
funds, a portion of which will be delivered on a
watershed basis.
Will work to refine those locations and then seek
to partner with USDAto expand the on-the-
ground practices through coordination with the
state Soil and Water Conservation Program.
Continued cooperation in
reviewing watershed data and
watershed planning to ensure
that programs are working in
sync with others to expand the
effect of efforts to address
resource concerns.
FY 2010 Operating Plan
23

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
w Watershed Nutrient
FY 2010 Operating Plan
V
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
Missouri (cont)
Worked with USGS to refine the SPARROW
model output for ranked watersheds. The
results of these efforts re-ranked a watershed
in Missouri from "top 10" in the Mississippi
Basin to near 100th.
Will continue to review state water quality data
and information to better refine where the largest
loads of nutrients are in the state, allowing the
best and most accurate targeting of resources to
these locations.
Coordination with federal and
state partners to review data that
will allow the best scientifically
based choices to be made when
determining where to target
resources for nutrient reduction.

Continue statewide implementation of
agricultural BMPs through the Department of
Natural Resources Soil and Water Conservation
Program.
Expanded the cost-share practice docket from 17
practices to 41. Most of the added practices are
designed to protect water quality in a more
targeted fashion.
Assist the districts in technical application of new
practices and development of an outreach
campaign to producers concerning the adoption
of the new practices that are now available.


Through permitting process, ensure that CAFOs
address required phosphate issues. Continue to
provide departmental guidance on broader
nutrient management planning required of
permitted facilities.
Draft rulemaking is underway, and a technical
committee has been established to work through
the development of guidance documents and rule
recommendations with regard to CAFO
operations in the state.
Work to develop expanded capacity for nutrient
management planning that will be required by
both CAFO and sub-CAFO operations.


Continue to support Missouri Conservation
Reserve Enhancement Program (MO CREP)
efforts to retire environmentally sensitive lands
through the CRP. Continue MO CREP's active
involvement in the protection of 83 watersheds in
the state.
Ongoing

24

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
w Watershed Nutrient
FY 2010 Operating Plan
V
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
Ohio
Continue to work with federal agencies on EQIP,
CRP, CREP, and Wetland Reserve.
Ongoing
Funding fortechnical assistance
staffing at state and local levels.

Continue to implement the Scioto Watershed
CREP through 2011 (addresses nitrogen,
phosphorus, and sediment).
Ongoing
Same as that listed for 2009.
(i.e., at least $7 million shortfall
for needed additional
implementation).

Provide technical support fortwo or more Water
Quality Trading projects.
Ongoing

Tennessee
Continue to implement watershed restoration
projects through the CWA §319 Nonpoint Source
Program and the state-funded Agricultural
Resources Conservation Fund to lessen water
pollution transport to streams in Tennessee and
ultimately to the Gulf of Mexico.
Ongoing
Continuation of funding to
accomplish watershed projects.
Wisconsin
Continue to work with NRCS and USGS on EQIP,
CRP, CREP, and Wetland Reserve.
Ongoing

US Environmental
Protection Agency
(USEPA)
Identify barriers to aligning existing programs,
projects, and initiatives with needs of hypoxia.
Develop strategies when appropriate or possible
to reduce or eliminate barriers.
Continue National Academy of Sciences (NAS)
project to assess implications of CWA 5303(d)
programs on nitrogen- and phosphorus-impaired
waters.


Participate and provide leadership to the GOMA
Water Quality and Nutrient Reduction teams.
EPA Region 5 will evaluate five major municipal
collection systems for sanitary system overflows
to address wet-weather sources of urban nutrient
discharge.
EPA Region 6 will continue to work with states
within its jurisdiction on nutrient criteria
development, but with Louisiana and Arkansas in
particular, given their importance to the Gulf
hypoxia issue.
Ongoing. Arkansas has proposed a chlorophyll-a
criterion for Beaver Reservoir. The state is also
carrying out studies of least-impacted reference
lakes for nutrient criteria development.
Louisiana is expected to propose draft
methodology for developing nutrient criteria in
flowing waters in late 2009.
Ongoing: Gulf of Mexico Program professional
staff are federal co-leads on Water Quality and
Nutrients teams.
Additional resources to aid in
criteria development efforts with
states.
25

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
w Watershed Nutrient
FY 2010 Operating Plan
V
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions Critical Needs for 2011
USEPA (cont)
GOMA Governors'Action Plan II 2009-2014
development and roll-out completed. GMPO has
federal co-leads for Gulf of Mexico Alliance Water
Quality and Nutrient Reduction teams.
Ongoing
National Oceanic and
Atmospheric
Administration NOAA
Identify barriers to aligning existing programs,
projects, and initiatives with needs of hypoxia.
Develop strategies when appropriate or possible
to reduce or eliminate barriers.
Ongoing
US Army Corps of
Engineers (USACE)
Identified barriers to aligning existing programs,
projects, and initiatives with needs of hypoxia.
Develop strategies when appropriate or possible
to reduce or eliminate barriers. Draft guidance;
educate Mississippi Valley Division (MVD)
environmental team leaders.
Ongoing. Guidance still in review for signature.
Team leaders briefed. Continue to push overt
inclusion of hypoxia considerations in all reports
in Mississippi Valley Division Corps.

Work with the Long-Term Resource Monitoring
Program (LTRMP) Strategic Planning Team to
incorporate considerations of value and multiple
uses of the data by other programs such as the
Hypoxia Task Force, middle Mississippi
watershed. Open dialog with the Environmental
Management Program (EMP) program.
On hold. EMP program, of which LTRMP is part, is
being transitioned to the Navigation and
Ecosystem Sustainability Program (NESP)
program. Will need to wait for successful
transition—no new starts for Environmental
Management Program (EMP) now. Hopefully, can
have a meeting and get into use needs this year.
US Department of
Agriculture (USDA)
Provide information and guidance to state USDA
leaders for appropriate incorporation into state-
level priorities for delivery of USDA programs.
Complete. National Bulletin 450.8.14 provides
guidance for state NRCS leaders to begin
developing strategies for using conservation
programs to achieve additional reductions in
nutrient loadings.

NRCS delivers conservation technical assistance
through its voluntary Conservation Technical
Assistance Program (CTA). CTA is available to any
group or individual interested in conserving
natural resources and sustaining agricultural
production in this country and helps to maintain
and improve water quality.
Ongoing
26

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
w Watershed Nutrient
FY 2010 Operating Plan
V
Lead Agency	FY 2009 Actions	FY 2010 Planned Actions	Critical Needs for 2011
USDA(cont)	EQIP was reauthorized in the Farm Security and Ongoing
Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Farm Bill) to
provide a voluntary conservation program for
farmers and ranchers that promotes agricultural
production and environmental quality as
compatible national goals. EQIP offers financial
and technical assistance to help eligible
participants install or implement structural and
management practices on eligible agricultural
land. During FY08 over $220 million was obligated
in the 10 Mississippi River corridor states plus
Indiana and Ohio. In both 2008 and 2009, Indiana
NRCS obligated over 50 percent ($16.9 million) of
each fiscal year's EQIP allocation toward
Conservation Cropping Systems practices in
response to continuing concerns about water
quality, energy, fossil fuels, and agricultural input
costs.
CRP, administered by the Farm Service Agency Ongoing
(FSA), is a voluntary program for agricultural
landowners. Through CRP, it is possible to receive
annual rental payments and cost-share assistance
to establish long-term, resource- conserving
covers on eligible farmland. CREP is a voluntary
land retirement program that helps agricultural
producers protect environmentally sensitive land,
decrease erosion, restore wildlife habitat, and
safeguard ground and surface water.
27

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
USDA (cont)
The Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) is a
voluntary program offering landowners the
opportunity to protect, restore, and enhance
wetlands on their property. NRCS provides
technical and financial support to help
landowners with their wetland restoration efforts.
The NRCS goal is to achieve the greatest wetland
functions and values, along with optimum wildlife
habitat, on every acre enrolled in the program.
This program offers landowners an opportunity to
establish long-term conservation and wildlife
practices and protection. Due to the success of
the projects, Wetland Reserve Enhancement
Program (WREP) projects implemented in the
Lower Missouri River Basin of Nebraska were
expanded in the upper reach of the Missouri River
in 2009, providing many public benefits such as
wildlife habitat, flood prevention, and water
quality improvement.
Ongoing


The Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP)
encourages agricultural and forestry producers to
maintain existing conservation activities and
adopt additional ones on their operations. CSP is
a new voluntary conservation program that
provides financial and technical assistance to
conserve and enhance soil, water, air, and related
natural resources. CSP provides opportunities to
both recognize excellent stewards and deliver
valuable new conservation.
Ongoing


Other USDA programs, including the Public Law
(P.L.) 83-566 Watershed Protection and Flood
Prevention Program, the Resource Conservation
and Development Program, and Conservation
Innovation Grants under EQIP provide additional
water quality benefits.
Ongoing

FY 2010 Operating Plan
28

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
w Watershed Nutrient
FY 2010 Operating Plan
V
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions Critical Needs for 2011
USDA (cont)
Coordinated delivery of IA CREP with Iowa
Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship
(IDALS).
See Iowa.

US Department of the
Interior (USDOI)-US
Geological Survey
(USGS)
Continue to incorporate science needs for
improving conservation programs design and
implementation of various agencies into research
and monitoring programs and vice versa.
Ongoing


Participate in the GOMA Nutrient Reduction and
Water Quality Priority Issue Team.

Identify barriers to aligning existing programs,
projects, and initiatives with needs of hypoxia.
Develop strategies when appropriate or possible
to reduce or eliminate barriers.
Ongoing
USDOI-National Park
Service (NPS)
Identify barriers to aligning existing programs,
projects, and initiatives with needs of hypoxia.
Develop strategies when appropriate or possible
to reduce or eliminate barriers.
Ongoing
29

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
4. Develop and promote more efficient and cost-effective conservation practices and management practices for conserving nutrients
within the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin watershed and evaluate their effectiveness at all scales, beginning with local
watersheds and aggregating them up to the scale of the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin.
Coordinating Committee Action Lead: USDA, USACE, LMRSBC
Summary of Expected Results
Expected outcomes include initial results from two of USDA's national conservation and water quality research programs: (1) Conservation
Effects Assessment Project results relating to nutrients and the Upper Mississippi Subbasin, and a quantification of the environmental benefits of
conservation practices in terms of water quality and water quantity, and (2) Water Availability and Watershed Management National Program
(National Program #211) on methods for reducing nutrients from agricultural systems.
This work continues state support of agricultural research, water quality, and nutrient management initiatives through research and the
implementation of BMP pilot projects. Increased knowledge of the effects of BMPs at various spatial scales on nitrogen and phosphorus loads to
surface waters of the MARB result from the implementation of projects by MARB states.
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
Illinois
Conduct Certified Livestock Manager training
workshops throughout the state.
Held 13 workshops, trained 584 producers;
currently license 992.
Ongoing
Plan 13 workshops in 2010.


Completed development of refined hydric soils
maps of the Illinois River Basin, in cooperation
with NRCS, for use in site selection by the
Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of
Greater Chicago for nutrient farming
consideration.
Completed


Use fertilizertonnage tax proceeds to support
research on nutrient use efficiency.
Ongoing


Funded $362,188 in projects, for reports. See



http://frec.cropsci.illinois.edu/2009



Support research on nutrient abatement trading
using constructed wetlands as an alternative to
conventional point source wastewater treatment.
Ongoing

FY 2010 Operating Plan
30

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
Illinois (cont)
Provide training for Soil and Water Conservation
District employees on preparation and review of
nutrient management plans.
42 SWCD employees certified in 2009.
Ongoing
Provide training to all employees not currently
certified.
Additional funding.

Supportthe Council on Best Management
Practices (C-BMP) Lake Bloomington watershed
project, which provides producers with incentive
payments for following nutrient BMPs. An
estimated 65% of all eligible acres will be enrolled
in the program in 2008.
Project no longer funded.
New project in the watershed is investigating
interactions between bioenergy, carbon
allowances, and water quality BMPs.


With additional sign-ups, over 70% of producers in
the watershed have a nutrient management plan.


Iowa
Continue development of the Iowa Drainage and
Wetland Landscape Systems Initiative for
reducing nutrients to water resources, and
achieve federal wetland regulatory and policy
concurrence.
Ongoing. Implement initial pilot projects to serve
as demonstrations and study sites to confirm
nutrient reductions and other benefits.
Continue the Iowa Wetlands Initiative Workgroup,
composed of seven federal and state agencies, to
develop and oversee pilot demonstration
monitoring, studies, and assessments.
Funding to expand monitoring
and assessments of pilots, and
for additional pilot projects.

Continue research under Wetlands, Nutrients and
Water Management, and Des Moines Lobe
Targeted Watershed Grant projects with Iowa
State University to develop new technologies and
improve water quality impacts of management
practices.
Ongoing


Continue Iowa Learning Farms demonstrations
and studies to improve water quality through crop
residue management practices, and Integrated
Farm and Livestock Management program to
demonstrate improved nutrient management
practices.
Ongoing

FY 2010 Operating Plan
31

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
w Watershed Nutrient
FY 2010 Operating Plan
V
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
Iowa (cont)
Continue use of fees paid by farmers on the sale
of agricultural chemicals to develop improved
practices for reducing nutrients to water
resources.
Ongoing

Louisiana
Support LA State Dept. of Agriculture and
Forestry, USDA, and LSU Agricultural Center
programs for developing nutrient management
and control plans for inclusion in BMPs.
Continued working with Louisiana Agriculture
partners at LA Dept. of Agriculture and Forestry,
USDA, and LSU to develop and refine nutrient-
specific BMPs. Results indicate that many
conventional BMPs are also effective for nutrient
removal in Louisiana.
Support federal, state, and university
development and application of BMPs for nutrient
reduction in runoff to state waterbodies.
Enhanced support and
application of most effective
Farm Bill programs for nutrient
reduction in targeted
waterbodies.

Implementation of nutrient BMPs in Louisiana
watershed pilot projects under Lower Mississippi
River Subbasin Committee. After several years of
BMP application and monitoring in Cabin-Teele
watershed as a pilot project, funding and staff
support was terminated due to funding cutbacks
in USDA/ARS. A new pilot project forthe Bayou
Macon watershed has been started to replace the
Cabin-Teele pilot project underthe newly
implemented Louisiana feig-funded Clean
Waters watershed program. Progress is
continuing in the other LMRSB Committee pilot
project for Coulee Baton Microwatershed Project.
BMPs that address sediment, bacteria, and
nutrient runoff are being applied, and a new local
sewage management program is being added.
Develop close working relationship with the new
watershed coordinator in the targeted Ouachita
River Basin to implement the Bayou Macon
watershed project. The project will include
nutrient BMP application and monitoring.
Continue to support and monitor BMP application
and nutrient reduction in Coulee Baton
Microwatershed Project. Implement local sewage
management component.
Seek specific funding source for
Lower Mississippi River Subbasin
Committee pilot projects.
32

-------
FY 2010 Operating Plan
V
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
Minnesota
Supportthe Technical Service Providertraining
program for nutrient management. Finished
report was issued 6/09 and is available at
http://tsp.umn.edu
Core inter-agency coordination is planned to
deliver additional courses and course
development.
Funding to develop the plan for
additional course.
Supportthe development of controlled drainage.
Research into the effectiveness of controlled
drainage in a cold climate is under way.
Promotion of controlled drainage is occurring by
the Minnesota Dept. of Agriculture and the
University of Minnesota. NRCS is considering
whether and howto include controlled drainage
in EQIP docket.
Agricultural Watershed Restoration Project to
look at hydrologic restoration compatible with
agricultural land use - MN Board of Water and Soil
Resources Phase 2 began - studies to evaluate
options and benefits of hydrologic restoration
practices.
Ongoing
Reports from the phase 2 studies are scheduled to
be submitted and reviewed in fall 2009, although
some studies have been extended.
Phase 3 - Implementation is to begin.
A portion of Phase 3 has been
funded by Clean Water Legacy
funds. Funding forthe rest of
Phase 3 is necessary.
Nitrogen reduction through wetland restoration
with tile outlets into restored wetlands -
Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources and
USDA NRCS. Received approximately $gM from
2009 legislative session.
CREP2 construction of wetlands continued.
Ongoing. Plan to begin construction of Phase 1 of
the Reinvest in Minnesota-Wetlands Reserve
Program (RIM-WRP) partnership wetlands.
Additional funding to continue
the RIM-WRP partnership to
construct additional wetlands.
"Highway 90 Drainage Project" monitoring
nutrients in subsurface drainage - MN Dept of
Agriculture.
Results to be presented at the Southern MN
Nutrient/Pest Management and Crop Production
Meeting 2/09.
Mississippi
Co-led newly created Delta Water Quality
Research Initiative. Initiative established and
functioning.
Ongoing
Federal support for monitoring
and assessment activities.
Nutrient Reduction Watershed Project evaluation
and assessment.
On hold until completion of implementation
phase of projects.
33

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
w Watershed Nutrient
FY 2010 Operating Plan
V
Lead Agency	FY 2009 Actions	FY 2010 Planned Actions	Critical Needs for 2011
Missouri	Through the Department of Natural Resources Continue to fund and monitor the SALT projects
Soil and Water Conservation Program, continue across the state,
to provide funding forthe Agriculture Nonpoint
Source Special Areas Land Treatment programs
(AgNPS SALT). These programs supports 72
active watershed projects, and an additional 12
are proposed for funding in 2008.
Through Missouri's Nonpoint Source Grant
Program (funded pursuant to § 319 of the Clean
Water Act), support projects that improve the
quality of Missouri's waters listed as impaired or
threatened by nonpoint source pollution. Includes
projects that reduce sediment, nitrogen, and
phosphorus on a watershed scale.
Fifteen million dollars has been dedicated from
the Soil and Water Programs reserve funds to
sustain the current AgNPS SALT across the state.
This funding will supportthese programs through
the year 2015.
Three targeted watersheds have been established
by the Department. Coordination between §319
program staff and Soil and Water Conservation
program is ongoing. Funding forthese
watersheds has been expanded by the Soil and
Water Program: $177,249 will be provided in
addition to the traditional district allocations for
those watersheds.
Ohio	Conduct a pilot study to further develop and test Ongoing
controlled drainage structures and bioreactor
treatment practices for tile outlets.
Share results of several pilot projects assessing Ongoing
the pollutant assimilative capabilities and other
ecological services of self-forming/wide-channel
designs in drained areas.
34

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
Ohio (cont)
Develop and publish a manual forthe
implementation of best practices for modified
channels for drained/tiled agricultural fields.
Ongoing
Finalize manual.

Tennessee
Continue to support research by the University of
Tennessee Institute of Agriculture in setting
conservative fertilizer recommendations for
agricultural crops, in orderto educate producers
regarding "most profitable yield" concept.
Continue to support educational outreach
programs such as Tennessee Yards and
Neighborhoods and educational efforts of urban
stormwater programs to focus on appropriate
fertilizer use principles.
Ongoing
Continuation of funding to
accomplish tasks.
Wisconsin
Develop phosphorus and nitrogen water-quality-
based indices for agricultural lands (pilot projects
in southwest corner of state).
Ongoing


Implement Discovery Watershed Approach (see
Senate Farm Bill).
Did not pass. Was not included in Farm Bill.


Promote cellulosic alternatives for ethanol
production.
Continue working with other agencies to promote
use of grasses and wood wastes for direct energy
production, i.e., state heating and cooling boilers.

FY 2010 Operating Plan
35

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
w Watershed Nutrient
FY 2010 Operating Plan
V
Lead Agency	FY 2009 Actions	FY 2010 Planned Actions	Critical Needs for 2011
US Environmental	EPA has awarded $3.7 million through its	Grant awards will be finalized in early FY 2010.
Protection Agency Targeted Watershed Grants Program that focus
(USEPA)	on water quality trading or other market-based
water quality projects to reduce nitrogen,
phosphorus, sediment, or other pollutant loadings
that cause low oxygen levels in the Northern Gulf
of Mexico.
The awardees include the Conservation
Technology and Information Center (CTIC), the
Electric Power Research Institute, Iowa State
University, the Miami Conservancy District, the
Nature Conservancy, Ohio State University, The
Wetlands Initiative, the University of Kentucky,
West Virginia University, and the World
Resources Institute. The projects are located in
the three Mississippi River subbasins with the
highest nutrient loads contributing to hypoxia in
the Northern Gulf of Mexico: the Ohio River, the
Upper Mississippi River, and the Lower Mississippi
River.
Release Upper Mississippi River (UMR) CEAP	Commitment to use NRI to assess
report early in FY10.	trends relating to nutrients.
Complete CEAP assessment for other subbasins -
will continue into FY11.
monitoring progress/trends.
US Department of Provide Conservation Effects Assessment Project
Agriculture (USDA) (CEAP) results relating to nutrients and the Upper
Mississippi Subbasin. Assessment completed;
next steps:
Conduct technical review of Upper MS CEAP
report.
Release Upper MS CEAP report.
Complete CEAP assessment of effects of
conservation practices for other subbasins
within MARB.
Interpret CEAP results, identify potential program
improvements, and develop strategies for using
National Research Initiative (NRI)/CEAP for
36

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
USDA (cont)
CEAP was initiated by NRCS, ARS, and the
Cooperative State Research, Education, and
Extension Service (CSREES) in response to a
general call for better accountability of how
society would benefit from the 2002 Farm Bill's
substantial increase in conservation program
funding. The original goals of CEAP were to
estimate conservation benefits for reporting at
the national and regional levels and to establish
the scientific understanding of the effects and
benefits of conservation practices at the
watershed scale. As CEAP evolved, the scope was
expanded to provide research and assessment on
how to best use conservation practices in
managing agricultural landscapes to protect and
enhance environmental quality.


CEAP activities are organized into three


interconnected efforts:


Bibliographies, literature reviews, and scientific


workshops to establish what is known about


the environmental effects of conservation


practices at the field and watershed scales.


National and regional assessments to estimate


the environmental effects and benefits of


conservation practices on the landscape and


to estimate technical review of UMR CEAP


report complete conservation treatment


needs. The four components are Cropland,


Wetlands, Grazing lands (including rangeland,


pastureland, and grazed forest land), and


Wildlife.

FY 2010 Operating Plan
37

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions Critical Needs for 2011
USDA (cont)
Watershed studies to provide in-depth
quantification of water quality and soil quality
impacts of conservation practices at the local
level and to provide insight on what practices
are the most effective and where they are
needed within a watershed to achieve
environmental goals.


Provide results from ARS's Water Availability and
Watershed Management National Program
(National Program #211) on methods for reducing
nutrients from agricultural systems.
Ongoing. Highlights of hypoxia-related
accomplishments from past year can be found at
http://www.ars.usda.gov/SP2UserFiles/Pr0gram/
2ii/NP%202iiFYogSel Accomp.pdf.

Expand Conservation Reserve Program's
Farmable Wetlands Program to include land on
which a constructed wetland is to be developed
that will receive flow from a row-crop agriculture
drainage system and is designed to provide
nitrogen removal in addition to other wetland
functions.
Ongoing
USDA-Agricultural
Research Service (ARS)
CEAP ARS Watershed Assessment Studies. These
Agricultural Research Service watershed studies
provide information needed to verify the accuracy
of models used in the National Assessment.
Fourteen watersheds were selected with a focus
on water and soil quality and water conservation
as primary resource concerns on rain-fed
agricultural land.
Ongoing. The STEWARDS watershed data system
permits a user to assess diverse data related to
ARS research watersheds. The data system is now
available at
http://129.186.109.10/stewards.!.
Other CEAP highlights from 2009 can be found at
http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Technical/nri/ceap/
watershed.html
http://www.ars.usda.gov/SP2UserFiles/Pr0gram/
2ii/CEAP%2oNational%2oAD-42i%2020og.pdf.
US Department of the
Interior (USDOI)-
National Park Service
(NPS)
Evaluate (through monitoring and modeling) the
success of nutrient management practices applied
in the St. Croix and Lake Pepin watersheds.
Ongoing
FY 2010 Operating Plan
38

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
w Watershed Nutrient
FY 2010 Operating Plan
V
5. Identify and, where possible, quantify the effects of the hypoxic zone on the economic, human, and natural resources in the
Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin and Northern Gulf of Mexico, including the benefits of actions to reduce nitrogen and
phosphorus and the costs of alternative management strategies.
Coordinating Committee Action Lead: NOAA, USDA
Summary of Expected Results
These actions further the analysis of the economic costs of alternative management options for reducing nutrient loads from the agriculture sector,
as well as identify strategies (including critical needs) for expanding research on the biological and economic impacts of hypoxia on Gulf natural
resources.
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
Iowa
Completed study of assessing the costs of
achieving the target nutrient reductions at large-
watershed scale through the Cedar River
watershed study to assess the costs and needed
management practices to meet the nutrient
reduction targets of the hypoxia goal.
Complete the final report and
publish/disseminate the report and findings

Louisiana
Partner with NOAA on Ecological Impacts of Gulf
Hypoxia on Living Resources. Attended 2008
meeting with Northern Gulf Institute and NOAA
on progress in identifying ecological impacts of
hypoxia on living resources. Meeting
concentrated on management of existing data
and further refinement to enhance data
assessment on hypoxia impacts.
Participate in NOAA-sponsored hypoxia research
workshop planned for 2009 looking at improving
monitoring and data management capabilities
and assessment of fishery impacts.
Maintaining adequate funding
support for NOAA and other
federal agencies for hypoxia
monitoring and assessment.
National Oceanic and
Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA)

Conduct workshop on the application of hypoxia
impact studies to fisheries management
activities, and foster collaboration between
hypoxia researchers and fisheries scientists and
managers.

39

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
w Watershed Nutrient
FY 2010 Operating Plan
V
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
NOAA (cont)
Continued funding and management of the Gulf
of Mexico Ecosystems and Hypoxia Assessment
(NGOMEX) research program.
Initiation of project to assess the economic
impacts of the hypoxic zone on the brown shrimp
fishery through the development of a shrimp
bioeconomic model.
Continued research on the reproductive impacts
of hypoxia on Atlantic croaker. Initiate modeling
effort to scale up the physiological findings to
population-level effects through both population
and croaker movement modeling.
Initiate project to develop quantitative tools to
probabilistically forecast the production of
economically and ecologically important fishes,
which include Gulf menhaden, bay anchovy,
Atlantic bumper, and Spanish bumper in
response to hypoxia. Food web interactions will
also be explored and incorporated into the
models through exploration of fish/zooplankton
predator-prey interactions.
Additional funding forfull
implementation of tier 3 of the
Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia
Monitoring Implementation Plan.
(See Action 9 for Implementation
Plan funding levels.)
Hypoxia appropriations increased
to levels authorized underthe
Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia
Research and Control Act
(HABHRCA).
U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers (USACE)
USACE - Engineer Research and Development
Center (ERDC): Build data collection/monitoring
into project actions. By 8/08, evaluate some
possible quantification efforts such as
contributing to NGOMEX.
On hold. No funds identified to move forward on
this action.
Funding - Need about $iooK for
ERDC to move forward.
US Department of
Agriculture (USDA)
Analyzed the economic costs of alternative
management options for reducing nutrient loads
from the agriculture sector. Committee on
Environment and Natural Resources (CENR)
update.
Ongoing
40

-------
.	Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
6. Coordinate, consolidate, and improve access to data collected by state and federal agencies on Gulf hypoxia and
Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin program activities and results.
Coordinating Committee Action Lead: ERDC (USACE)
Summary of Expected Results
These actions will cumulatively help to determine information needs and strategies to address gaps, inconsistencies, data sharing, and comparability
issues.
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
Lower Mississippi River
Subbasin Committee
(LMRSBC)
Completion of report summarizing data sources
for nutrient loading and removal in lower
Mississippi River Basin.
Completed

Iowa
Continue assessing nutrient load reductions from
all Iowa-funded and -led conservation programs.
Ongoing


Assist USDA in assessing nutrient load
reductions from all federally funded Farm Bill
conservation programs conducted in Iowa.
Ongoing

FY 2010 Operating Plan
41

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
w Watershed Nutrient
FY 2010 Operating Plan
V
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
Support NOAA and other state, university, and
federal partners in identifying and consolidating
data and information collected on northern Gulf
of Mexico hypoxia for improved access and
assessment. Attended meeting organized by
Northern Gulf Institute (NGI) and NOAA at
Stennis Space Center in 2008 on hypoxia
assessment and data management. Supported
NGI, NOAA, and participating federal and state
agencies and universities in seeking approaches
to Gulf data management. LDEQ received EPA
grant for project called "Ecological Assessment
of the Mississippi River in Louisiana." Grant
amount: $158,761. Contract period: 5/08-12/09.
Project includes monitoring nutrient and other
ecological conditions at 16 stations on
Louisiana's lower Mississippi River and provides
for data assessment, management, and storage.
Project is a collaborative effort under the EPA
National Rivers and Streams Assessment with
Lower Mississippi River Conservation Committee
(LMRCC) and Mississippi River federal and state
agencies, including MDEQ.
Continue to develop electronic submittal of
Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMRs) for
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
(NPDES)-permitted facilities. Electronic
signature issue was resolved.
Continue implementation of Hydstra for storage,
management and sharing of data from stream
gauges and sampling. Electronic audit of 2008
data was run in 3/09. Staff is working though
issues that arose.
eLINK reporting of phosphorus and sediment
reductions associated with BMPs.
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
Louisiana
Attend and participate in NOAA 2/10 workshop
on hypoxia monitoring, data exchange and
access. Workshop to develop Hypoxia
Monitoring Implementation Plan and schedule
2010 Hypoxia Zone monitoring. Finish compiling
and evaluating data from Mississippi River
project. Compare nutrient data in Louisiana with
nutrient data from upriver states for a first-ever
Lower Mississippi River cooperative nutrient
assessment.
Funding for second round of
Lower Mississippi River ecological
monitoring. Lower River has
received considerably less funding
than upper river and is the critical
link to the Gulf of Mexico and Gulf
Hypoxia.
Minnesota
Ongoing. Starting in September 2009, two
organizations will be able to submit DMRs
electronically through the MPCA Online Services
Portal. This will be for 11 facilities with the
largest volume of data submitted.
Increasing the functionality of the
Online Services Portal.
Continue to enhance the cooperative stream
gauge Web site.
Ability to make the data more
electronically accessible to other
programs.
The reporting system needs an
improved nitrogen reduction
component.
42

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
Mississippi
Continue participation with Regional Technical
Advisory Group (RTAG) and EPA Region 4.
Ongoing


Support the Lower Mississippi River
Conservation Committee's collaborative efforts
to Implement EPA's National Flowing Waters
Assessment of the Lower Mississippi River.
MDEQ is working with LMRCC member states
Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, and
Kentucky to implement water quality monitoring
activities on the lower Mississippi River. During
FY09, data recently collected by MDEQ will be
analyzed and assessed.
Completed monitoring; assessment of data
ongoing.

Missouri
Continue participation with RTAG and EPA
Region 7. All nutrient data available to the state
are made available to this workgroup.
Ongoing

Ohio
Share information and developments related to
our soil and water information management
systems (e.g., aggregating load reductions) and
Ohio's new geographic information system (GIS)
database project.
Ongoing

Tennessee
Continue to input watershed project data into
the EPA Grants Reporting and Tracking System.
Ongoing
Continuation of funding to
accomplish tasks.
Wisconsin
Developed a "Tributary Monitoring Plan"
including a better information base for nutrient
loading and to be able to assess improvements
on a smaller-area scale overtime.
Upper Mississippi River Tributary analysis to be
set up so data are collected consistently for
parameters, analysis, and for multiple states with
consistent frequency (St. Croix, Chippewa, Black,
Wisconsin Rivers).
Developed, but funding not available to
implement.

FY 2010 Operating Plan
43

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
w Watershed Nutrient
FY 2010 Operating Plan
V
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
US Environmental
Protection Agency
(USEPA)
EPA/USGS: Continue to enhance the
coordinated delivery of information from
National Water Information System
(NWIS)/STORET.
Ongoing

National Oceanic and
Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA)
Continued development of a data portal to
maximize accessibility to, and exchange of,
hypoxia data as called for in tier 1 of Gulf of
Mexico Hypoxia Monitoring Implementation
Plan.
Continue to make available data from
monitoring cruises and other projects through
NOAA National Coastal Data Development
Center.
Ongoing
Funding for Data Management
core system requirement (tier 1) of
Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia
Monitoring Implementation Plan.


Hypoxic zone monitoring implementation plan
meeting to advance effort to identify potential
funding sources, additional partners, and
collaborators.
Full implementation of monitoring
plan.
U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers (USACE)
Compiled available data on nutrient loading and
removal in the Lower Mississippi River Subbasin;
however, project on hold with no funds to move
forward.
On hold due to lack of funding.
ERDC could use about $20oK for
the effort, leveraged against work
for Goal 5.

Distribute Task Force material throughout the
Corps and to partners. Distributed 2008 Action
Plan material.
Will continue to distribute as needed. All six
Mississippi Valley Division (MVD) districts and
regional partners have a copy of the 2008 Action
Plan or have been sent a linktothe plan.
National leaders received copies or links as well.

US Department of the
Interior (USDOI) - US
Geological Survey
(USGS)
EPA/USGS: Continue to enhance the
coordinated delivery of information from
NWIS/STORET.
Ongoing. Initial web services to integrate access
to USGS and EPA data bases are available at
http://qwwebservices.usgs.gov
Work with USDA-ARS on strengthening our
collaboration with the ARS STEWARDS CEAP
data sets through the qw web services.

44

-------
V
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
w Watershed Nutrient
FY 2010 Operating Plan
7. Track interim progress on the actions to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus by producing an annual report on federal and state
programs' nutrient reduction activities and results.
Coordinating Committee Action Lead: EPA
Summary of Expected Results
These actions result in the development of a report tracking federal and state nutrient reduction activities, results, and progress on the
implementation of the 2008 Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan.
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
Illinois
Implement system to track estimated reductions
in nutrient losses for all cost-shared conservation
practices.
Ongoing for all Illinois Department of Agriculture
and section 319 projects.

Iowa
Continue assessing nutrient load reductions from
all Iowa funded and led conservation programs.
Ongoing


Assist USDA in assessing nutrient load
reductions from all federally-funded Farm Bill
conservation programs conducted in Iowa.
Ongoing

Louisiana
Work closely with state, university, USDA, EPA,
and other agencies and groups to track Louisiana
nutrient reduction activity. Planning Meeting -
April 10, 2008. Attended and Participated in all
2008 USDA State Technical Committee
meetings to discuss BMP application and
nutrient reduction. NRCS has been cooperating
with LDEQ to develop approaches to quantifying
nutrient reduction activity in targeted
watersheds for state reporting. For point
sources, LDEQ has supported a 2009 proposal by
the University of New Orleans to revise a 2000
report on nutrient discharges to the Mississippi
River. The proposal, if funded, will allow
assessment of nutrient reduction activity in the
Mississippi River. It was submitted in response to
an RFP from EPA's Gulf of Mexico Program
Office.
Continue work with Louisiana USDA offices to
quantify nutrient reductions on Louisiana
agricultural lands with emphasis on targeted
watersheds with significant nutrient drainage to
the Gulf of Mexico. If funded, track progress on
Mississippi River nutrient discharge study and
work with river industries and municipalities to
assess the data and check progress on river
nutrient reductions.
National support for Farm Bill
programs showing significant
nutrient reduction potential.
Target support for EQIP, CRP,
WRP, andCREP.
45

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
w Watershed Nutrient
FY 2010 Operating Plan
V
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
Louisiana (cont)
Participate in National Flowing Waters
Assessment, including water quality, sediment,
and biological monitoring forthe lower
Mississippi River. Completed field collections in
11/08 for EPA-funded National Rivers and
Streams Assessment (NRSA) project, "Ecological
Assessment of the Mississippi River in
Louisiana." All data were QA/QC checked in the
field and sent to appropriate EPA laboratories for
analysis. Review of laboratory results is ongoing,
and final report preparation has begun.
Upon completion of the final report, conduct a
thorough review of project results with Louisiana
partner agencies LA Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries and USGS for indications of need for
further research and for management
opportunities. Also collaborate with upriver
states of Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee,
Kentucky, and Missouri to compile and analyze
Lower Mississippi River water quality data with
emphasis on nutrients.
The 2008 EPA NRSA of the Lower
Mississippi River was the first-ever
holistic study of water and
ecological quality. No study of this
magnitude had been conducted
despite the significant economic
and ecological importance of the
lower river. More financial support
for holistic water quality and
ecological work comparable to the
2008 project is justified and
needed to adequately document
the nutrient relationships between
the Lower Mississippi River and
Gulf of Mexico.
Mississippi
Work closely with state, university, USDA, EPA,
and other agencies and groups to track
Mississippi nutrient reduction activities.
Ongoing
Report tracking of CWA §319 NPS-funded
nutrient reduction watershed projects through
the Grant Reporting and Tracking System
(GRTS).
Ongoing
Missouri
Continue implementation of the Missouri Soil
and Water Information Management System
(MoSWIMS). The system is designed to
automate tracking and application procedures
forthe matrix of agricultural BMPs that are
offered through the Department of Natural
Resources Soil and Water Conservation Program.
The system has application in developing models
to estimate load reductions associated with the
various cost-share practices. MoSWIMS is now
field applied to all 114 district offices, and efforts
to refine the system and expand capabilities are
underway.
An effort to include a mapping and project-
planning function is under way. The goal is to be
able to spatially place the practices supported by
the $47 million Soil and Water Program with
respect to location within state watersheds. The
function will be used to assist in modeling
benefits of the stewardship practices occurring
within those watersheds.
46

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
w Watershed Nutrient
FY 2010 Operating Plan
V
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
Missouri (cont)
Continue developing the Conservation
Management Tool (CMT), an interactive
mapping and data-collection system. This tool is
being designed to facilitate on-site planning and
design of soil and water cost-share practices and
will map and record individual activities directly
in an interactive GIS database. The goal is to
interface the CMT tool with MoSWIMS (see
above) software to provide both project tracking
and special data on practice implementation.
Continued work with IT staff and University of
Missouri partners.

Tennessee
Coordinate with conservation agencies on
methods to track nutrient reduction progress.
Ongoing

Wisconsin
Issued 28 grants for nutrient management and
reduction projects in 2009, 45 in 2008, and 17 in
2007.
Ongoing
Annual phosphorus load tracking for point
sources to begin in 2010.

US Environmental
Protection Agency
(USEPA)
Developed framework for Task Force annual
report on federal and state nutrient reduction
activities and results.
Created Coordinating Committee Workgroup for
report development.
Completed the development of the annual
report and presented it atthe 18th annual Task
Force meeting. Created quantitative indicator
working group and success story working group
with members of federal and state agencies.
Continue to improve upon framework for annual
report and engage working groups.

National Oceanic and
Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA)
Annual prediction on size of hypoxic zone.
Ongoing
Continued financial support for
NGOMEX program, which is
funding projects to improve
predictive capabilities, with a goal
of increased accuracy and 6-
month forecasts.
47

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
w Watershed Nutrient
FY 2010 Operating Plan
V
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
NOAA (cont)
Annual monitoring survey of hypoxic zone to
assess progress toward Action Plan goals.
Ongoing
Secured funding for sustaining and
expanding monitoring of the
hypoxic zone through the Gulf of
Mexico Hypoxia Monitoring
Implementation Plan.
US Department of
Agriculture (USDA)
Collected FY08 data on conservation practices
and summarize basin totals. Data available at:
http://wmc.ar.nrcs.usda.gov/partnerships/MSRB/
Results.html.



Estimate and report CRP nutrient reductions for
MRB. Produced 2008 CRP annual report.


US Department of the
Interior (USDOI)-
National Park Service
(NPS)
Annually provide nutrient load estimates from a
gauge site atthe mouth of the St. Croix River,
installed to track progress toward nutrient
reduction goals.
Ongoing

USDOI-US Geological
Survey (USGS)
Provided spring (April/May) nutrient loads from
MARB and annual nutrient loads from MARB and
its subbasins, reported in 7/08 and 11/08,
respectively.
Ongoing. Nutrient loads posted at
http://toxics.usgs.gov/hypoxia/mississippi/
oct_jun/index.html.
Estimate spring nutrient loads - anticipated
release in 6/10. Estimate annual nutrient loads
for Water Year 2009 (Oct-Sept) from MARB and
its subbasins - anticipated release in 5/10.

48

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
w Watershed Nutrient
FY 2010 Operating Plan
V
8. Continue to reduce existing scientific uncertainties identified in the Science Advisory Board and the Monitoring, Modeling, and
Research (MMR) Workgroup reports regarding source, fate, and transport of nitrogen and phosphorus in the surface waters of the
Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin to continually improve the accuracy of management tools and efficacy of management
strategies for nutrient reduction.
Coordinating Committee Action Lead: USGS, Ohio
Summary of Expected Results
Management action to mitigate hypoxia in the northern Gulf of Mexico and to improve water-quality conditions in the Mississippi River Basin
requires a base of scientific knowledge encompassing geographic scales and scientific disciplines that are required by few other national
environmental challenges. Implementation of this action will continue to reduce scientific uncertainties, which is necessary to implement the Task
Force Action Plan in a manner that enables management actions to adapt to new and changing scientific information.
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
Illinois
Report on long-term nitrate monitoring in the
Upper Sangamon (Lake Decatur) watershed.
Project no longer funded.


Report on impacts of market-based mechanisms
on nutrient loading from agricultural watersheds.
Ongoing; ends 12/09.


Sediment and nutrient monitoring at selected
watersheds within the Illinois River watershed for
evaluation of the effectiveness of the Illinois
River CREP.
Ongoing
Funding to expand monitoring and
evaluation.

For 2008 annual report see:



http://dnr.state.il.us/orc/conservation_programs/
crep/i2-30%2ofinal%2oCREP%2oReport
%202008.pdf



Hydrologic and hydraulic model development for
the Illinois River Basin.
Completed

49

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
Iowa
Continue water quality monitoring to document
performance of nitrogen-removal wetlands
developed underthe Iowa CREP.
Ongoing


Continue water quality monitoring of the
Wetlands, Nutrients and Water Management
research and Des Moines Lobe Targeted
Watershed Grant projects
Ongoing

Louisiana
Evaluate nutrient concentrations and water
quality in Mississippi River from three long-term
monthly monitoring stations and other
documented data sources.
Ongoing

Minnesota
Continue the Watershed Pollutant Load
Monitoring program. Annual report of pollutant
loads from each watershed targeted for 3/09
(which would be the first report).
Ongoing

Mississippi
Development of pilot nutrient criteria for a
Mississippi estuary.
Ongoing
Continued funding support from
Gulf of Mexico Program Office.

Research to characterize macrobenthic
subsystem function that may respond to hypoxia
and other stressors. Dr. Chet Rakocinski of the
University of Southern Mississippi (USM) is
leading a project, "Macrofaunal Indicators of
Hypoxia," which is a collaborative effort with
another USM project, "Monitoring and
Assessment for Ecosystem Management." These
projects are attempting to characterize the
macrobenthic subsystem function that may
respond to hypoxia and other stressors.
Ongoing.
Completion date: 9/30/10.

FY 2010 Operating Plan
50

-------
FY 2010 Operating Plan

Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
Mississippi (cont)
This project is aimed at understanding coastal
nutrient, carbon, and trace element fluxes in
several key environments off the Mississippi
Coast. The overarching goal is to better
understand the transport and processing of
nutrients and pollutants through the coastal
transition zone. More specifically, the project
focuses on issues of coastal eutrophication,
fluxes of carbon through the coastal
environment, and hypoxia in the Mississippi
Bight. The hypoxia monitoring effort in this
project would complement the eastern extension
in hypoxic zone monitoring proposed as a core
system requirement in the Gulf hypoxia
Monitoring Implementation Plan.
Ongoing
$324,700 from NOAA (through
Northern Gulf Institute).

Pilot studies to evaluate the use of Mississippi
wetlands fortreated wastewater assimilation.
Ongoing

51

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
w Watershed Nutrient
FY 2010 Operating Plan
V
Lead Agency	FY 2009 Actions	FY 2010 Planned Actions	Critical Needs for 2011
Mississippi (cont)	USACE (through the Delta Water Quality	Ongoing	Continued funding support
Research Initiative) - Establish long-term	through EPA programs, USGS,
monitoring stations in the Mississippi Delta. The	and USACE.
USGS will install and operate 12 real-time
hydrologic and water-quality monitoring stations
in the Yazoo River Basin along the Big Sunflower
and Yazoo rivers. The purpose of the project is to
collect sufficient hydrologic, suspended-
sediment, nutrient, and water quality data to
describe current hydrologic and water-quality
conditions of streams in the basin, describe
spatial and temporal variations in the hydrologic
characteristics of the streams monitored, and
compute annual loads of sediment and nutrients.
Eight stations will be established as permanent
stations at fixed locations on larger streams for
which historical data exist. Four additional
stations will be established to collect baseline
data on smaller streams. Where possible,
remediation efforts or BMPs will be
implemented. At these four stations, data will
typically be collected for 3 years before the
stations are relocated to other streams of
interest. Data produced through this initiative
will be used to improved water quality models
for nutrient transport, water quality criteria
development, waste load allocation
development, and TMDL development. This
action was developed through consultation with
the Delta Water Quality Research Initiative.
Funding is provided by the USACE, MDEQ, and
USGS.
52

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
w Watershed Nutrient
FY 2010 Operating Plan
V
Lead Agency	FY 2009 Actions	FY 2010 Planned Actions	Critical Needs for 2011
Mississippi (cont)	USACE (through the Delta Water Quality	Ongoing
Research Initiative) - Denitrification in the
surface waters of the Big Sunflower Basin,
Mississippi. Current nutrient load models rely on
denitrification coefficients developed in the
Midwest. The purpose of this work is to
determine Yazoo Basin-specific coefficients to
better describe and model processes occurring
within the Yazoo Basin. The USGS will study
denitrification in the Big Sunflower River and its
majortributaries. The objective of this study will
be to determine whetherthere is significant
denitrification occurring in the streams of the Big
Sunflower Basin and to determine a
denitrification rate and the total mass of
nitrogen lost from the rivers due to
denitrification. This action was developed
through consultation with the Delta Water
Quality Research Initiative.
USACE (through the Delta Water Quality	Ongoing
Research Initiative) - Evaluating the Role of
Ground- and Surface-Water Interaction on the
Transport of Nutrients in the Big Sunflower
Basin, Mississippi. The USGS will study the role
of ground water and surface water interaction on
the transport of nutrients. The objective of this
work is to answertwo questions, the second
related to the first: (1) What is the total flux
(movement of water) between streams in the Big
Sunflower Basin and the alluvial aquifer? (2) How
does this affect water quality in the basin? This
action was developed through consultation with
the Delta Water Quality Research Initiative.
53

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
w Watershed Nutrient
FY 2010 Operating Plan
V
Lead Agency	FY 2009 Actions	FY 2010 Planned Actions	Critical Needs for 2011
Mississippi (cont)	USACE through the Delta Water Quality	Ongoing
Research Initiative - Characterize the occurrence
of phosphorus inthe Mississippi Rivervalley
alluvial aquifer in the Mississippi Delta. Recently
the USGS and other agencies have reported that
certain aquifers may produce groundwater with
higher phosphorus concentrations than
previously thought. In many areas summer
stream flow is augmented by irrigation runoff. It
is possible that in some areas of the Mississippi
Delta, in-stream phosphorus concentrations may
be influenced more by groundwater quality than
by conventional agricultural activities, such that
these ground-water-supplemented streams
exceed the proposed total phosphorus criterion.
The USGS will evaluate the spatial distribution of
dissolved phosphorus concentrations in ground
water within the Mississippi Delta. These data
can be used to help determine irrigation runoff/
dissolved phosphorus impact on delta streams
with regard to TMDLs and nutrient criteria. This
action was developed through consultation with
the Delta Water Quality Research Initiative.
USACE (through the Delta Water Quality	Continued funding through
Research Initiative) - Implement pre- and post- USACE programs.
project nutrient monitoring of edge-of-field
sediment reduction control structures installed
along Steele Bayou below the Yazoo National
Wildlife Refuge. In FY10, USACE will add two
additional sites to include pre-project monitoring
of nutrient runoff and will add nutrient
monitoring to the existing four sediment-
monitoring sites. This monitoring effort is
intended to document incremental sediment and
nutrient reduction from construction of sediment
control structures.
54

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
w Watershed Nutrient
FY 2010 Operating Plan
V
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
Missouri
As part of a 2-year expansion, 31 new gauges
were added to rivers and streams across the
state. Added water quality monitoring (nutrients,
etc.) to four gauges in the Elk River watershed.
Continue to provide funding to the University of
Missouri for ongoing monitoring of nutrients for
100 lakes in Missouri.
Ongoing
Wisconsin
Failed to initiate long-term load monitoring
stations with USGS due to lack of funding.
Project on hold due to lack of funding.
Collect baseline nitrogen monitoring data from
point sources.
Nitrogen was added to the point source permits
application monitoring requirement, and
monitoring is ongoing.
US Environmental
Protection Agency
(USEPA)
Improve and use hydrologic models, including
SPARROW, to identify watersheds within the
MARB with the greatest loadings of nitrogen and
phosphorus.
Ongoing. EPA HQ continues to work with USGS
to refine SPARROW and to apply the revised
model to various applications in the MRB. EPA
AWPD Watershed Branch convened a meeting in
July in Washington, DC, with USGS and Region 5
staff.
EPA HQ will continue to work with USGS to
refine SPARROW and to apply the revised model
to various applications in the MRB.
Gulf of Mexico Program funded and began
cooperative agreement work with MDEQ on St.
Louis Bay pilot nutrient criteria project,
"Development of Pilot Nutrient Criteria for a
Mississippi Estuary."
Need point source data on effluent
flows and concentrations (missing
from EPA's Permit and
Compliance System) to improve
definition of nutrient sources
within the MARB.
Further analysis of nutrient
pollution contributions from point
sources and non-agricultural
sectors, including a full analysis of
costs.
Identify and apply regional models
to characterize sources, loads,
ecosystem responses, and
socioeconomic impacts of
nutrients.
55

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
US Department of the
Interior (USDOI)-
National Park Service
(NPS)
Complete a two-park project (St. Croix and
Mississippi Rivers) with USGS to assess the role
of riverine backwaters in cycling nutrients.
Ongoing
Fill gap in monitoring network.
Obtain funding.
Complete a nitrogen source study on Lake St.
Croix to evaluate the importance of point vs.
nonpoint source nitrogen contributions to the
Lower St. Croix National Scenic Riverway.
Ongoing


Continue long-term monitoring of nutrients
through the NPS Inventory and Monitoring
Network.
Ongoing


Continue to emphasize the importance of key
USGS stream gauging stations, offering NPS
support fortheir continued operation when
necessary.
Ongoing



Begin a study on Identifying hypoxia effects on
natural resources at Jean Lafitte Historical Park
and Reserve, and identify strategies to reduce
excessive nutrients.

FY 2010 Operating Plan
56

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
w Watershed Nutrient
FY 2010 Operating Plan
V
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
USDOI-US Geological
Survey (USGS)
Continued stream flow and water quality
measurements to compute nutrient loadings and
detect trends in the MARB; added sampling at
Mississippi River at Vicksburg.
Ongoing
Funding to restore monitoring
network to add sites previously
dropped from USGS monitoring
networks in MARB National
Stream Quality Accounting
Network (NASQAN) and National
Water-Quality Assessment
Program (NAWQA).

Continue collecting data and information on
nutrient levels in the Upper Mississippi River
Basin (Long-Term Resource Monitoring
Program).
USGS/USACE: Continue research and
monitoring on riverine ecosystems, processes,
and biota, including long-term monitoring of
water quality and other ecological variables in
the Upper Mississippi River and tributaries in
collaboration with USFWS, Minnesota,
Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, and Illinois
(http://www.umesc.usgs.gov).
Planning to update bathymetry of Upper
Mississippi River in 2010.


Continue development of new regional scale
Spatially Referenced Regressions on Watershed
Attributes (SPARROW) models.
Ongoing
Anticipated release of regional models is fall
2010.


Operation of continuously measured nitrate at
two sites on the Mississippi and Atchafalaya
rivers until 1/09, when funding was discontinued.
If funding becomes available, operate real-time
nitrate analyzers at Mississippi River-Baton
Rouge and Atchafalaya River-Morgan City.
Funding - Need about $35,000 per
site.


SPARROW model application and development:
Apply SPARROW model to evaluate the water
quality effects of increased corn and ethanol
production; Continue development of time-
based SPARROW model; continue development
of national sediment SPARROW model.

57

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
9. Continue to reduce uncertainty about the relationship between nitrogen and phosphorus loads and the formation, extent, duration,
and severity of the hypoxic zone, to best monitor progress toward, and inform adaptive management of, the Coastal Goal.
Coordinating Committee Action Lead: NOAA, MS
Summary of Expected Results
This work aims to develop long-term research and monitoring strategies, and identify barriers to implementation (including lack of funding).
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
Louisiana
Work with NOAA, EPA, Louisiana Universities
Marine Consortium (LUMCON), LSU, Texas A&M,
and other universities on continuing to document
the severity and causes of Gulf hypoxia and to
meet the Action Plan Goals. Attended hypoxia
meetings sponsored by NOAA and Northern Gulf
Institute (NGI) with EPA, USGS, and other federal
agencies and Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas
universities doing research in the Gulf of Mexico.
Plans are being made for attending 2/10 workshop
on hypoxia fishery impacts and monitoring
innovations. One of workshop goals is to revise
and update the Gulf Hypoxia Monitoring
Implementation Plan.
Task Force support for continued
funding of shelf-wide hypoxia
monitoring to assess Action Plan
Goals.
Mississippi
Characterization of Nutrient Sources, Fate, and
Transport across the Gulf Region. Start Date:
10/09; Completion Date: 9/11.
Ongoing
Continued funding from NOAA.

Development of an Index of Biotic Integrity and a
Waterbody Classification System for the Gulf of
Mexico. Start Date: 10/08; Completion Date: 9/11.
Ongoing
Continued funding from NOAA.

Monitoring and Assessment of Coastal and Marine
Ecosystems in the Northern Gulf (NASA). Start
Date: 2/08; Completion Date: 1/09.
Ongoing
Continued funding and technical
support from NASA.
FY 2010 Operating Plan
58

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
US Environmental
Protection Agency
(USEPA)
Gulf Hypoxia Modeling and Research Support. In
FY 2009, reported on new suite of multiple
regression models for hindcasting and forecasting
hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico. Also reported on
development and application of mass balance
models forthe northern Gulf of Mexico hypoxic
zone.
Reports/publications on physical and
biogeochemical processes and models linking
near coastal waterto continental shelf hypoxia in
the northern Gulf of Mexico.
Shelf-wide assessment of sediment
biogeochemical processes, carbon deposition, and
metabolism to improve modeling of sediment-
water column exchange and its significance to
hypoxia.


Interagency Agreement between EPA/ Office of
Research and Development (ORD) and Naval
Research Laboratory - Support for Gulf Hypoxia
Modeling and Linking Satellite Ocean Color
Remote Sensing and Hydrodynamic Modeling to
Understand the Mechanisms Regulating Hypoxia
in the Northern Gulf of Mexico. Hydrodynamic
model (2-km spatial resolution) calibration
ongoing.
Develop new algorithms to improve the
eutrophication model, and linkages of the
hydrodynamic and eutrophication models
Develop new remote sensing algorithms to
estimate biogeochemical parameters to improve
coupled hydrodynamic-eutrophication modeling
of the hypoxic zone.


Region 6 Regional Applied Research Effort (RARE)
project - Development of a Relational Database to
Aid in Modeling and Managing WaterQuality in
the Gulf of Mexico Hypoxic Zone. Datasets from
EPA/Gulf Ecology Division (GED), LUMCON,
Nutrient Enhanced Coastal Ocean Productivity
(NECOP), Louisiana-Texas Shelf Physical
Oceanography Program (LATEX), Southeast Area
Monitoring and Assessment Program (SEAMAP)
formatted and QA/QC'd.
Final reportto Region 6 due 12/09.
Region 6 RARE project - Development of an
Approach to Establish Numeric Nutrient Criteria
forthe Northern Gulf of Mexico Hypoxic Zone
(proposed at $2ooK; partially funded at $8oK).
Additional funding to complete
tasks in work plan.
FY 2010 Operating Plan
59

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
w Watershed Nutrient
FY 2010 Operating Plan
V
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
USEPA (cont)
Gulf Hypoxia Modeling and Research Support.
A suite of qualitative and quantitative
indicators were included in the development of
the 2009 annual report as an update to the
Action Plan.
Gulf of Mexico Program reports on a new suite
of multiple regression models for hindcasting
and forecasting hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico,
as well as development and application of
mass balance models forthe northern Gulf of
Mexico hypoxic zone.
Continued funding for indicator development,
data source identification, and continued
monitoring support.
Additional indicators will be explored and
reported on forthe FY10 annual report.
Identify methods and data
needed to estimate ecosystem
and socioeconomic impacts of
excess nutrients.
Identify and develop
environmental and biological
indicators or nutrient impacts.
National Oceanic and
Atmospheric
Administration
(NOAA)
Continued funding and management of NGOMEX
research program.
Hypoxia modeling workshop to foster
collaboration and explore mechanisms to
integrate modeling approaches and types.
Hypoxic zone monitoring implementation plan
meeting to advance effort to identify potential
funding sources, additional partners, and
collaborators.
Continued development of predictive models to
advance understanding of the relationship
between the hypoxic zone and nutrients:
Refinement of statistical and 2-D models to
advance efforts in assessing causal
relationships between nutrient loading and
hypoxic zone size, and to develop a forecast
with a 6-month window.
Refinement of 3-D hydrodynamic model to
advance quantitative predictions of the
relationship between hypoxia development
and causative factors.
Funding for core system
requirements (tieri) of Gulf of
Mexico Hypoxia Monitoring
Implementation Plan:
Expansion of temporal and
spatial coverage of
monitoring surveys: sijM
Autonomous underwater
vehicle pilot study: $o.3M
Data management: sojM
Outreach: $o.4M
TOTAL TIER 1: $3.iM
Funding for tier 2 system
requirements of Gulf of Mexico
Hypoxia Monitoring
Implementation Plan, to
maintain and expand observing
systems ($i.4M).
60

-------
FY 2010 Operating Plan
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
NOAA (cont.)
Funding for tier 3 system
requirements of Gulf of Mexico
Hypoxia Monitoring
Implementation Plan, to improve
understanding of causes and
impacts of hypoxic zone ($2.2M).
Hypoxia appropriations
increased to levels authorized
under HABHRCA.
Expansion of hypoxic zone monitoring surveys
from one to three shelf-wide surveys, through
NGOMEX program.
Extension of the hypoxic zone shelf-wide surveys
tothe Mississippi Bight (through NGI grantto
USM).
Continue effort to determine biological and
chemical processes that maintain and extend
bottom-water hypoxia in the summer after initial
hypoxia development.
61

-------
V
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
w Watershed Nutrient
FY 2010 Operating Plan
10. Promote effective communications to increase awareness of hypoxia and support the activities of the Task Force.
Coordinating Committee Action Lead: TF Communications Sub-committee
Summary of Expected Results
These items revise the communications strategy to reflect post-Action Plan release critical needs, as well as use FY09 progress on expanding public
awareness on Gulf hypoxia as a platform to increase partnership building and effective stakeholder outreach efforts.
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions Critical Needs for 2011
Illinois
Sponsor session on nutrient sources in Illinois,
contributions to Mississippi River loads, nutrient
standards, and nutrient-reduction costs to
wastewater agencies and agriculture at Water
2008 conference.
Completed
Iowa
Farmer-to-farmer exchange with lower
Mississippi River state(s). Iowa group hosted at
lower state(s) 3/09. Lower state group hosted in
Iowa 6/09.
Ongoing. Lower Mississippi River states farmers
to Iowa (6/10); Iowa farmers to Lower Mississippi
River states (7/10).

Increase awareness of Gulf hypoxia and actions
within Iowa needed for nutrient reductions,
through publicizing the 2008 Gulf Guardian
Award to the Iowa CREP, a "Partnership of Iowa
Agriculture to Reduce Nutrients to the Gulf."
Ongoing

Conducted the conference "Hypoxia in the Gulf
of Mexico: Implications and Strategies for Iowa,"
sponsored by the Leopold Center for Sustainable
Agriculture, Iowa State University, in 10/09.
Completed

Sponsor a session on Gulf hypoxia and the
Integrated Drainage and Wetland Landscape
Systems initiative at the Iowa-Minnesota
Drainage Research Forum in 12/09.
Completed

Continue to sponsor and support media releases
and articles on Gulf hypoxia and Iowa initiatives
to address needed nutrient reductions.
Ongoing
62

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
w Watershed Nutrient
FY 2010 Operating Plan
V
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
Iowa (cont)
Conduct a series of meetings to inform
policymakers, agencies, environmental
organizations, and farm organizations on Gulf
hypoxia and the Iowa Drainage and Wetland
Landscape Systems Initiative for nutrient
reductions.
Ongoing. Continue the Iowa Wetlands Initiative
Workgroup, composed of seven federal and state
agencies, to develop and oversee pilot
demonstration monitoring, studies, and
assessments.

Louisiana
Actively participate in the Lower Mississippi
River Subbasin Committee to foster local
hypoxia awareness, demonstrate effective
nutrient BMPs, and meet shared Task Force
goals. Attended Lower Mississippi River
Subbasin Committee (LMRSBC) meetings held in
association with Coordinating Committee and
Task Force meetings. Gave LMRSBC status
reports on Coordinating Committee conference
calls.
Continue LMRSBC work on developing state
nutrient-reduction strategies.
Obtain funding for LMRSBC
member states to develop
nutrient-reduction strategies.
Continued funding for support of
LMRSBC Coordinator.

Participate in Louisiana Hypoxia Working Group
to coordinate information and actions on Gulf
hypoxia for interested lower basin partners and
citizens. Held Louisiana Hypoxia Working Group
meetings at LSU and other local agency offices.
Presented and discussed information for working
group members on status of the Mississippi
River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task
Force and Coordinating Committee.
Continue to hold Louisiana Hypoxia Working
Group meetings for information dissemination
and exchange.

63

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
w Watershed Nutrient
FY 2010 Operating Plan
V
Lead Agency	FY 2009 Actions
Louisiana (cont.)
Minnesota	Collaborated with Conservation Technology
Information Center (CTIC) to develop and
support a Coalition for Nutrient Management in
Southern Minnesota.
Improved MPCA Web site for linkages to Hypoxia
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (Web site
includes links to a variety of hypoxia-related
documents:
FY 2010 Planned Actions	Critical Needs for 2011
Recognize Mississippi River Basin states, NGOs,
citizens, and others for activities that educate
the public about Gulf hypoxia and provide
solutions to address it through Gulf of Mexico
Program Gulf Guardian Awards Program. Gulf
Guardian Award presented to Iowa Department
of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and Iowa
Farm Bureau in 2008. Plans under way to
recognize the Science Museum of Minnesota and
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency in 2009.
Special Appreciation Certificates also given to
Gulf Guardian Award winners by Louisiana
Governor.
http://www.pca.state.mn.us/water.
Constructed an improved portal.
Coalition steering committee has met several
times, and the larger coalition has met once so
far. Reports are available under CTIC's Upstream
Heroes at
http://www.upstreamheroes.org/
southernminnesota.php.
Focus is on nutrient efficiency. Effort to
recognize benchmark activities and practitioners
is being developed by the Coalition.
64

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
w Watershed Nutrient
FY 2010 Operating Plan
V
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
Mississippi
Development of targeted education and
outreach materials and activities. Start Date:
10/08.
Ongoing
Continued support from MDEQ
§319 NPS Base Program and
GOMA Education PIT.

Connecting the Dots: From Nutrient TMDLs to
Nutrient Reduction Strategies to Gulf Hypoxia to
Nutrient Criteria. Start Date: 10/08. Numerous
presentations made at national, regional, state,
and local forums.
Updated presentation and continued outreach.


Actively participate in the Lower Mississippi
River Subbasin Committee's coordination
efforts.
Ongoing

Missouri
Provide information and education on nutrient
issues affecting water quality in the state,
including the relationship of nutrient loading to
hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico.
Host information on the Department of Natural
Resources Web site on nutrient issues, BMPs,
and other tools to reduce the impact of nutrient
loading on the waters of the state and Mississippi
River Basin.
Conservation Technology Information Center
(CTIC) has partnered with state and federal
programs to offer nutrient reduction workshops
and soil testing in the southeast part of the state
(boot heel). Field workshops and tours have been
conducted, and the program intends to expand
its outreach in the area.
A workgroup has been formed to expand the
information hosted on the state's Soil and Water
Conservation Programs Web site, as well as the
114 Web sites associated with the districts.

Ohio
Continued coordinated work with the CTIC.
Ongoing


Consultations with neighboring states on
hypoxia issues, including joint effort with Indiana
involving Wabash watershed.
Ongoing

65

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
w Watershed Nutrient
FY 2010 Operating Plan
V
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions Critical Needs for 2011
Tennessee
Continue to participate in Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia
Coordinating Committee and Task Force
activities.
Ongoing
Wisconsin
Continued participation in Gulf of Mexico
Hypoxia Coordinating Committee and Task
Force activities. Partnering with NRCS to target
EQIP, the Nature Conservancy in southwestern
Wisconsin forthe Pleasant Valley watershed, and
University of Wisconsin (UW)-Platteville on
Pioneer Farm research.
Ongoing
US Environmental
Protection Agency
(USEPA)
Revise Task Force Communications Strategic
Plan to reflect post-Action Plan release goals,
priorities, and outreach efforts.
Ongoing

Develop and release revised Web site that
increases navigability, fortifies Task Force brand,
includes updated and more robust information,
reflects theme "Moving Forward on Gulf
Hypoxia," and has the capacity to highlight
implementation activities. Major formatting of
the Web site has been completed; it now
features extensive background on hypoxia and
lists upcoming events, tools, links, and other
resources.
Ongoing. Extensive "Web 2.0" additions to the
Web site are planned, making it more user-
friendly and audience-targeted, including
enhanced social networking and communication
tools.


EPA continues to develop the Nutrient Outreach
Web site, designed to raise awareness of the
problem of nutrient pollution, its magnitude, and
alternatives to minimize it. The Web site is a
"one-stop shop" designed to educate the general
public on the ecologic, human health, and
economic impacts of nutrient pollution.
Furthermore, the Web site is intended to engage
people in ameliorating this problem by
presenting them with day-to-day activities they
can implement in their households and out in
theircommunities.
66

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
w Watershed Nutrient
FY 2010 Operating Plan
V
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
USEPA (cont)
Gulf of Mexico Program published newspaper
articles on nutrients and rain gardens, a
factsheet on hypoxia for homeowners by
9/30/09, and ongoing development of radio spots
on nutrients and hypoxia.
Ongoing


The Gulf of Mexico Program funded and began
work on a cooperative agreement with the
Mobile Bay National Estuary Program (NEP)
titled "Interacting with the Watershed: A
Nutrient Adventure." An interactive 15-minute
video about the impacts of excess nutrients on
Gulf coastal ecosystems and waters is in
production for use at Coastal Ecosystem
Learning Center kiosks.
Ongoing


Develop and distribute outreach materials for
targeted audiences.
Completed: Gulf of Mexico Program published
newspaper articles in the Sea Coast Echo (Bay
Saint Louis, MS) on fertilizer use/hypoxia and
rain gardens. Reached 22,000 people two times
through these two articles.
Completed: By 9/30/090, Gulf of Mexico
Program/Mississippi State University hypoxia
fact sheet for homeowners.
Ongoing: Gulf of Mexico/Office of Wetlands,
Oceans, and Watersheds (OWOW) nutrient/
hypoxia radio spots for rural and coastal
communities.
Gulf of Mexico Program will publish hypoxia fact
sheet for agriculture in partnership with
Mississippi State University.
Reach underserved and
underrepresented populations;
Reach Upper Mississippi Basin
populations.
National Oceanic and
Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA)
Outreach in collaboration with Gulf of Mexico
Alliance and the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean
Observing System (GCOOS). Created Gulf
Hypoxia Monitoring Stakeholder Web site.
Ongoing
Creation of new position to coordinate outreach
and communication between land and sea grants
in the Gulf of Mexico, Great Lakes, and Midwest.
Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia Monitoring
Implementation Plan meeting to advance effort
to identify potential funding sources, additional
partners, and collaborators.
Funding for Outreach core system
requirement (tieri) of Gulf of
Mexico Hypoxia Monitoring
Implementation Plan. (See Action
9 for Implementation Plan funding
levels).
67

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
US Department of
Agriculture (USDA)
Poll USDA state leadership-identified
communication tools, including field guides, job
sheets, etc. currently in use. Poll completed and
data available at
http://wmc.ar.nrcs.usda.gov/partnerships/MSRB/
NutrientReductionTools.html.


US Department of the
Interior (USDOI)-
National Park Service
(NPS)
Continue outreach to Park Service visitors on the
importance of nutrient reductions to water
quality.
Ongoing

USDOI-US Geological
Survey (USGS)
Continued webpage support and update of
USGS nutrient concentration load data and
SPARROW results.
Ongoing; SPARROW results at
http://water.usgs.gov/nawqa/sparrow.
Load data available at
http://toxics.usgs.gov/hypoxia/mississippi/
oct_jun/index.html.



Develop a SPARROW decision support tool to
enable water resource managers to predict
effects of large-scale upstream nutrient
reductions on nutrient loads delivered to
downstream waterbodies.

FY 2010 Operating Plan
68

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
w Watershed Nutrient
FY 2010 Operating Plan
V
11. In four years (2013) reassess nitrogen and phosphorus load reductions, the response of the hypoxic zone, changes in water quality
throughout the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin, and the economic and social effects, including changes in land use and
management, of the reductions in terms of the goals of the Action Plan. Evaluate how current policies and programs affect the
management decisions made by industrial and agricultural producers, lessons learned and determine appropriate actions to
continue to implement or, if necessary, revise this strategy.
Coordinating Committee Action Lead: EPA
Summary of Expected Results
Partners will continue to develop quantitative measures that measure progress toward the "Coastal Goal" and "Within Basin Goal."
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions
Critical Needs for 2011
Illinois
Identify quantitative measures of in-basin
nutrient reductions that exhibit progress toward
both the "Within Basin" and "Coastal" goals.
Ongoing

Louisiana
Identify quantitative measures of in-basin
nutrient reductions that exhibit progress toward
both the "Within Basin" and "Coastal" goals.
Louisiana DEQ (LDEQ) has supported a proposal
by the University of New Orleans (UNO) entitled
"The Study of Nutrient Releases to the
Mississippi River in Louisiana Industrial Corridor-
2009 Revision." The proposal was submitted in
response to an RFP from the EPA Gulf of Mexico
Program Office in support of nutrient reduction
action items in the Governor's Action Plan of the
Gulf of Mexico Alliance. The proposal cost was
for $46,741; if funded, the study would update
the status of nutrient discharges to the
Mississippi River from a 2000 report.
If the study is funded, LDEQ will work with EPA,
UNO, and Mississippi River dischargers to
identify and quantify nutrient discharges to the
River, document discharge reductions, and
enhance ongoing nutrient reduction efforts and
technologies.
Continue federal and state
logistical and financial support for
nutrient discharge reductions to
the Mississippi River and Gulf.
Support would also include
interagency organizations,
including the Gulf or Mexico
Alliance, Lower Mississippi River
Conservation Committee
(LMRCC), ORSANCO, and the
Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient Task Force.
Minnesota
Identify quantitative measures of in-basin
nutrient reductions that exhibit progress towards
both the "Within Basin" and "Coastal" goals.
Currently report phosphorus reductions along
with sediment load reductions from funded
nonpoint projects through eLINK database.
Continue tracking and reporting reductions.
Need to develop nitrogen
reduction component for eLINK
data tracking.
69

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
Lead Agency
FY 2009 Actions
FY 2010 Planned Actions Critical Needs for 2011
Mississippi

Using the information generated through the
implementation of the nutrient reduction
strategies in the Mississippi Delta and coastal
watersheds, identify quantitative measures of in-
basin nutrient reductions that exhibit progress
toward both the "Within Basin" and "Coastal"
goals. This information will also be used to
quantify potential load reductions on a basin-
wide and/or ecoregional scale, to revise the
strategy, and to support future TMDL modeling
studies.
In addition, an assessment will be made to
identify what load reductions are achievable,
document the costs, and assess the
environmental and socioeconomic values to
stakeholders. Finally, this information can be
used to compare to, and understand the
appropriateness of, nutrient criteria, which are
currently scheduled for development in 2011.
Missouri
Identify quantitative measures of in-basin
nutrient reductions that exhibit progress toward
both the "Within Basin" and "Coastal" goals.
Initiated a reviewofwaterqualitydataforthe
state and developed estimated nutrient loading
for Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC) 8 watersheds in
the state.
Continue to refine this database with a resolution
down the HUC 12/14 level.
Ohio
Identify quantitative measures of in-basin
nutrient reductions that exhibit progress toward
both the "Within Basin" and "Coastal" goals.
Ongoing
Wisconsin
Collecting baseline information from all point
sources in watershed.
Plan to expand to collect 12 monthly samples
from point sources and then quarterly samples
afterward.
FY 2010 Operating Plan
70

-------
FY 2010 Operating Plan
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
APPENDIX
This Appendix highlights some of the numerous complementary actions Task Force member organizations are engaged in that result in
improvements to state and local water quality and the reduction and mitigation of hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico. These actions do not necessarily
address one of the eleven Action Items in the Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008, but represent important contributions towards advancing and
improving nutrient management and hypoxia in the Mississippi River Basin and Northern Gulf of Mexico. This Appendix is by no means a
comprehensive list, and it will change as projects are completed, new projects are proposed and funded, and items are incorporated into the state
and federal nutrient reduction strategies. This list includes recently completed projects, ongoing projects, and new projects planned for FY 2010.
Education and Outreach
•	Continue to support ongoing projects of the Illinois Council on Best Management Practices (C-BMP), a coalition of producer
organizations and the agricultural industry, http://www.cbmp.uiuc.edu.
•	Use fertilizer tonnage tax proceeds to support Web site with information on soil temperatures throughout the state and educational
outreach to producers and agricultural retailers stressing the importance of using nitrification inhibitors during fall anhydrous ammonia
application.
•	Conduct Illinois Tillage Seminars.
•	Use §319 funds to support projects to promote the reduction of nutrient use on lawns and farmlands, including projects that are
educationally based or implementation-based and that reduce, control, or eliminate the use of nutrients on lawns and farmlands. Currently
there are at least 13 projects funded under §319 that meet these goals.
•	Through educational exhibits at several museums, zoos, and schools, provide nutrient reduction and nonpoint source pollution
information to Illinois citizens.
Task Force State Member Activities
STATE OF ILLINOIS
71

-------
FY 2010 Operating Plan
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
Monitoring, Modeling, and Research
• Continuation of Fox River Watershed Investigation, Stratton Dam to the Illinois River. Project is expected to reach completion during
•	Continued support of two of the Corps of Engineers Long-Term Resource Monitoring Program stations on the Illinois and Mississippi
rivers.
Implementation
•	Continue to work with USDA Farm Service Agency, Association of Illinois Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Soil and Water
Conservation Districts (SWCDs), and others on the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program — Ongoing program with 232,000-acre
goal. Have enrolled 126,016 acres on the federal side and 78,546 acres in the state program.
•	Continue to support The Nature Conservancy's (TNC) efforts in Mackinaw River Basin to help guide and influence the use of
conservation-oriented agricultural techniques for water quality improvement.
•	Cost-share the construction of stream bank stabilization and restoration practices. During the last reporting period, 82 projects on nearly
10 miles of stream bank were constructed at a total cost of $726,000.
•	Use §319 funds for (1) 10 projects implementing urban green infrastructure practices to reduce nutrient nonpoint source pollution;
(2) 17 stream, lake, or/and wetland restoration/protection projects; and (3) 4 animal waste/exclusion projects.
•	Continue to develop and implement 52 Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) in watersheds tributary to lakes that exceed the 0.05 mg/L
total phosphorus lake water quality standard.
•	Continue to develop and implement one TMDL in watershed tributary to drinking water intakes that exceed the 10 mg/L nitrate potable
drinking water quality standard.
Implementation and Watershed Protection
•	Continue to implement the Iowa Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) constructing highly targeted nitrogen-removal
wetlands for cropland drainage. State and federal funding for FY10 totals $20.3 million. The program currently has 72 wetlands constructed
or under development totaling 715 acres of wetland pools, which treat the drainage from 86,100 watershed acres and remove 40 to 90
percent of nitrate, for an estimated 53,600 tons of nitrate removed over design life.
•	Continue to implement the Iowa Watershed Protection Program currently supporting 60 watershed protection projects, which primarily
reduce nutrients and sediment to water resources. Continue watershed targeting and assessment of nutrient load reductions from the
FY10.
STATE OF IOWA
72

-------
FY 2010 Operating Plan
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
watershed projects. FY10 funding is $5.2 million state, $3.5 million §319 Clean Water Act funds, and $2.9 million landowner match funds
for a total of $11.6 million.
•	Implement the Iowa Jobs initiative for watershed protection projects, conservation practice flood damage repair and reclamation, which
will significantly reduce nutrients and sediment to water resources. FY10 funding is $7.0 million state funds and estimated landowner
match of $2.33 million, for a total of $9.33 million.
•	Continue to implement the competitive grant award program to local sponsors through the Watershed Improvement Review Board. Much
of the funding is used to reduce nutrients and sediment to water resources. FY10 funding is $5 million state funds and $12.5 million of
estimated local match funds, for a total of $17.5 million.
•	Continue to implement the Iowa Financial Incentive Program for cost-sharing implementation of soil and water conservation practices on
private working lands to reduce erosion, sedimentation, and nutrient transport to water resources. FY10 state funding is $12.4 million,
which with landowner match funds of $12.4 million is estimated to total $24.8 million in conservation practices.
•	Continue to implement the District Initiatives program, which for FY10 provides $1.5 million state funds to leverage federal conservation
programs and increase Iowa landowner participation in federal conservation programs.
•	Continue to implement the Local Water Protection Program, which for FY10 provides $18 million, comprised of $12 million to implement
animal waste management practices and $6 million for general nonpoint source practices. The program assists landowners with the
installation of practices to protect and improve water quality.
•	Continue to implement the Resource Enhancement and Protection program which for FY10 provides $1.6 million for watershed and water
quality protection projects, $1.6 million for cost-sharing management practices for water quality enhancement, and with $1.3 million
landowner match totals $4.5 million.
•	Continue to implement the Watershed Development and Planning Assistance Grant program to assist local watershed project sponsors in
the assessment, targeting, and planning of water quality and watershed protection projects. FY10 state funding is $0.2 million with local
match of $0.1 million for a total of $0.3 million.
•	Continue to provide state personnel support and funding to Iowa's 100 Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs), which assist
implementation of federal, state, and local conservation programs that reduce nutrients and sediment. Federal programs delivered through
SWCDs include the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, Wetland Reserve Program, Conservation Security Program, Conservation
Reserve Program, Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention, Conservation Technical
Assistance, and Resource Conservation and Development.
•	Continue development of TMDLs for waterbodies impaired by nutrients, and collection of water quality nutrient monitoring data for
streams and lakes.
73

-------
FY 2010 Operating Plan
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
Research and Technology Development
•	Continue the Wetlands, Nutrients and Water Management research initiative with Iowa State University to develop new technologies and
improve the targeting and efficiency of water quality management practices. Continue water quality monitoring of research sites evaluating
various management practices and monitoring of CREP nitrogen-removal wetland field sites. FY10 state funding is $0.4 million.
•	Continue technology development through the EPA Targeted Watershed Grant "Integrated Drainage-Wetland Systems for Reducing
Nitrate Loads from Des Moines Lobe Watersheds" with Iowa State University. FY10 federal and state funding is $0.3 million.
•	Continue development of the Integrated Drainage and Wetland Landscape Systems Initiative for reducing nitrogen and phosphorus to
water resources across 6 million acres of croplands targeted for nitrate reduction to water resources. For FY10, implement initial pilot
projects to serve both as demonstrations and as study sites to confirm nutrient reductions and other benefits. Funding for FY10 is
$0.4 million plus low-interest loan, which with $1.2 million landowner match totals $2.1 million of cost-share, landowner match, and debt
service reduction.
•	Complete the final report of the Cedar River watershed case study assessing the costs and needed management practices at the large-
watershed scale to meet the nitrogen and phosphorus reduction targets of the Gulf hypoxia goal. Funding for FY10 is $10,000.
•	Continue Integrated Farm and Livestock Management program funding of research and demonstrations through Iowa State University on
impacts of nutrient management, harvest of crop biomass for bio-energy, and cover crops on water quality of drainage and surface runoff.
FY10 state funding is $0.1 million.
•	Continue to invest fees paid by farmers on the sale of agricultural chemicals toward developing new technologies and improved practices
for reducing nutrients from cropped landscapes to water resources. FY10 funding is estimated at $0.54 million.
•	Continue to conduct cover crop farm demonstrations and nitrogen management assessments for corn following cover crops. FY10
funding is $0.1 million.
Education and Outreach
•	Continue Web sites, publications, and educational/outreach initiatives sponsored by the Cooperative Extension Service of Iowa State
University addressing nutrient management in cropped landscapes, detailing topics such as nitrogen and phosphorus fertility
recommendations, real-time soil temperatures Web site to determine acceptability of fall nitrogen fertilization for water quality
improvement, livestock waste management systems and land application, phosphorus index for water quality improvement, etc.
•	Continue Iowa Learning Farms demonstrations, education, and outreach through Iowa State University to improve water quality through
crop residue and tillage management. FY09 funding is $0.45 million.
•	Continue outreach and education concerning Gulf hypoxia and nutrient reductions to farm organizations, Iowa drainage districts, and
watershed management groups.
74

-------
FY 2010 Operating Plan
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
STATE OF LOUISIANA
•	Review nutrient removal best available technologies (BATs) with EPA for industrial and municipal permits.
•	Develop watershed implementation plans with nutrient BMPs under LA §319 Nonpoint Source Program.
•	Continue ongoing implementation of the Louisiana Nutrient Criteria Development Plan.
•	Work with Governor's Office and Congressional Delegation on Gulf hypoxia funding initiatives.
•	Participate in the Nutrient Reduction and Water Quality Priority Issue Teams of the Gulf of Mexico Alliance to coordinate with Gulf states
on nutrient reduction, sources, fate, transport, and criteria development.
•	Participate with EPA Flowing Waters Assessment Program to conduct environmental and water quality monitoring on the Lower
Mississippi River Louisiana segment.
Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) Program Activities
•	Development of Nutrient TMDLs. The Consent Decree schedule for TMDL development was completed in June 2009. Nutrient TMDLs
were developed and approved for 12 waterbody segments in FY09 in accordance with Consent Decree requirements. Mississippi currently
has 132 impaired water segments that require TMDLs on the 2008 List of Impaired Waterbodies, and impaired waters that need TMDLs
will continue to be added to future lists. Most of the waterbodies are listed for biological impairment, which means that the pollutants
causing the biological impairment have not yet been identified through a stressor identification process. MDEQ is planning to complete
36 stressor identifications in FY10 and begin TMDL development on the appropriate pollutants, but it is not yet known how many of
those will be nutrients.
•	Over 300 total nitrogen and/or total phosphorus TMDLs have been developed in more than 100 waterbody segments across the state.
Wiere there were point sources in the watershed, NPDES facilities were included in the waste load allocation (WLA) of the TMDL. The
facilities were assigned nutrient loads based on a cap at estimated existing levels or on a reduction of the estimated existing levels as
determined by the TMDL. These loads are being implemented as permits are reissued.
•	Continue nutrient monitoring where required in NPDES permits. Nutrient monitoring is required in numerous permits; it will provide
needed data to help with future planning and decision-making.
•	Increased emphasis on nutrient reduction activities during development of local watershed plans throughout the state. Implementation
plans for priority watersheds identified through Mississippi's Basin Management Approach are being developed and implemented. In
STATE OF MISSISSIPPI
75

-------
FY 2010 Operating Plan
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
watersheds with nutrient impairments, the plans will address nutrient problems and use the load reduction in approved nutrient TMDLs as
the reduction targets.
•	Enhanced nutrient focus for §319 Nonpoint Source Program. The FY09 Nonpoint Source Program Work Plan has an enhanced focus on
supporting nutrient reduction activities. FY09 §319 Nonpoint Source funding was targeted to support the nutrient reduction watershed
management efforts (i.e., local watershed team building, management planning, pre- and post-implementation monitoring, and
implementation activities), and the Base Education/Outreach Program will have a greater focus on nutrient education. This effort is
ongoing.
•	Support expanded Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) training program. MDEQ, Mississippi Department of Agriculture
and Commerce (MDAC), NRCS, Farm Bureau, Extension Service, and the Board of Animal Health are working together through the
Poultry CAFO Advisory Committee to expand a required CAFO training program (in which continuing education units (CEUs) are earned
by CAFO permittees) to make the training available to interested animal feeding operations (AFOs) on a voluntary basis.
•	Delta Nutrient Studies: Completed a third sampling at 50 sites in the Mississippi Delta in fall of 2008 (previous samplings were 2002 and
2006). Work included nutrients, physical parameters, 48-hour continuous monitoring using deployed sondes (dissolved oxygen, pH,
specific conductance, temperature, and turbidity), macroinvertebrate sampling, and habitat assessment. From these sites, 15 sites were
selected for quarterly sampling, which was completed in 2009. All of these data were provided to MDEQ to be used for nutrient criteria
development in the Mississippi Delta.
State Office Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)-Facilitated Activities
•	Implementation of a new precision agriculture program that makes funding available for technology transfer to producers to reduce
nutrient overloading.
•	Support for development of comprehensive nutrient management plans. A steering committee of state and federal agencies and agricultural
stakeholders has been meeting during the past year to develop the components, tools, and processes for generating comprehensive nutrient
management plans (CNMPs).
•	A new nutrient management standard has been developed for Mississippi. This standard establishes updated guidelines for nutrient and
conservation management.
•	Implementation of new manure transfer program: The program will reduce nutrient overloading by transferring manure to watersheds with
phosphorus-deficient soils.
76

-------
FY 2010 Operating Plan
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
Other Northern Gulf Institute (NGI)-Facilitated Activities Addressing the Gulf of Mexico
Additional research facilitated by NGI related to Gulf of Mexico water quality is underway.
•	Research on optical assessment of algal blooms in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Dr. Stephen Lohrenz of USM is developing and
implementing robust protocols for harmful algal bloom (HAB) recognition in his project, "Satellite and In-situ Optical Assessment of Algal
Blooms Events in the Northern Gulf of Mexico." The technologies developed in this work may help in developing tools directly applicable
to hypoxia.
•	Research on computer-assisted predictions of water quality. Dr. William McAnally of Mississippi State University (MSU) in his project,
"Spatial Technology and High Performance Computing for Improving Prediction of Surface Water Quality," is working to improve model
predictions of water quality.
•	Modeling Mobile Bay sediments and pollutants. Another of Dr. McAnally's projects, "Modeling Mobile Bay Sediments and Pollutants with
New Technologies," involves developing a management-oriented model of sediment and pollutants for Mobile Bay and the major
tributaries to it. An extension of this work will help in modeling the amount of nutrients and pollutants that are entering the Gulf of
Mexico from the Mobile Bay system.
Other U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Activities
•	Mississippi Delta Headwaters Project. Authorized in 1984 as the Demonstration Erosion Control Project, the Delta Headwaters Project
has performed bank stabilization and constructed grade-control and water-retarding structures in 16 watersheds in the eastern Bluff Hill
region of the Yazoo River Basin. The watersheds range in size from 220 acres to 423,000 acres and total 2,950 square miles. The project
has reduced the loss of land due to erosion and sedimentation and prolonged the life of the four Yazoo River Basin flood control
reservoirs by reducing sediment transfer within the watershed streams. Research by the University of Colorado has shown nutrient
reduction benefits derived from the project. The project is estimated to provide between $100,000 and $1,000,000 per year of benefits from
phosphorus removal depending on the size of the watershed.
•	Steele Bayou Sediment Reduction Control Structures. The Upper Steele Bayou project, completed in the late 1990s, included construction
of edge-of-field sediment control structures to prevent gullying. Post-project analysis showed a 50 percent reduction in total suspended
solids, a 30 percent reduction in total phosphorus, and a 20 percent reduction in total nitrogen. In 2004 the USACE initiated another
initiative designed to correct gullying issues along the middle reach of Steele Bayou by constructing 25 sediment control structures funded
through the USACE ($1.8 million). In Phase 3 of the project, the USACE plans to construct seven water-control structures along Steele
Bayou below the Yazoo National Wildlife Refuge in FY10 (funding TBD). For this project the USACE is constructing the larger water
control structures and Delta FARM has completed 30 smaller structures funded by a $300,000 §319 grant through the Mississippi
Department of Environmental Quality.
77

-------
FY 2010 Operating Plan
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
USDA-Agricultural Research Service National Sedimentation Laboratory (ARS/NSL) Research to Evaluate Nutrient
Reduction Strategies in the Mississippi Delta (August 2009)
Assessment of Management Practices to Mitigate Sediment and Nutrient Impacts
•	Conservation Reserve Program: In long-term CEAP research in Beasley Lake watershed, USDA-ARS/National Sedimentation Laboratory
(NSL) scientists are evaluating effects of CRP establishment on sediment and nutrient runoff losses. Lake monitoring includes various
parameters, including nutrient, pesticides, suspended sediment, turbidity, and chlorophyll. Periodically, fish populations are assessed.
•	Reduced tillage, cover crops, and vegetative buffers: Sediment runoff is impeded under reduced tillage and cover crop systems with and
without vegetative buffers. Vegetative buffers alone also reduce sediment loss, but results are mixed with respect to nutrients and soluble
organic carbon. USDA-ARS/NSL scientists are conducting several experiments in the delta to address gaps in the database quantifying
impacts of tillage, cover crops, and buffers on nutrient losses.
•	Vegetated agricultural drainage ditches: Vegetated agricultural drainage ditches have been shown to help reduce nutrient loads leaving fields
before they enter rivers, lakes, and streams. USDA-ARS/NSL scientists plan to continue experimental assessments of nutrient mitigation in
2010 by manipulating vegetation and hydroperiod for improved ditch efficiency. Locations for additional field experiments and routine
monitoring are being explored in the Mississippi Delta for 2010. Similar experiments with pesticide mitigation are planned as well in similar
locations.
•	Wetlands: USDA-ARS/NSL scientists continue to demonstrate constructed and natural wetlands' abilities to mitigate sediments and
nutrients. In fall 2009, a study examining the ability of rice to mitigate pesticides and nutrients will be conducted in wetland mesocosms.
Similar studies will be conducted on equal and larger-scale systems in 2010. Vegetation will be expanded beyond rice to additional aquatic
plants. Other planned studies will examine how mixtures of sediment, nutrients, and pesticides from agricultural runoff may affect the
biology of wetlands and influence potential for processing and mitigation pollutants.
•	Retention Ponds: USDA-ARS/NSL scientists will conduct one study in fall 2009 to evaluate pesticide and nutrient dissipation in retention
ponds. Larger-scale experiments are planned for 2010.
Nutrient and Ecological Assessments in Mississippi Delta Watersheds
•	USDA-ARS/NSL scientists propose a long-term project in three selected small delta watersheds to provide data supporting MDEQ
calibration and improvement of nutrient criteria. Sites representative of conditions typical of those documented by existing data sets will be
selected for study in 2010. Efforts will be made to select sites that correspond to locations of previous water quality, fish, or Index of Biotic
Integrity (IBI) collections. Changes in water quality, habitat, and biological community will be observed.
•	Mississippi Delta streams can process and transport nutrients differently under a variety of conditions, including variable flow, dissolved
oxygen, and organic carbon levels. In other studies, USDA-ARS/NSL scientists plan to conduct experiments to address these variables as
they relate to nutrient processing and transport during 2010.
78

-------
FY 2010 Operating Plan
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
U S. Geological Survey (USGS) Research to Evaluate Nutrient Reduction Strategies in the Mississippi Delta (August 2009)
•	NASQAN and National Monitoring Network (NMN) sites: Long-term monitoring of nutrients is being conducted by personnel of the
USGS-Mississippi Water Science Center (MWSC) at two locations. The first is the Yazoo River below Steele Bayou near Long Lake,
Mississippi, which is funded as part of the USGS National Stream Quality Accounting Network. The second is the Mississippi River at
Vicksburg, Mississippi, which is funded as part of the Ocean Action Plan National Monitoring Network.
•	Personnel of the USGS-MWSC are developing a SPARROW model for total nitrogen and total phosphorous for streams in the south-
central United States. The models will allow users to generated load estimates at unsampled stream locations in the study area, as well as
understand sources and transport mechanisms of nutrients to the northwestern Gulf of Mexico. The study area includes the Lower
Mississippi, Arkansas-White-Red, and Texas-Gulf basins. Results of the modeling will be released in the spring of 2010.
•	Continue to implement a matrix of agricultural BMPs through the Department of Natural Resources' Soil and Water Conservation
Program. The program provides technical staff and cost-share funding for all the counties of the state. An estimated $22 million in cost-
share funding for on-site projects will be implemented in 2008. The program has prevented an estimated 12 million tons of soil from being
introduced into waterways of the state for the 2004-2008 time frame. In the 2009 the cost-share docket was expanded from 17 practices to
41. Most of the newly added practices are designed to promote stewardship activities that mitigate water quality impacts from agriculture.
Specific program information and support is available at http://www.dnr.mo.gov/env/swcp.
•	Continue to support the Animal Waste Treatment Loan Program used to finance animal waste treatment systems for independent livestock
and poultry producers at below conventional interest rates. The program is authorized for a total of $10 million in revolving funds.
•	Constitutional and statutory changes were enacted to allow the Stormwater Grant and Loan Program that is currently administered by the
Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to disperse more funds for stormwater issues by re-offering unused funds, eliminating the
50 percent grant-to-loan ratio requirement, and creating a revolving fund for loans. Draft rulemaking is in progress to support this change
in the Stormwater Grant Loan Program.
•	Continue current steps to develop a needs assessment framework for Soil and Water Conservation Program funding. This recent process
dictates that each district develop a 5-year needs assessment, and it is anticipated to allow more flexibility in program allocations to better
address specific resource concerns such as nutrient loading. Current fiscal year practices have been allocated to each district on the basis of
the 2008 needs assessment. This will promote efforts to adopt many of the new practices offered by the expanded practice docket. A new
needs assessment has been requested of the 114 district offices and will be used to guide funding for the next fiscal cycle.
•	Implementation of the state water quality anti-degradation policy. Program requires reevaluation of point sources on classified streams and
in some cases will require steps to achieve greater pollution reduction through the permitting process.
STATE OF MISSOURI
79

-------
FY 2010 Operating Plan
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
•	Implementation of Missouri Nonpoint Source Management Plan, requiring continued development of TMDL strategies associated with
§303(d) impaired waters. The DNR will submit a revised list of impaired waters for EPA review in 2009/2010. A portion of the impaired
waterbodies on the list will be required to initiate nutrient reduction actions when nutrient levels adversely affect beneficial water uses. A
list of impaired waters and those with specific nutrient impact can be found at http://www.dnr.mo.gov/env/wpp/waterquality/303d.htm.
•	Provide reporting and guidance on Gulf hypoxia issues to the Water Quality Coordinating Committee. The Water Quality Coordinating
Committee is an informal interagency and public committee dealing with water quality issues. It includes representatives of nonprofit
organizations, universities and colleges, cities and businesses, and state, federal, and local agencies.
•	Continued support of a statewide Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring Program. State partners provide training and equipment to this
citizen monitoring group, which submits physical, chemical, and biological data from monitoring sites throughout the state. Over 4,000
citizen volunteers have attended at least one of the training workshops. The program provides screening-level data used by state and local
decision makers to determine current stream conditions and to identify potential problems or trends in water quality. A similar program is
supported for monitoring the state's lakes and reservoirs (Lakes of Missouri Volunteer Program).
•	Administer the Watershed Management Plan Development Grants. The program provides directed §319 funding to restore waters
impaired by nonpoint source pollution. It is targeted at waterbodies that are on the state's Targeted Nonpoint Source 303(d) list. The
funded watershed plans support activities that will result in achieving the load reduction goals set forth in the corresponding TMDL
developed for the affected waterbody. The most recent call for proposals was released in August 2009.
•	Ongoing effort to implement phase I and II stormwater regulations. Permits required regulated municipal separate storm sewer systems
(MS4s) to have stormwater management programs in place by March 10, 2008. These efforts have the potential to address a significant
number of nutrient-related issues associated with stormwater pollution from large and small metropolitan areas. Possible interface with
stimulus funding.
•	Four million dollars has been made available specifically for water quality practices as part of the expansion of the cost-share practice
docket in the state Soil and Water Conservation Program. The majority of these practices will result in a reduction of nutrients entering the
state's rivers, streams, and reservoirs. Traditional soil protection practices will still be funded at the same levels of the last 3 years' average,
and these practices also provide nutrient-reduction benefits. A total of $26 million will be offered across 114 districts in FY10. The Soil and
Water Program is estimated to have prevented a total of 2.2 million tons of soil and associated nutrients from entering the state's waters in
• Through the Gulf of Mexico Ecosystems and Hypoxia Assessment (NGOMEX) program, NOAA supports research designed to provide
managers with tools, techniques, and information to make informed decisions and assess alternative management strategies regarding the
2009.
hypoxic zone.
80

-------
FY 2010 Operating Plan
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
STATE OF OHIO
Ohio strives to capitalize on existing program efforts. Below are key linkages and statements relating to major program efforts and guiding
documents for the Ohio River Basin within Ohio. These linkages provide the detailed information on programs such as Farm Bill conservation
efforts, local watershed plan implementation, state water quality studies (TMDL reports), point source programs, monitoring, and so forth.
•	Ohio TMDLs addressing nutrients that are completed or in progress are shown in the map at the Web site below. In the Ohio River
watershed, 17 TMDL reports have been approved, 5 TMDL reports are in draft status, and 12 TMDL reports are in preparation. A list of
watersheds by name is on the Web site at http://www.epa.ohio.gov/dsw/tmdl/OhioTMDLs_InProgress.aspx.
•	Twenty-seven local watersheds within the Ohio River watershed have completed plans or have plans in progress. The plans address all
sources of impairment, including those associated with excessive nutrient loading. All address local efforts to combat nutrient loading to
some degree. Load reduction goals and project cost estimates are typically included in the endorsed plans. These planning efforts, along
with TMDL report information, form the basis of Ohio's Gulf hypoxia-related nutrient reduction strategy at this time. Local watershed
plans can be found at
http://www. dnr. state, oh.us/soilandwater/water/watershedprograms/default/tabid/9192/Default.aspx.
•	Scioto Watershed CREP is ongoing, with 65,000+ acres put under conservation practices to date. The 2009 annual report will be released
in January 2010, as a follow-up to the 2008 report. Assistance to the Little Miami and Sugar Creek water quality trading projects is ongoing,
with load reductions of 18,500 pounds of total phosphorus and 92,000 pounds, of total nitrogen reported for 2009. NRCS and FSA have
Ohio Farm Bill conservation activity for FY 2009. The Little Miami watershed CREP application is 50 percent complete. Information on
Ohio's Soil and Water Conservation Districts and their nonpoint source and nutrient/sediment programs can be found at
http://www. dnr. state, oh.us/soilandwater/default/swcds/default/tabid/9093/Default.aspx.
•	Ohio continues to implement state programs addressing small, medium, and large AFOs. A new nutrient management planning tool and
trainings were delivered statewide. Approximately 75 complaints on small and medium operations were responded to. One court-ordered
enforcement consent order on a medium-sized AFO operator was executed. There are currently 130 large AFOs within the Ohio River
watershed under permit by the Ohio Department of Agriculture; 15 applications requesting expansion are pending.
•	Continued implementation of the Ohio NPS Management Plan and §319 Grants Program. Active §319 grants that address nutrient
reduction and/or assimilation include projects in the Big Darby (two), Stillwater, and Little Miami watersheds.
•	Ohio participated in the Wastewater Treatment Plant Nutrient Reduction and Energy Efficiency Workshop in November 2008. Research,
development, and education efforts related to advanced treatment of nutrients at wastewater treatment plants will continue.
•	Ohio EPA approved the Columbus Wet Weather Management Plan. Under the approved plan, Columbus will have constructed projects
that will eliminate over 0.5 billion gallons of combined sewer overflow each year by the year 2011. By 2025, over 85 percent of the current
81

-------
FY 2010 Operating Plan
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
Columbus sewer overflow will have been eliminated. NPDES, combined sewer overflow (CSO)/wet weather, and other federally delegated
programs will continue.
•	ORSANCO and Ohio DNR will continue to act as liaisons with other Ohio River Basin (ORB) states. The last ORB Steering Committee
meeting was on August 20, 2009 via conference call.
•	Ohio DNR has been working with the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD) for several years on a cooperative agreement
covering local watershed planning and implementation projects. ODNR would administer a watershed planning and implementation
program on behalf of the MWCD and funded by local landowner fees within the watershed. Conservation projects addressing sediments,
nutrients, and habitat restoration are expected to be funded in 2010. The MWCD will also use this program to address local infrastructure
projects, repairs on dams, and other related projects to help with stormwater management.
•	State administrative code NR 217 requirements for phosphorus effluent limits are implemented for 1 mg/L or an alternative limit for
municipal publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) that discharge 150 lb/mo and industries that discharge 90 lb/mo. The average
discharge is 0.5mg/L total phosphorus. This has resulted in a 68 percent reduction in phosphorus loads since 1993.
•	Nonpoint source-specific performance standards that apply. State administrative code NR 151 requires agriculture performance standards
that are cost share-dependent. Urban performance standards apply at the time of the Wisconsin Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
(WPDES) permit application. Priority watersheds in planning must have total suspended solids (TSS) control by 2013. Priority watershed
projects implemented achieved 50 percent of targeted phosphorus and sediment reduction amounts. Performance standards include:
-	Croplands:
-	Control cropland erosion to meet tolerable rates.
-	Build, modify, or abandon manure storage facilities to accepted standards.
-	Divert clean runoff away from livestock and manure storage areas located near streams, rivers, lakes, or areas susceptible to
ground water contamination.
-	Apply manure and other fertilizers according to an approved nutrient management plan.
—	Manure management prohibitions:
-	No overflow of manure storage facilities.
-	No unconfined manure piles near waterbodies.
-	No direct runoff from feedlots or stored manure into state waters.
-	No trampled streambanks or shorelines from livestock.
STATE OF WISCONSIN
82

-------
FY 2010 Operating Plan
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
•	Stormwater permits issued in the Mississippi River Basin total 3,300 industrials, 130 municipals, and 600 construction sites. MS4 permits
require 20 percent and 40 percent reduction in sediment load by target dates. This will reduce phosphorus by 10 to 30 percent. Ninety-two
CAFO permits have been issued in this basin.
•	TMDL on the Rock River is under development and will have phosphorus limits below current levels. This TMDL included more than
75 individual permits and approximately 200 general permittees.
•	TMDL on Lake Pepin with Minnesota is to be completed at the end of 2009 and is to be on public comment in early 2010.
•	Begin to collect total nitrogen data from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in January 2009 with permit application. Expanding now to
require 12 samples collected over a year, then quarterly thereafter, from all dischargers.
•	Farm Nutrient Management Plans performance standards (acreage goals) are administered by Wisconsin's Department of Agriculture,
Trade, and Consumer Protection.
•	Statewide lawn fertilizer ban on phosphorus in 2009.
•	Future direction, proposing cropland phosphorus index requirements, TMDL-derived performance standards, more stringent than
statewide. Critical sites may not be limited to croplands. Areas where livestock are pastured/confined may have phosphorus concentrations
10 times higher than croplands (and these areas seldom have soils tested).
•	Proposed criteria for phosphorus in development:
-	100 [ig/L total phosphorus for "rivers"
-	75 [ig/L total phosphorus for "streams"
-	15 to 40 [ig/L total phosphorus for lakes and reservoirs, depending on type
-	Site-specific criteria for Lake Pepin
-	Nitrogen criteria in next phase.
Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability Program (NESP) is an upper Mississippi River program with a significant ecosystem restoration
component. Many of the projects that develop in the future will help with sediment and nutrient retention/treatment. Program remains
Task Force Federal Member Activities
UNITED STATES ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS (USACE)
83

-------
FY 2010 Operating Plan
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
underfunded in 2009 and 2010. Fifteen ecosystem projects valued at $120 million are in advanced planning and design phases. The
program is currently getting $10 million per year—half for the ecosystem part and half for the navigation part, but no construction funds.
A wide range of potential projects including floodplain restoration, side-channel restoration, island construction, forest restoration, and
embankment modifications are expected to have beneficial effects on water nutrient loading.
•	Environmental Management Program (EMP) is an upper Mississippi River program with two components—development and
construction of ecosystem restoration projects, which will help with sediment and nutrient retention/treatment, and a water constituent
monitoring program, providing valuable water quality data to be used by many state and federal agencies, as well as non-government
groups. The EMP is in the process of being transitioned to NESP, and no new starts under EMP are allowed. The transition plan aims for
a seamless transition to NESP of all projects, designs, and construction efforts, including the monitoring program. To date, EMP has built
50 ecosystem-related projects benefitting more than 83,000 acres. EMP funding ranged from $17 million to $30 million annually.
•	The Middle Mississippi River Watershed Study will look at watershed issues in the middle Mississippi River area, including ecosystem
restoration, management, socioeconomic concerns, and balance, as well as environmental monitoring needs. From this study, future
projects for the benefit of the middle Mississippi River watershed will develop. This study focused on the Mississippi River from the
Missouri River to the Ohio River and concluded in early 2009. Outcomes included regional natural resource goals, objectives, and
strategies; development of an ecosystem restoration planning tool; and reach assessments. Interagency Middle Mississippi River Partnership
has taken ownership now and will move the region forward on study outcomes.
•	Lower Mississippi River Watershed Study. Although the focus of this study is related to recreational and economics needs and existing
infrastructure, it will have some importance in influencing some future growth and development in the Lower Mississippi River, which in
turn could affect hypoxia issues such as sediment and nutrient input. The draft report was delivered July 31, 2009, and is being reviewed
before approval. Looking for cost-share partners to go to feasibility phase and then project implementation. Report recommends a
watershed study and implementation plan/potential feasibility reports involving 239 projects identified by an NGO, and it is being revised
to include a couple multipurpose projects that could go right to feasibility now with an appropriate cost-share partner. Watershed study is a
2- to 3-year effort at $2.5 million cost-shared.
•	Louisiana Coastal Area Study (LCA). Although not specifically authorized, some aspects of LCA associated with other programs and
projects are moving forward, including scientific investigation for long-distance sediment transport and freshwater diversions for building
new wetlands and nutrient uptake. Louisiana Coastal Area project has several authorized components per WRDA 07 but remains largely
unfunded as a more comprehensive approach to coastal Louisiana issues develops in the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration
(LACPR) effort. Some funded aspects of LCA include activities such as freshwater water symposia and research, beneficial use of dredged
material, modeling, innovative mapping efforts, and a science and technology program.
•	Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act (CWPPRA). Projects for ecosystem restoration and protection are planned and
constructed by inter-agency groups each year. For example, the West Bay Sediment Diversion project is a joint effort by the Corps and the
State of Louisiana to transport sediment from the river by a specifically designed channel or bank cut for the purpose of building marsh,
84

-------
FY 2010 Operating Plan
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
which in turn reduces sediment and nutrient load to the hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico. At the end of 2008, there were 145 active
approved projects, 74 had been constructed, 17 were under construction, and 26 had been de-authorized or transferred to another
program. Funding for FY09 and FY10 is at about $5 million for planning each year and about $82 million for construction each year. Total
wetland acres to benefit from all projects over their individual 20-year project life would be 110,415 wetland acres. The program began in
1990 and is authorized until 2019.
•	USDA will provide technical and/or financial assistance through the following conservation programs to help reduce nutrient (nitrogen
and phosphorus) runoff and leaching to local receiving waters, as well as to the Gulf of Mexico: Environmental Quality Incentives
Program (EQIP), Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP), Wetlands Reserve
Program (WRP), Conservation Technical Assistance (CTA), Conservation Security Program (CSP), P.L. 83 566 Watershed Projects, and
the Resource Conservation and Development Program (RC&D).
•	USDA will continue to test and demonstrate innovative management practices for reducing nutrient losses to surface waters and evaluate
current conservation practices for water quality benefits at the watershed scale. Recent progress has been made in the areas of improving
modeling of riparian zone function for more accurate water quality assessments, developing new management practices for reducing nitrate
losses in drainage waters, improving water quality models for large-scale watersheds, assessing the water quality effects of management
practices in tile-drained agriculture, developing sensors and procedures for improved nitrogen fertilizer management in corn, and designing
wetland systems for tile-drained agricultural landscapes. These and other research findings for FY07 can be found at the following Web
sites:
http://www.ars.usda.gov/SP2UserFiles/Program/211/NP21 lAnnRptFY07.pdf
http://www.fsa.usda.gov/Internet/FSA_File/fsa_fmal_report_crumpton_rhd.pdf
http://www.fsa.usda.gov/Internet/FSA_File/iameetingagenda.pdf.
The 2008 Farm Bill (The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008) reinforces the importance of conservation on working lands. It increases
authorized funding for conservation programs administered by NRCS by $4.2 billion over the life of the bill as compared to 2002 Farm Bill.
Key USDA programs were reauthorized and some, such as the Agricultural Water Enhancement Program (AWEP) under the Environmental
Quality Incentives Program, were expanded. AWEP offers financial and technical help to assist farmers and ranchers with installing or
implementing conservation practices for agricultural water conservation water quality enhancement activities.
Other highlights that relate to the 2010 Hypoxia Annual Operating Plan:
• Authorizes 32 million acres to be enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (2010—2012).
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (USDA)
2008 Farm Bill
85

-------
FY 2010 Operating Plan
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
•	Allows up to 3,041,200 acres of wetlands to be enrolled in the Wetland Reserve Program, adding 766,200 acres.
•	Renames the Conservation Security Program to the Conservation Stewardship Program and authorizes additional funding to enroll up to
12,769,000 additional acres each year for producers to improve conservation treatment on their lands that benefit soil, water, and air
• Expands partnership opportunities through the Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative (CCPI). Directs 6 percent of funds and
acres from Farm Bill Conservation Title programs, except CRP, WRP, Farm and Ranch Land Protection Program (FRPP), and Grasslands
Reserve Program (GRP), be used for targeted conservation activities and areas.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Through the Gulf of Mexico Ecosystems and Hypoxia Assessment (NGOMEX) program, NOAA supports research designed to provide
managers with tools, techniques, and information to make informed decisions and assess alternative management strategies regarding the hypoxic
zone. Ongoing research projects include efforts led by:
•	Drs. Nancy Rabalais (Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, LUMCON) and Eugene Turner (Louisiana State University [LSU]) lead
monitoring that provides a continuing and consistent series of long-term data that document the temporal and spatial extent of hypoxia
(including production of the Action Plan Coastal Goal metric); identify relationships among river discharge and constituent loads, physical
conditions (especially currents), and biological and chemical parameters; link coastal ecosystem studies with Mississippi River data on
discharge, concentration, and loads of relevant constituents; refine models of the severity and extent of hypoxia (including the predictive
model used as a basis for NOAA's annual hypoxic zone forecast); and continue public outreach, including a Web site, to translate research
results to a broad cross-section of the public. In FY 09, advanced the completing of the forecast of the hypoxic zone size by one month
(June) and completed mid-summer survey of hypoxic zone (Action Plan metric). Published a paper in 'EnvironmentalScience and Technology
that indicated increasing size of hypoxia for similar loads of nitrogen. Field and laboratory analyses are continuing.
•	Dr. Steve DiMarco (Texas A&M University) investigates short- and long-term variability in currents, stratification, and dissolved oxygen
associated with the hypoxic zone; determines spatial variability of benthic and water column respiration rates; and develops a realistic
coupled physical-biological-geochemical numerical model of the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. In FY09, conducted isotopic analysis of
waters from 2007 and 2008 hypoxia events off Texas and found the 2007 event was due to waters from the Brazos River, while waters
during the 2008 event were from the Mississippi/Atchafalaya rivers. Deployed a monitoring mooring at Site C of the hypoxic zone.
Numerical model has been developed. Model development and field and laboratory analyses are continuing.
•	Dr. Dubravko Justic (LSU) is to develop a process-based hypoxia module for the Louisiana shelf to advance hypoxia modeling by
incorporating experimental results to estimate the importance of benthic and epibenthic oxygen production; partition the total oxygen
resources.
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE (DOC)
86

-------
FY 2010 Operating Plan
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
uptake in the Gulf s hypoxic zone into water-column and benthic respiration; and estimate the relative forcings of biology and physics as
controls of hypoxia in relatively stagnant bottom waters. Papers published in 2009 indicated that wetland loss in Barataria Estuary does not
significantly contribute to Gulf hypoxia, indicated that through advances in hydrodynamic modeling supports conclusions that local winds
and freshwater discharge are the primary factors influencing stratification on LA-TX shelf, and presented a production-respiration model
for the northern Gulf of Mexico. Additional modeling efforts are ongoing.
•	Dr. Wayne Gardner (University of Texas at Austin) is to determine biological and chemical processes that maintain and extend bottom-
water hypoxia in the summer after initial hypoxia development, important supportive data to improve the accuracy of predictive models of
hypoxic zone expansion. Project is still early in data collection stage. Several field surveys have been completed as have methods
development and validation. Field and laboratory analyses are continuing.
•	Dr. Stephen Brandt (NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory) is to integrate ecosystem measurements through a variety
of models designed to assess the effects of hypoxia on Gulf pelagic food webs and production; quantify habitat suitability for ecologically
and economically important fishes; and provide tools to forecast food web interactions, habitat suitability, and fish production in relation to
hypoxia. Conducted significant diet analyses on key species for inclusion in food web model and completed several fish field surveys.
Determined that hypoxia has a clear signature on the growth and distribution of prey fish in the northern Gulf. Field and laboratory
analyses are continuing.
•	Dr. Peter Thomas (University of Texas at Austin is to determine the effects of Gulf hypoxia on reproductive output in benthic copepods
and Atlantic croaker; develops reproductive output indicators (biomarkers) for Atlantic croaker environmental exposure to hypoxia; and
develops predictive models on the effects of hypoxia on fish and copepods populations based on impacts on reproduction. Identified
mechanism for sublethal hypoxia-induced reproductive impairment in Atlantic croaker and biomarker to determine fish exposure to
hypoxia. Field and laboratory analyses are continuing.
•	Workshop technical report "Ecological Impacts of Hypoxia on Living Resources" and publication of dedicated issue of the Journal of
Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology on ecological impacts of hypoxia were completed. Special issue of the Journal of Experimental Marine
Biology and Ecology on the ecological impacts of hypoxia is in press and will be published in fall 2009. Workshop technical report is nearing
completion and will also be released in fall 2009.
•	Review and selection of proposals from FY09 competitive funding announcement for the NGOMEX program have been completed. This
program has focused on the development of models providing quantitative predictions of the spatial and temporal extent and severity of
Gulf hypoxia given varying levels of nutrient inputs, physical forcing, and other anthropogenic or natural factors that control hypoxia, and
quantitative models to predict the individual and population-level effects of different spatial and temporal extents of Gulf hypoxia on
ecologically and commercially important aquatic species and, where feasible, the socioeconomic consequences. Two large regional projects
to improve understanding of the causative factors and quantitative predictions of the spatial and temporal extent of hypoxia will be
awarded. Three additional projects will also be awarded; they will focus on the development of quantitative models of the ecological
impacts of hypoxia on key living resources, including a socioeconomic assessment of hypoxia impacts on the shrimp fishery. Note that
87

-------
FY 2010 Operating Plan
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
final announcement regarding the outcomes of this task is awaiting final administrative clearance. Additional information on these projects
will be provided once the clearance process is complete.
•	Completion of a 2009 Southeast Area Monitoring and Assessment Plan (SEAMAP) summer groundfish survey in support the Gulf of
Mexico Hypoxia Watch program. The 2009 mid-summer SEAMAP survey of the hypoxic zone was completed, and data are available on
the Hypoxia Watch Program Web site. An additional survey of the hypoxic zone will be completed in fall 2009. These surveys are planned
to continue into 2010.
•	Continue to explore funding options for the "Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia Monitoring Implementation Plan" and identification of funding
source to maintain, at a minimum, the current monitoring effort of the hypoxic zone. Several partners are contributing support for FY10
monitoring that will lead to (1) an increase in the number of shelf-wide surveys; (2) an expansion of monitoring to east of the Mississippi
River delta; (3) application of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs); (4) progress in establishing a hypoxia data portal; and (5) dedicated
resources toward communication and outreach.
•	The "Hypoxia Monitoring Stakeholder" Web site has been updated and integrated with the Hypoxia Watch site. The development of a
map-based data portal is ongoing.
•	Will continue assistance to the Gulf of Mexico Alliance's Nutrient Priority Issue Team in their efforts to address Gulf hypoxia and partner
with the Task Force.
•	Collaboration with Gulf states to implement components of the Gulf Alliance Action Plan; nutrient reduction is one of five priority issues.
Assisted with the development of the GOMA Action Plan II and efforts to develop a framework for nutrient criteria development.
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR (DOI)
National Park Service (NPS)
•	Published nine articles describing historic nutrient loading and current conditions in Lake St. Croix and Lake Pepin in special issue of
Journal ofPaleolimnology, vol. 41, no. 4, May 2009 special issue: Recent Environmental History of the Upper Mississippi River.
United States Geological Survey (USGS)
• Rankings of watershed nutrient yields in the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin. "Incorporating Uncertainty into the Ranking of
SPARROW Model Nutrient Yields from the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin Watersheds" was published in Journal of the American Water
Resources Association. Article, maps, and data tables are available at http://water.usgs.gov/nawqa/sparrow/nutrient_yields.
Recently Completed USGS National and Regional Reports
88

-------
FY 2010 Operating Plan
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
•	Hydrologic and biogeochemical controls affecting nutrient transport in agricultural streams. Nine articles discussing hydrologic and
biogeochemical controls affecting nutrient transport in agricultural streams were published in the Journal of Environmental Quality. Available
at: http://jeq.scijournals.org/content/vol37/issue3.
•	Online tool to predict atrazine concentrations in streams in the United States. Predictions and interactive mapping of atrazine for any
stream in the United States are available at http://infotrek.er.usgs.gov/warp. Documentation of the Watershed Regressions for Pesticides
(WARP) model is available at http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/usgspubs/ofr/ofr20091122.
•	Nutrient Trends in Streams and Rivers of the United States, 1993—2003. Available at http://water.usgs.gov/nawqa/pubs/nutrient_trends.
•	Trends in Nutrient and Suspended Sediment Concentrations and Loads in the Upper Mississippi, Ohio, and Great Lakes River Basins.
Available at http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2008/5213.
•	Nutrient and Suspended Sediment Trends in the Missouri River Basin, Available at http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2006/5231.
•	Trends in Nutrient and Sediment Concentrations and Loads in Major River Basins of the South-Central United States, 1993—2004.
Available at http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2007/5090.
•	A Quarter-Century of Declining Suspended Sediment Fluxes in the Mississippi River and the Effect of the 1993 Flood. Available at
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/122557772/abstract.
•	Status and Trends of Selected Resources of the Upper Mississippi River System: A Synthesis Report of the Long Term Resource
Monitoring Program: summary of the recent status and trends for selected indicators of the ecological condition of the Upper Mississippi
and Illinois Rivers. Available at http://pubs.usgs.gov/mis/LTRMP2008-T002.
•	The Role of Nutrients in Determining Riverine Ecosystem Productivity and Eutrophication, Nutrient Cycling and Transport. Reports are
available at http://wa.water.usgs.gov/neet/products.html.
•	The Importance of Hydrology in Restoration of Bottomland Hardwood Wetland Functions. Available at
http://librrefmgr.cr.usgs.gov/rmwp?&func=view&qid=2&recordID=57&sortKey=Date&returnTo=summary&.
•	Effects of Residence Time on Summer Nitrate Uptake in Mississippi River Flow-Regulated Backwaters. Available at
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118677506/abstract.
•	Contribution of Sediment Fluxes and Transformations to the Summer Nitrogen Budget of an Upper Mississippi River Backwater System.
Available at http://www.springerlink.com/Content/ml21345j22t8j0j7/?p=2d0ae302877d47faada6dfe7a4da04b9&pi=7.
•	Multi-scale Measurements and Modeling of Denitrification in Streams with Varying Flow and Nitrate Concentration in the Upper
Mississippi River Basin. Available at http://www.springerlink.com/content/f00r657809770131.
89

-------
FY 2010 Operating Plan
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
Salinity, Soil Total Nitrogen, and Flood Duration and Frequency Affected Forest Structure and Growth along Tidal/Non-Tidal Salinity
Gradients. Available at http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1672/08-77.1. Wetlands, Vol. 29, No. 2, June 2009.
Nutrient Dynamics in the Lower Mississippi River Floodplain: Comparing Present and Historic Hydrologic Conditions. Available at
http://www.bioone.org/ doi/abs/10.1672/08-62.1.
The Quality of Our Nation's Water—Nutrients in the Nation's Streams and Ground Water (anticipated release fall/winter 2010).
Regional SPARROW models and decision support tool (Upper Mississippi, Great Lakes, Ohio River Basin; Missouri River Basin; and the
Lower Mississippi, Arkansas-Wiite-Red, and Texas Gulf Basin) for total nitrogen and total phosphorus (anticipated release fall 2010).
Optimal Nitrogen Management for the Nation's Coastal Waters (anticipated release fall 2010).
Several studies and reports discussing hydrologic and biogeochemical controls affecting nutrient transport in agricultural streams,
(http://in.water.usgs.gov/NAWQA_ACT)
Several studies and reports to evaluate the role of nutrients in determining riverine ecosystem productivity and eutrophication, nutrient
cycling and transport, (http://wa.water.usgs.gov/neet/products.html)
Trends in Herbicide Concentrations in Streams in Corn-Soybean Agricultural Areas of the Central United States, 1992—2004 (anticipated
release fall 2009).
Assessment of Nutrient Eutrophication Using Algal, Fish, and Invertebrate Indices in the Corn Belt and Northern Great Plains and Mostly
Glaciated Dairy Region Nutrient Ecoregions (anticipated release summer 2010).
Nutrient Inputs to Streams from Groundwater: Implications for Management (anticipated release fall 2010).
Relationships between Nutrients, Chlorophyll, and Habitat in Agricultural Streams: Implications for Nutrient Criteria (anticipated release
fall/winter 2010).
Summer Nitrate Uptake and Denitrification in an Upper Mississippi River Backwater Lake: The Role of Rooted Aquatic Vegetation
(anticipated release fall/winter 2010).
Nutrient in the Upper Mississippi River: Transport, Processing, and Effects on the River (anticipated release winter 2010).
Large-scale Longitudinal and Seasonal Patterns in Nutrients, Chlorophyll, and Suspended Solids in the Upper Mississippi River (anticipated
release fall 2010).
Planned 2010 USGS Regionally Based Products
90

-------
FY 2010 Operating Plan
UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (USEPA)
USEPA Office of Water, Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds (OWOW)
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
•	Made available a compilation and summary of information on TMDLs completed in EPA Region 5 states and Mississippi. Information has
been collected, and compilation and summary of information are being conducted.
•	Provide technical and financial assistance to Mississippi River Basin states developing nutrient TMDLs for shared waterbodies, through a
series of NAS projects focused on the Mississippi River watershed and the Gulf of Mexico. AWPD/WB continues to work with the basin
states to determine the most effective §303(d) strategies for listing waters impaired by nutrients. The NAS project is also assisting EPA in
evaluating options for developing basin-specific nutrient caps and for determining appropriate TMDL endpoints throughout the watershed
that will address both near-field (within state), main stem Mississippi River, and far-field (Gulf of Mexico) objectives.
•	Complete assessment of scientific, modeling, and technical aspects of nutrient pollutant load allocations for TMDLs in basin states.
•	Continue MARB/Gulf of Mexico TMDL work plan.
USEPA Office of Science and Technology (OST)
•	In FY09 (December 2008) the report State Adoption of Numeric Nutrient Standards (1998—2008) was published. The report provides a status of
progress made by the 50 states in adopting numeric nutrient standards for major waterbody types (lakes and reservoirs, rivers and streams,
estuaries, and wetlands) since 1998 when EPA released its "National Strategy for the Development of Regional Nutrient Criteria."
•	In FY09 provided technical assistance to seven MARB states. Data analysis support was provided through the Nutrient Technical Support
Center (NSTEPS) to these seven MARB states.
•	Continue to provide financial and technical support to states for numeric nutrient criteria development.
USEPA Region 4
•	In FY08-09, 186 TMDLs for total nitrogen and total phosphorus were developed. The primary basins addressed were the Yazoo River,
Mississippi, 78 segments for TN and TP, and the Stone River, Tennessee, 9 segments for total nitrogen and total phosphorus. For the
TMDL portion, more effort will be devoted to supporting state implementation activities because the Consent Decree commitments in
Tennessee and Mississippi have been met. No new nutrient TMDLs in the basin are planned at this time. Kentucky might initiate nutrient
TMDL development in FY10.
•	Eight CAFO inspections were conducted in FY09—seven in Mississippi and one in Tennessee. The City of Memphis WWTP in Tennessee
was given a full inspection. Also, there were major litigations involving the CSO and MS4 facilities in Louisville and Lexington, Kentucky.
More compliance inspections and compliance monitoring activities will be undertaken in 2010.
91

-------
FY 2010 Operating Plan
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
•	The CAFO coordinator held two workshops for the Perdue Chicken producers in FY09 on nutrient management and litter control. CAFO
workshops regarding the new rule requirements are being planned for FY10. MS4 permits will be reviewed and modified to address
nutrient TMDL load reduction requirements.
•	Work with Mississippi, Tennessee, and Kentucky §319 programs to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus from nonpoint sources. The §319
program funds focused on impaired waterbodies, most of which involved nutrient controls. In Mississippi, the §319 program is an active
partner in the extensive BMP efforts in the Delta region to benchmark total nitrogen and total phosphorus reduction efforts to meet
TMDL targets. The §319 program will continue to support nutrient management planning activities in each state.
•	Provide assistance to Mississippi, Tennessee, and Kentucky on plans for development and development of numeric criteria for nutrient
reduction in the Mississippi Basin. The three states are on track to meet their nutrient criteria development planning goals. Region 4
completed interagency agreements (IAGs) with USGS in Mississippi and Kentucky to gather and assess monitoring data to aid in the
development of nutrient criteria. EPA will continue to work with the states to expedite nutrient criteria development in light of the Florida
litigation and Consent Decree requiring EPA to promulgate numeric nutrient criteria.
•	Investigating the relationship between nutrients, algal biomass, continuous dissolved oxygen, and biological communities in wadeable
streams through the National Rivers and Streams Assessment (NRSA). Field work began in 2008 and continues through September 2009.
•	The annual Pre-Surface Water Monitoring and Standards (SWiMS)/ Regional Technical Advisory Group (RTAG) Meeting took place in
February 2009 in Chicago, Illinois, focusing on developing scientifically defensible criteria and implementation guidance.
•	Through June 30, 2009, 19 compliance inspections targeting CAFOs with the most severe impacts were conducted in Mississippi River
Basin states.
•	Continue work with State Nutrient Workgroups in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
•	As of June 2009, completed 8 of 60 nutrient TMDLs for nutrient-impaired waters draining to the Mississippi River and its tributaries;
issued 52 NPDES permits with nutrient limits or monitoring requirements for major municipal and industrial facilities discharging into the
Mississippi; and conducted 25 federal workshops, presentations, or other similar compliance assistance seminars for CAFOs or
municipalities regarding nutrient management in the Mississippi Basin.
• Entered into an IAG with USDA/ARS to compile and analyze all existing databases along the length of the Red River, from headwaters in
New Mexico to confluence with the Mississippi River. This project began in 2007 and will be completed in 2009. Phase 1 data collection is
complete, Phase 2 is ongoing, and Phase 3 (criteria development) was approved in early 2009.
USEPA Region 5
USEPA Region 6
92

-------
FY 2010 Operating Plan
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
•	Work with states within the region to assist them with implementation of their water quality monitoring programs. Arkansas and Louisiana
are conducting water quality monitoring for nutrients.
•	Participation in the SPARROW modeling effort, partly through a Regional Geographic Initiative-funded project that is funding data
collection for SPARROW for the Lower Mississippi River Basin, through an interagency agreement between Region 6 and Region 5.
Headquarters, Region 5, and the Gulf of Mexico Program are also funding the overall "100 Watersheds" work. Work on regional
SPARROW models is progressing, but unforeseen quality assurance problems are delaying the effort. The project also suffers from lack of
funding.
•	The §319 program in Region 6 works with states to reduce water quality problems related to nonpoint sources of pollution. Approximately
70 percent of the region's §319 efforts address nutrient reduction. A special high-level meeting took place between the Region 6 Water
Quality Protection Division Director and the NRCS State Conservationists to strive for collaboration on use of EQIP and §319 activities
for addressing watershed restoration and nutrient reduction. Also, the Mollicy Farms project (The Nature Conservancy) returned 10,000
acres of farmland in the Ouachita Basin in Louisiana to natural floodplain, which will aid in reducing nutrient inputs to the Gulf of Mexico.
•	The Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act (CWPPRA) Program in Region 6 has three coastal restoration projects that
focus on reintroducing Mississippi River water into coastal basins. Wien constructed, these projects will provide for the removal of some
nitrogen and phosphorus from the loadings that would otherwise go to the Gulf. The region works with the State of Louisiana on these
projects. The Maurepas Swamp project reached 30 percent design at the end of 2008 and has been delayed since then pending negotiation
between EPA, the State of Louisiana, the USACE, and the CWPPRA Task Force regarding how to proceed toward final design 1. Phase 1
(data collection) is complete, Phase 2 (data analysis) is ongoing, and additional funding for Phase 3 (criteria development) was approved in
early 2009.
93

-------
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
w Watershed Nutrient
FY 2010 Operating Plan
V
Abbreviations and Acronyms
AFO	animal feeding operation
ARS	Agricultural Research Service
AUV	autonomous underwater vehicles
AWEP	Agricultural Water Enhancement Program
AWPD	Assessment and Watershed Protection Division
BAT	best available technology
BMPs	best management practices
CAFO	concentrated animal feeding operation
CCPI	Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative
CEAP	Conservation Effects Assessment Project
CENR	Committee on Environment and Natural Resources
CEUs	continuing education units
CMT	Conservation Management Tool
CNMP	comprehensive nutrient management plans
CREP	Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program
CRP	Conservation Reserve Program
CSO	combined sewer overflow
CSP	Conservation Stewardship Program, or Conservation Security Program
CSREES	Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service
CTA	Conservation Technical Assistance
CTIC	Conservation Technology and Information Center
CWA	Clean Water Act
CWPPRA	Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act
DMR	Discharge Monitoring Report
ELP	Environmental Leadership Program
EMP	Environmental Management Program
EPA	Environmental Protection Agency
EPRI	Electric Power Research Institute
EQIP	Environmental Quality Incentive Program
ERDC	Engineer Research and Development Center
FARM	Farmers Advocating Resource Management
FRPP	Farm and Ranch Land Protection Program
94

-------
FY 2010 Operating Plan
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force
FSA
FTE
FWP
GCOOS
GED
GIS
GMPO
GOMA
GRP
GRTS
HAB
HABHRCA
HUC
IAG
IBI
IDALS
LACPR
LATEX
LCA
LDAF
LDEQ
LMFA
LMRCC
LMRSBC
LSU
LTRMP
LUMCON
MARB
MDAC
MDEQ
MMR
MO CREP
MOU
MPCA
MS4
Farm Service Agency
full-time equivalent
Farmable Wetland Program
Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System
Gulf Ecology Division
geographic information system
Gulf of Mexico Program Office
Gulf of Mexico Alliance
Grasslands Reserve Program
Grant Reporting and Tracking System
harmful algal bloom
Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act
Hydrologic Unit Code
interagency agreement
Index of Biotic Integrity
Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship
Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration
Louisiana-Texas Shelf Physical Oceanography Program
Louisiana Coastal Area Study
LA Dept. of Agriculture and Forestry
Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality
Livestock Management Facilities Act
Lower Mississippi River Conservation Committee
Lower Mississippi River Subbasin Committee
Louisiana State University
Long-Term Resource Monitoring Program
Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium
Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin
Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce
Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality
Monitoring, Modeling, and Research
Missouri Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program
memorandum of understanding
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
Municipal separate storm sewer system
95

-------
FY 2010 Operating Plan
MSU
Mississippi State University
MVD
Mississippi Valley Division
MWCD
Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District
MWSC
Mississippi Water Science Center
NAS
National Academy of Sciences
NASQAN
National Stream Quality Accounting Network
NAWQA
National Water-Quality Assessment Program
NECOP
Nutrient Enhanced Coastal Ocean Productivity
NEP
National Estuary Program
NESP
Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability Program
NGI
Northern Gulf Institute
NGO
nongovernmental organization
NGOMEX
Gulf of Mexico Ecosystems and Hypoxia Assessment
NMN
National Monitoring Network
NOAA
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
NPDES
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
NPS
National Park Service
NRCS
Natural Resources Conservation Service
NRI
National Research Initiative
NRSA
National Rivers and Streams Assessment
NSL
National Sedimentation Laboratory
NSTEPS
Nutrient Technical Support Center
NWIS
National Water Information System
ORB
Ohio River Basin
ORD
Office of Research and Development (EPA)
ORSANCO
Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission
OST
Office of Science and Technology (EPA)
OWM
Office of Wastewater Management (EPA)
OWOW
Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds (EPA)
PIT
Priority Issue Team
POTW
publicly owned treatment works
RARE
Regional Applied Research Effort
RC&D
Resource Conservation and Development Program
RFP
request for proposal
RIM-WRP
Reinvest in Minnesota-Wetlands Reserve Program
96
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force

-------
FY 2010 Operating Plan
RTAG
Regional Technical Advisory Group
SBC
Subbasin Committees
SEAMAP
Southeast Area Monitoring and Assessment Program, or

Southeast Area Monitoring and Assessment Plan
SPARROW
Spatially Referenced Regressions on Watershed Attributes
STC
State Technical Committee
SWCD
Soil and Water Conservation District
SWiMS
Surface Water Monitoring and Standards
TMDL
total maximum daily load
TNC
The Nature Conservancy
TSS
total suspended solids
UMR
Upper Mississippi River
UNO
University of New Orleans
USACE
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
USD A
U.S. Department of Agriculture
USDOI
U.S. Department of the Interior
USEPA
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
USFWS
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
uses
U.S. Geological Survey
USM
University of Southern Mississippi
UW
University of Wisconsin
WARP
Watershed Regressions for Pesticides
WB
Watershed Branch
WHIP
Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program
WLA
waste load allocation
WPDES
Wisconsin Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
WRDA
Water Resources Development Act
WREP
Wetland Reserve Enhancement Program
WRP
Wetlands Reserve Program
WWTP
wastewater treatment plant
97
Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient
Task Force

-------