Mississippi River

Gulf of Mexico

Watershed Nutrient

Task Force
Sediment loads from the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers empty into the Gulf of Mexico.

Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008


Mississippi	River/Gulf	of	Mexico	Watershed	Nutrient	Task	Force				Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

Contents

Moving Forward on Gulf Hypoxia 2

Framework for Action. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

n	 Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

n	 Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

n	 Critical Needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Progress and Reassessment 2001–2007. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

n	 Trends in the Size of the Hypoxic Zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

n	 Trends in Nitrogen and Phosphorus in the Basin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

n	 Progress on Actions in the 2001 Action Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

n	 Updating the Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

n	 Conclusions from the Reassessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Next Steps: Getting Results 28

Actions to Accelerate the Reduction of Nitrogen and Phosphorus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Actions to Advance the Science, Track Progress and Raise Awareness. . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Appendix 60
	 	 Moving	Forward	on	Gulf	Hypoxia

Mississippi	River/Gulf	of	Mexico	Watershed	Nutrient	Task	Force				Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

Moving Forward

More than thirty years after the passage 

of the Clean Water Act, a large area 

of low oxygen or hypoxia, absent of most 

marine life and threatening to inexorably 

change the biology of the region, continues 

to form in the Gulf of Mexico during periods 

in the summer off the coasts of Louisiana 

and Texas. The hypoxia is primarily caused 

by excess nutrients—originating from the 

great productivity of Middle American cities, 

farms, and industries—which cause extensive 

growths of algae that deplete the oxygen in 

the water when they die, sink to the bottom, 

and decompose. The condition is exacerbated 

by the stratification of the water column—

the result of warmer, low salinity surface 

waters that isolate the organic-rich bottom 

waters from the surface and prevent oxygen 

exchange with the atmosphere—which 

occurs where the Mississippi River meets the 

Gulf of Mexico.

The watershed of the Mississippi River drains 

41 percent of the contiguous United States 

and includes waters from several major river 

systems, including the Missouri/Platte River 

Basin, the Ohio/Tennessee River Basin, and the 

Arkansas/Red/White River Basin. The Mississippi 

River Basin includes two functionally distinct 

zones, each with its own potential to contribute 

to the reduction of Gulf hypoxia. These zones 

include the huge Mississippi watershed with 

its tributary network, and at the lower end of 

the river system, the deltaic zone that formerly 

dispersed river water naturally throughout 

Southeast Louisiana via a distributary (deltaic) 

network. While the tributaries of the Mississippi 

River are the sources of nutrient loading to 

the river trunk, the distributaries within the 

Mississippi Delta are critical to the final dispersal 

of nutrients and sediments into the Gulf of 

Mexico and the salinity of the estuaries and 

coastal waters. 

The distributary zone includes the entire area 

influenced by river flow south of the Old River 

Control Structures, where the Atchafalaya River 

diverges from the lower Mississippi River and 
Moving Forward on Gulf Hypoxia	



Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

on Gulf Hypoxia

the Red River merges with the Atchafalaya 

(Figure 1). During the past two centuries 

the hydrology of the distributary zone was 

totally modified by the construction of flood 

levees and closing of key distributaries for 

flood control and navigation enhancement 

programs. These structures isolated the river 

from its delta, causing an ongoing catastrophic 

collapse in the deltaic landscape, primarily 

wetlands. The hydrologic changes that have 

caused such damage to South Louisiana 

also exacerbate Gulf hypoxia by jetting most 

nutrient-rich river water and sediments directly 

into the Gulf of Mexico, bypassing the deltaic 

wetlands that require the nutrients and 

sediments. 

States and Tribes within the entire Mississippi/

Atchafalaya River Basin and Federal agencies 

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. In January 2001, 

the Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed 

Figure 1. Deltaic plain of Louisiana showing 

land built, maintained, and nourished over 

thousands of years by many distributary 

channels of the Mississippi River, including the 

two that are currently active.
	 	 Moving Forward on Gulf Hypoxia

Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

Nutrient Task Force issued the Action Plan for 

Reducing, Mitigating, and Controlling Hypoxia 

in the Northern Gulf of Mexico. The plan was 

submitted in accordance with the Harmful 

Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research Control 

Act of 1998. The plan stimulated a great deal 

of collaboration in understanding science and 

planning; however, much work remains to be 

done to implement it. 

The Task Force has updated the initial plan 

through a multiple-step reassessment. This 

2008 Action Plan reflects the Task Force’s efforts 

to track progress, update the science, and 

adapt actions to improve the effectiveness of 

the efforts throughout the Basin. Building on 

the 2001 Action Plan, this plan lays out specific 

steps that need to be accomplished to reach 

the goals. It also reiterates the long term goals 

and continues the Task Force’s commitment 

to an adaptive management approach 

to reduce the size and impact of the Gulf 

hypoxic zone and improve water quality in the 

Basin. This adaptive management approach 

involves continual feedback between the 

interpretation of new information and 

improved management actions and is the key 

to targeting actions within watersheds where 

they will be most effective. 

Six major policy themes provided direction 

for the reassessment. These themes address 

needed improvements to the 2001 Action Plan

within the adaptive management framework 

and include: 

1. Acknowledge the social, political and 

economic changes and links to emerging 

issues and policies. The vast drainage basin 

of the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin and 

the adaptive management framework of the 

Action Plan require that the Task Force analyze 

the broad landscape and policy changes that 

impact the hypoxic zone and water quality in 

the Basin. These trends may include wetland 

trends in both the upper and lower basin, 

channelization of the Mississippi River and 

how it affects the hydrology of the Mississippi 

and Atchafalaya deltas, and the role of energy 

and agriculture markets on land use in the 

Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin.

2. Ensure greater specificity and 

accountability and tie to funding 

strategies. The Task Force must identify the 

appropriate actions and engage State, Tribal, 

and Federal agencies and stakeholders to 

identify the appropriate funding strategies that 

will be the most effective in ensuring timely 
Moving Forward on Gulf Hypoxia	



Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

implementation to achieve measurable and 

effective results.

3. Track program and environmental 

progress. The Task Force needs to improve 

communication, better understand the 

results of its efforts, and improve tracking and 

integration of results into improved design 

and targeting of adaptive strategies in future 

reassessments.

4. Adapt to new scientific findings. 

The Task Force has been active in soliciting 

and evaluating the latest scientific findings 

through a series of symposia on relevant topics 

and advice from a panel of experts under 

the United States Environmental Protection 

Agency’s (EPA) Science Advisory Board.

5. Maximize opportunities for stakeholder 

involvement. Given the cooperative and 

voluntary nature of the Action Plan, the 

Task Force must engage a wide range of 

stakeholders and facilitate broad acceptance of 

the plan in order to maximize opportunities for 

stakeholders to pursue the identified actions. 

6. Reexamine roles and responsibilities 

of Task Force partners. A reassessment 

of the roles and responsibilities assigned to 

the Federal agencies, the States, Tribes, and 

the Sub-Basin Committees in achieving the 

goals of the Action Plan will improve future 

implementation and action.



Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

Contents

Moving Forward on Gulf Hypoxia 2

Framework for Action. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

n	 Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

n	 Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

n	 Critical Needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Progress and Reassessment 2001–2007. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

n	 Trends in the Size of the Hypoxic Zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

n	 Trends in Nitrogen and Phosphorus in the Basin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

n	 Progress on Actions in the 2001 Action Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

n	 Updating the Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

n	 Conclusions from the Reassessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Next Steps: Getting Results 28

Actions to Accelerate the Reduction of Nitrogen and Phosphorus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Actions to Advance the Science, Track Progress and Raise Awareness. . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Appendix 60
	 	 Moving Forward on Gulf Hypoxia

Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

Framework for Action

Principles

Throughout the process of the reassessment, 

the Task Force has reaffirmed these six 

overarching principles as guidance to reach 

the three major goals of this plan: 

n Encourage actions that are voluntary, 

incentive-based, practical, and cost-effective;

	Utilize existing programs, including existing 

state and federal regulatory mechanisms;

	Follow adaptive management;

	Identify additional funding needs and 

sources during the annual agency budget 

processes; 

	Identify opportunities for, and potential 

barriers to, innovative and market-based 

solutions; and

	Provide measurable outcomes as outlined 

below in the three goals and eleven actions.

Bear Creek in Story County, Iowa is a United States Department of Agriculture National Demonstration Area for conservation buffers.
Moving Forward on Gulf Hypoxia	



Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

Goals

The Task Force has revised and reaffirmed the three goals that conform to these principles and will 

provide the overall measure of the results of the plan:

1	 Coastal Goal: Subject to the availability of additional resources, we strive to reduce or 

make significant progress toward reducing the five-year running average areal extent of 

the Gulf of Mexico hypoxic zone to less than 5,000 square kilometers by the year 2015 

through implementation of specific, practical, and cost-effective voluntary actions by all 

Federal agencies, States, and Tribes, and address all categories of sources and removals 

within the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin to reduce the annual discharge of nitrogen 

and phosphorus into the Gulf.*

2	 Within Basin Goal: To restore and protect the waters of the 31 States and Tribal lands 

within the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin through implementation of nutrient and 

sediment reduction actions to protect public health and aquatic life as well as reduce 

negative impacts of water pollution on the Gulf of Mexico. 

3	 Quality of Life Goal: To improve the communities and economic conditions across the 

Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin, in particular the agriculture, fisheries and recreation 

sectors, through improved public and private land management and a cooperative, 

incentive-based approach.

* The Task Force understands the difficulty of meeting the 2015 goal so is therefore including a revision that takes into account the uncertainty 

of the task but attempts to maintain momentum and progress achieved to date. As such, at this time, the Task Force accepts the advice 

of EPA’s Science Advisory Board on this topic...”The 5,000 km2 target remains a reasonable endpoint for continued use in an adaptive 

management context; however, it may no longer be possible to achieve this goal by 2015...it is even more important to proceed in a directionally 

correct fashion to manage factors affecting hypoxia than to wait for greater precision in setting the goal for the size of the zone. Much can be 

learned by implementing management plans, documenting practices, and measuring their effects with appropriate monitoring programs.” 

(EPA Science Advisory Board 2008, 2).
10

	 Moving Forward on Gulf Hypoxia

Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

Critical Needs

Much planning and implementation is under 

way at the local level, as well as through 

federal and state programs, to address 

scientific and management concerns and 

to put the conservation practices and 

management practices and technologies in 

place to reduce nutrient loads. Progress is 

being made; however, ongoing programs, 

rather than new initiatives, are responsible for 

most of the progress. Furthermore, progress is 

often the result of collateral benefits resulting 

from actions States and Federal agencies have 

taken independently of the hypoxia Action 

Plan to generally improve the state of the 

science, restore local water quality, or improve 

the efficiency of industrial and agricultural 

activities. The Task Force members are 

committed to continue, within these existing 

programs, current activities that contribute to 

meeting the goals of this plan, while increasing 

the targeting within this reassessment to fill 

gaps that are observed within the existing 

programs. 

However, while landowners, States and Federal 

agencies have undertaken numerous nutrient 

reduction activities, these activities have 

not resulted in a reduction of the hypoxic 

zone. Resources are insufficient to attain 

the goals of the Action Plan, and the lack of 

resources is the primary barrier to successful 

implementation of the plan. Federal, state, and 

local governments and non-governmental 

organizations all have a role in the reduction 

in the size of the hypoxic zone. To achieve 

results, significant resources must be provided 

and targeted toward implementing the 

most effective nutrient reduction actions in 

Mississippi River Basin states with the greatest 

loadings of nitrogen and phosphorus to the 

Gulf. The difference between the results that 

might be achieved using existing programs 

and resources and the results that would be 

realized with additional legislative, regulatory, 

or financial support is considerable. These 

specific, critical needs are summarized later 

in this document and will be defined more 

precisely in the Annual Operating Plan that 

accompanies this document. The Annual 

Operating Plan will also describe the interim 

steps, funding needs, and associated timeline 

that will guide implementation of the eleven 

actions listed in the final section of this Action 

Plan. 
Moving Forward on Gulf Hypoxia	

11

Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

Water Quality Credit Trading Program

The nutrient trading program administered by the Miami 

Conservancy District for the Great Miami River Watershed in 

Ohio allows National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System 

(NPDES) permitted dischargers to purchase credits from best 

management practices installed by upstream nonpoint sources 

(i.e., agricultural producers) to offset nutrient loadings. While no 

Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) is in place yet, point sources 

in the watershed are concerned that upstream nonpoint source 

loadings will result in a stringent TMDL in future years. The point 

sources are purchasing reductions upstream in order to improve 

water quality enough to lessen the stringency of or eliminate 

the need for a TMDL. The program also employs trade ratios 

to encourage early investing. The trades are administered in a 

reverse auction format, where nonpoint sources submit bids for 

the amount they will accept in order to implement practices. 

Currently, there are 28 projects and more than 112 tons 

(244,606 lbs.) of nutrient reduction is targeted over the terms 

of the projects. Funded best management practices include 

conservation tillage, conservation crop rotation, conservation 

cover, milk house/cow lot treatment, pasture seeding/prescribed 

grazing, sod establishment, hayland, manure storage, grid 

sampling/variable rate technology, and filter strips. 

Bottomland hardwood forests improve water quality by filtering and flushing nutrients and by 

reducing sediment before it reaches open water.

13

Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

Contents

Moving Forward on Gulf Hypoxia 2

Framework for Action. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

n	 Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

n	 Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

n	 Critical Needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Progress and Reassessment 2001–2007. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

n	 Trends in the Size of the Hypoxic Zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

n	 Trends in Nitrogen and Phosphorus in the Basin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

n	 Progress on Actions in the 2001 Action Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

n	 Updating the Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

n	 Conclusions from the Reassessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Next Steps: Getting Results 28

Actions to Accelerate the Reduction of Nitrogen and Phosphorus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Actions to Advance the Science, Track Progress and Raise Awareness. . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Appendix 60
14	 Moving Forward on Gulf Hypoxia

Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

Progress and Reassessment 2001–2007

Trends in the Size of the 

Hypoxic Zone

The hypoxic zone in the Northern Gulf of 

Mexico forms each summer and can extend 

up to eighty miles offshore and stretch from 

the mouth of the Mississippi River westward 

to Texas coastal waters. The size of the hypoxic 

zone varies considerably each year, depending 

on natural and anthropogenic factors. In 2007, 

the measured size of the hypoxic zone was 

20,500 square kilometers (7,900 square miles), 

about the size of the state of Massachusetts, 

the third largest hypoxic zone since 

measurements began in 1985 (Figure 2). The 

goal of this Action Plan is to reduce the fiveyear running average size of the zone to less 

than 5,000 square kilometers (about 1,900 

square miles). The current five-year average 

(2003–2007) is 14,644 square kilometers 

(5,600 square miles), more than twice the size 

of the goal.

Figure 2. Size of Gulf 

Hypoxic Zone
Moving Forward on Gulf Hypoxia	

15

Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

Trends in Nitrogen and 

Phosphorus in the Basin 

With a twenty-year average (1985–2005) 

annual stream flow of over 20,000 cubic 

meters per second, the Mississippi River carries 

large amounts of sediments and nutrients 

from its watershed, resulting in large nutrient 

loads*delivered to the Gulf of Mexico at the 

river terminus. Nutrient loads vary greatly and 

are positively related to streamflow. According 

to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), 

between 1985 and 2005, nutrient loads ranged 

from lows of 810,000 metric tons of nitrogen 

and 80,700 metric tons of phosphorus to 

highs of 2,210,000 and 180,000 metric tons 

of nitrogen and phosphorus, respectively 

(Figure 3). 

It is especially important to understand the 

sources of these nutrient loads that flow 

into the Gulf of Mexico. Analysis of five-year 

averages, from 2001–2005, of nutrient loads 

from the various sub-basins indicates that 80% 

of the nitrogen load delivered to the Gulf of 

Mexico came from the Ohio/Tennessee and 

*Load (often called flux) is the amount (mass) of a chemical in a river 

that passes a given point over a given period of time. It is calculated 

by multiplying the average streamflow (discharge) of the river by the 

average concentration of that chemical in the river over that time period.

Figure 3. Nutrient Loads 

in the Mississippi/

Atchafalaya River Basin 

(1985–2005)

Figure 4. Nitrogen Loads 

to the Gulf by Sub-basin 

(2001–2005 average 

percentage)
16

	 Moving Forward on Gulf Hypoxia

Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

Upper Mississippi River Sub-basins (Figure 

4), which contributed 41% and 39% of the 

load, respectively. Similar analysis shows that 

from 2001–2005, the Ohio/Tennessee and 

Upper Mississippi River Sub-basins were the 

greatest contributors of phosphorus loads to 

the Gulf of Mexico as well, contributing 38% 

and 26%, respectively (Figure 5). The Missouri/

Platte, Lower Mississippi, and Arkansas/Red 

Sub-basins contributed 20%, 10%, and 6%, 

respectively. 

Figures 6 and 7 show both the long term 

average and the most recent 5-year average 

(for which data is available) nitrogen and 

phosphorus loads for each sub-basin in the 

Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin. 

Overall, total annual loads to the Gulf from 

2001–2005 show a 21% decline in nitrogen 

load and a 12% increase in phosphorus 

load when compared to the average from 

the 1980–1996 period. However, during the 

spring period (April, May, and June) most of 

the reduction in total nitrogen load was from 

nitrogen forms other than nitrate, an important 

form fueling the primary production that leads 

to hypoxia development in the spring.

Figure 5. Phosphorus 

Loads to the Gulf by 

Sub-basin (2001–2005 

average percentage)

Figure 6. Mississippi River 

Basin Nitrogen Load by 

Sub-basin
Moving Forward on Gulf Hypoxia	

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Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

Progress on Actions in the 

2001 Action Plan

Of the eleven actions identified in the 2001 

Action Plan, several have made significant 

progress:

 The States established Sub-Basin 

Committees for the Upper Mississippi Basin, 

the Ohio Basin and the Lower Mississippi 

Basin. These committees have worked to 

coordinate actions in the sub-basin states. 

The Sub-Basin Committees have opened 

the discussion to include many stakeholders 

not represented on the Task Force, including 

additional basin states, state agencies, 

and interested parties and organizations. 

(Action 2 of 2001 Action Plan)

 The Task Force issued an integrated 

monitoring, modeling and research strategy 

(MMR workgroup report), for the Basin 

and Gulf to guide the development of 

the nutrient reduction strategies as well 

as future scientific research. The MMR 

workgroup report was a driver for research 

strategies of the National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) 

Northern Gulf of Mexico Ecosystems 

and Hypoxia Assessment Program, 

which supported studies advancing 

understanding of causes and impacts of the 

hypoxic zone. (Action 3 of 2001 Action Plan)

 After detailed planning and building 

on the recommendations of the MMR 

workgroup report, NOAA conducted 

additional monitoring of the hypoxic zone 

on a seasonal and annual basis, though this 

has not “greatly expanded” the long-term 

monitoring program, as many important 

needs persist (see next section). (Action 4 of 

2001 Action Plan)

Figure 7. Mississippi River Basin 

Phosphorus Load by Sub-basin
18	 Moving Forward on Gulf Hypoxia

Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

 Higher resolution spatial data were added 

to large watershed-scale models to help 

identify smaller watersheds for focused 

nutrient reduction efforts. (Action 5 of 2001 

Action Plan)

 The Ohio and the Lower Mississippi SubBasins began development of nutrient 

reduction strategies at the sub-basin level, 

incorporating specific issues and proposals 

from the states within those basins. (Action 

6 of 2001 Action Plan)

 Increased assistance to agricultural 

producers through U.S. Department of 

Agriculture (USDA) programs for voluntary 

actions resulted in an additional 1.4 million 

acres of wetlands restored, enhanced, or 

created and an additional 2.3 million acres 

of conservation buffers installed within in 

the Basin during fiscal years 2000–2006. 

(Action 9 of 2001 Action Plan)

 Increased assistance to agricultural 

producers through USDA programs for 

the voluntary implementation of best 

management practices, which are effective 

in addressing loss of nutrients to water 

bodies, has resulted in conservation tillage/

residue management practices applied to 

Millionth CREP Acre Enrolled 

In the Fall of 2007, USDA enrolled farmland in Minnesota as the one millionth 

acre in its nationwide Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP). 

CREP is a community-based, results-oriented effort that focuses on local 

participation and leadership and addresses high-priority conservation issues of 

both local and national significance, such as impacts to water supplies, loss of 

critical habitat for threatened and endangered wildlife species, soil erosion, and 

reduced habitat for fish populations. 

As a component of USDA’s Conservation Reserve Program administered by the 

Farm Service Agency, 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. Partnering 

with tribal, state and federal governments and private groups, USDA establishes 

contracts with agricultural producers to retire highly erodible and other 

sensitive cropland and pastureland. During the 10- to 15-year contract period, 

participants convert enrolled land to grass, trees, wetlands, wildlife cover and 

other conservation uses. CREP supports increased conservation practices such 

as filter strips and forested buffers, which help protect streams, lakes and rivers 

from sedimentation and agricultural runoff. 

Farmers in local communities deserve much of the credit for CREP’s 

overwhelming success. Without their commitment to CREP, this innovative 

program would not have reached this milestone.
Moving Forward on Gulf Hypoxia	

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Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

20.8 million acres and nutrient management 

applied to 18.3 million acres in the Basin 

during fiscal years 2000–2006. A total of 42.8 

million acres of conservation tillage, nutrient 

management, wetland, and conservation 

tillage practices were applied, not counting 

additional areas impacted by wetland and 

buffer practices. (Action 10 of 2001 Action 

Plan)

 The Task Force completed a major 

reassessment of the science and actions 

to support the Action Plan principle of 

adaptive management. (Action 11 of 2001 

Action Plan)

However, some of the actions called for in the 

2001 plan have not been initiated, authorized 

or completed:

 An integrated federal budget that would 

have supported voluntary actions to reduce 

nutrient pollution in the Basin and thereby 

the size of the hypoxic zone in the Gulf was 

never finalized. (Action 1 of 2001 Action Plan)

 The long-term monitoring program for 

the hypoxic zone has not been “greatly 

expanded,” and uncertainties remain in 

the ability to characterize the spatial and 

temporal dynamics of hypoxia and the 

biological, chemical, and physical properties 

that contribute to it. (Action 4 of 2001 Action 

Plan)

 Water quality monitoring in the Basin has 

not significantly increased and in some 

cases long term stations included in the 

USGS network have been discontinued. 

(Action 5 of 2001 Action Plan)

 Although some work has begun on the 

development of nutrient strategies at the 

sub-basin level, much work still needs to be 

accomplished. (Action 6 of 2001 Action Plan)

n Congress did not authorize and fund a 

reconnaissance-level study for the U. S. 

Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and 

partners to specifically assess the potential 

for nutrient reductions in federal (EPA, U.S. 

Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), National 

Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), 

USACE) river and farmland management, 

refuge management, and navigation 

projects. Without specific Congressional 

language, work could not commence. 

(Action 7 of 2001 Action Plan)

Nutrients reach rivers in the Mississippi/Atchafalaya 

River Basin through urban stormdrains.
20

	 Moving Forward on Gulf Hypoxia

Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

 Additional analysis of detailed nutrient 

pollution contributions from multiple 

sectors, including point sources and nonagricultural contributions, needs to be 

undertaken. (Action 8 of 2001 Action Plan)

Updating the Science

The Task Force undertook a major 

reassessment of the state of the science for the 

causes, effects, and management actions for 

reducing Gulf hypoxia. 

 In the fall of 2006, the Task Force agencies 

and the Sub-Basin Committees completed 

a series of four scientific symposia on the 

science surrounding Gulf hypoxia and 

nutrient sources, fate, and transport in the 

Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin. 

 The Task Force completed a major 

technical report, A Science Strategy to 

Support Management Decisions Related to 

Hypoxia in the Northern Gulf of Mexico and 

Excess Nutrients in the Mississippi River Basin

(MMR workgroup report), published in 

2004. The report describes a framework 

for monitoring, modeling, and research 

activities to support management decisions 

related to achieving the three major goals 

of the 2001 Action Plan. It describes the 

scientific information needed to support 

management actions and defines the 

scope, interrelation, and framework of 

the activities needed to provide that 

information. It also describes existing 

programs and activities, identifies gaps and 

limitations in those activities, and outlines 

the actions and resources needed to 

overcome the gaps and limitations.

 The Task Force completed a second major 

technical report, The Management Action 

Review Team report, published in 2006. 

The report is a compilation of information 

on point sources in the Mississippi River 

Basin and available programs that assist 

landowners, municipalities, and others 

in the Basin to reduce nutrient loadings. 

It also shows how such programs could 

more effectively address nutrient reduction 

if they were aligned and integrated with 

the Action Plan. The Management Action 

Review Team report represents the first time 

the Task Force has compiled a snapshot 

of programmatic information, and thus 

it can be used as a resource for future 

reassessments.

Scientific Basis for 

Hypoxic Zone Management 

With a commitment greater than $12.5 

million since 2001, NOAA has continued 

to provide the scientific foundation on 

Gulf of Mexico ecosystem dynamics upon 

which management of the hypoxic zone is 

based. As part of this commitment, annual 

monitoring of the hypoxic zone provides 

the benchmark for which progress on 

Action Plan goals is measured. Utilizing an 

ecosystem-based approach, NOAA research 

studies have led to enhanced predictive 

models capable of examining a multitude 

of interacting factors on the size of the 

hypoxic zone, and provide information 

on how hypoxia affects commercially and 

ecologically important species in the region. 

These models are integrating oceanographic 

physical data and coastal biogeochemistry 

to improve quantification of the duration, 

timing, and extent of the hypoxic zone, 

and their relationship to causative factors 

such as nutrients and stratification. These 

model predictions of complex processes will 

continue to allow for the comprehensive 

assessment of alternative management 

strategies to mitigate hypoxia in the Gulf of 

Mexico.
Moving Forward on Gulf Hypoxia	

21

Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

Contour farming, conservation tillage, and conservation 

buffers protect soil and improve water quality on this farm 

in Woodbury County in northwest Iowa.

 In August 2006, the Task Force asked 

EPA’s Science Advisory Board to provide 

independent advice on scientific advances 

since 2000 that might have increased 

understanding and options in three general 

areas:

1	 Characterization of the causes of 

hypoxia. The physical, biological, and 

chemical processes that affect the 

development, persistence, and extent 

of hypoxia in the Northern Gulf of 

Mexico. 

2	 Characterization of nutrient fate, 

transport, and sources. Nutrient 

loadings, fate, transport, and sources 

in the Mississippi River that affect Gulf 

hypoxia.

3	 Scientific basis for goals and 

management options. The scientific 

basis for, and recommended revisions 

to, the goals proposed in the 2001 

Action Plan; as well as the scientific 

basis for the efficacy of recommended 

management actions to reduce 

nutrient load from point and nonpoint 

sources.

Conclusions from the 

Reassessment

Taken together, the state-of-the-science 

symposia, MMR workgroup report, 

Management Action Review Team report, 

and Science Advisory Board findings have 

advanced our understanding of hypoxia in the 

Northern Gulf of Mexico, as well as the factors 

contributing to it. Based on the complete 

reassessment of the science, the Task Force has 

agreed on the following main points which 

inform the actions in this plan:

 It is extremely important to accelerate 

actions that manage factors affecting 

hypoxia rather than waiting while science 

develops greater precision in revising the 

appropriate size goal for the hypoxic zone.

 The 5,000 square kilometer size of the 

hypoxic zone, the Coastal Goal set by the 

2001 Action Plan, remains a reasonable 

goal in an adaptive management context; 

however, it may not be possible to achieve 

this goal by 2015. The hypoxic zone, 

measured in July 2007, was the third largest 

measured. 
22	 Moving Forward on Gulf Hypoxia

Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

 While nutrients from the Mississippi/

Atchafalaya River Basin, coupled with 

temperature- and salinity-induced 

stratification, are indicated as the primary 

causes of hypoxia in the Northern Gulf 

of Mexico, other factors contribute to 

increased amounts of nutrients delivered to 

the Gulf, including:

 Historic landscape changes in the 

drainage basin, primarily losses of 

freshwater wetlands, and increases in 

artificially drained areas that diminish 

the capacity of the river basin to 

remove nutrients, 

 Channelization and impoundments 

of the Mississippi River throughout 

the Basin and the delta and the loss of 

coastal wetlands, and 

 Changes in the hydrologic regime of 

the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers 

and the timing of freshwater inputs 

that are critical to the stratification 

which is necessary for hypoxia. 

The diversion of a large amount of 

freshwater from the Mississippi River 

through the Atchafalaya has profoundly 

modified the spatial distribution of 

freshwater inputs, nutrient loadings, 

and stratification on the LouisianaTexas continental shelf.

 Hypoxia has negative impacts on marine 

resources. Research on the deleterious 

effects of hypoxia on living resources in the 

Gulf suggests the occurrence of long term, 

ecological changes in species diversity, 

and possibly a regime shift (a large-scale, 

often rapid, reorganization of the entire 

ecosystem’s food-web that is difficult and 

often impossible to reverse).

 Phosphorus also contributes to hypoxia. 

New information has emerged that 

more precisely demonstrates the role of 

phosphorus in determining the size of 

the hypoxic zone, requiring strategies that 

address both nitrogen and phosphorus.

 Significant reductions in nitrogen and 

phosphorus are needed. To achieve the 

Coastal Goal for the size of the hypoxic zone 

and improve water quality in the Basin, a 

dual nutrient strategy targeting at least a 

45% reduction in riverine total nitrogen 

load and in riverine total phosphorus load, 
Moving Forward on Gulf Hypoxia	

23

Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

measured against the average load over the 

1980–1996 time period, may be necessary.

 Total annual loads to the Gulf from 

2001–2005 show a 21% decline in nitrogen 

load and a 12% increase in phosphorus 

load when compared to averages from 

the 1980–1996 period. However, during 

the spring period (April, May, and June) 

most of the reduction in total nitrogen 

load was from nitrogen forms other than 

nitrate, an important form fueling the 

primary production that leads to hypoxia 

development in the spring.

 Considerations of seasonality and nitrogen 

composition should be emphasized in 

nutrient reduction strategies. Recent 

scientific findings have affirmed that spring 

(April, May, and June) nitrate load from 

the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin to 

the Gulf is highly correlated with hypoxic 

zone size. From 2001–2005, nitrate load to 

the Gulf during the spring period may not 

have changed significantly when compared 

to averages from the 1980–1996 period, 

despite a 21% decline in total annual 

nitrogen load and a 12% increase in total 

annual phosphorus load. 

 New estimates of point and nonpoint source 

contributions are available. Point sources 

represented 22% of nitrogen and 34% of 

phosphorus loads, resulting in a higher 

percentage of the total load to the Gulf 

from point sources than estimated in 1999. 

Estimates of the point source load would 

be at the upper end of the range, as they 

assume delivery to the Gulf without any instream losses. Nonpoint sources, including 

atmospheric deposition, represented 78% 

of nitrogen and 66% of phosphorus loads; 

accordingly, these numbers would be at the 

lower end of the range.

 Anthropogenic nitrogen and phosphorus 

contributions have declined. Net 

anthropogenic nitrogen inputs (NANI) and 

net phosphorus inputs for the Mississippi/

Atchafalaya River Basin have declined in the 

last decade because of more efficient use 

of fertilizer (as evidenced by increasing corn 

harvest and constant or declining fertilizer 

application rates). From 1999–2005, NANI 

calculations show 54% of nonpoint nitrogen 

inputs in the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River 

Basin were from fertilizer, 37% from fixation, 

and 9% from atmospheric deposition.
24	 Moving Forward on Gulf Hypoxia

Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

Industrial Nutrient Discharge 

Reductions 

Recognizing the impacts of nutrient pollution on the 

hypoxic zone in the Gulf, the Louisiana Department 

of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) works with 

industries and municipalities along the Mississippi 

River to reduce nutrient discharges, consistent 

with Action 8 of the 2001 Action Plan. Voluntary 

programs, like the Louisiana Environmental 

Leadership Pollution Prevention Program (LaELP) 

engage professional, environmental, industrial, 

and municipal associations to improve the quality 

of the environment through pollution prevention, 

community environmental outreach, and 

environmental management. 

Since 2000, the LaELP has recognized three 

industrial businesses for significant nutrient 

discharge reductions: IMC Phosphates (now Mosaic 

Industries), BASF Corporation, and ExxonMobil. 

Both BASF Corporation and IMC Phosphates have 

been acknowledged with “Special Recognition 

for Outstanding Nutrient Reductions,” a category 

created to highlight Louisiana’s special concern 

for hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico and to 

emphasize the need for nutrient reductions.

Steamboats are a historical reminder that the Mississippi River is a major artery of the 

nation’s transportation system, sustaining commerce and economic growth. 
Moving Forward on Gulf Hypoxia	

25

Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

Two IMC-Agrico plants were recognized for 

implementing a comprehensive, long range byproduct management improvement campaign. 

This provides inactive phosphogypsum stacks 

with a synthetic liner and a clay/grass cover, and 

has resulted in more than an 80% reduction, over 

100 million lbs., in average annual phosphorus 

discharges. While the program was voluntary, 

IMC-Agrico agreed to place the reductions in 

permits to ensure long-term compliance. 

BASF Corporation was recognized for developing 

a biological treatment system that converts 

nitrates in wastewater — that would otherwise 

have been discharged to the Mississippi River 

— to atmospheric nitrogen and other nonnutrient parameters. Specifically, a new process 

was added that completed the denitrification 

process using “anoxic treatment” and specific 

bacteria that live in low oxygen environments 

that break down nitrates. The result has been an 

annual reduction of over 2.3 million lbs. of nitrates 

in BASF’s permitted discharged wastewater 

since implementation began in 1999. BASF has 

transferred ownership of the process to the Water 

Environment Research Foundation for wider use. 

The ExxonMobil Baton Rouge Refinery, the second 

largest petroleum refinery in the nation, was 

recognized by both the LaELP and the EPA’s Gulf 

Guardian Award for reducing annual nitrate 

discharges from 4.1 million lbs. in 1999 to 1.5 

million lbs. in 2003. ExxonMobil’s management 

team established a nitrate reduction objective 

and supported it through a five-year effort that 

included an extensive engineering analysis. As 

a result of the analysis, process operations were 

modified to run two ammonia strippers in parallel 

and the refinery wastewater treatment facility 

began operating under anoxic conditions. This 

reduction effort was not only voluntary, but was 

achieved without capital expenditure. 

Recently, the Secretary of LDEQ reaffirmed 

the Department’s commitment to the many 

objectives of the LaELP and the special nutrient 

reduction effort in particular. As a result, the 

LaELP will continue to recognize activities 

and projects that demonstrate environmental 

leadership including innovative pollution 

prevention efforts implemented by its partners 

to reduce point source nutrient discharges to the 

Mississippi River. 

27

Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

Contents

Moving Forward on Gulf Hypoxia 2

Framework for Action. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

n	 Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

n	 Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

n	 Critical Needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Progress and Reassessment 2001–2007. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

n	 Trends in the Size of the Hypoxic Zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

n	 Trends in Nitrogen and Phosphorus in the Basin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

n	 Progress on Actions in the 2001 Action Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

n	 Updating the Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

n	 Conclusions from the Reassessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Next Steps: Getting Results 28

Actions to Accelerate the Reduction of Nitrogen and Phosphorus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Actions to Advance the Science, Track Progress and Raise Awareness. . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Appendix 60
28

	 Next Steps: Getting Results

Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

Next Steps:

Atchafalaya River Delta.
Next Steps: Getting Results	

29

Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

To reduce the size and impacts of the hypoxic 

zone and improve water quality in the 

Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin, landowners 

and resource managers must reduce nitrogen 

and phosphorus in the surface waters of the 

Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin. Although 

many other natural and seasonal factors 

contribute to the formation of the hypoxic 

zone, reducing nutrient loadings from the 

various sources in the Basin addresses the 

most critical and controllable cause of hypoxia. 

No single action or strategy will achieve the 

necessary reductions. The optimal approach 

will take advantage of the full range and 

variety of actions to reduce nutrient loss to 

waters and increase nutrient retention and 

removal. 

The work of the Task Force will continue to 

provide a basin-wide context for the continued 

pursuit of both voluntary, incentive-based 

efforts for nonpoint sources and existing 

regulatory controls for point sources. Improved 

coordination and, in most cases, continued 

expansion of the outstanding private and 

government supported efforts to reduce 

losses of nutrients are central to the success 

of this strategy. Throughout the Mississippi/

Atchafalaya River Basin much work is 

underway to increase the efficiency of farming 

Getting Results

Actions to Accelerate the

Reduction of Nitrogen and

Phosphorus
30

	 Next Steps: Getting Results

Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

practices, reduce point and nonpoint sources 

of pollution, and restore wetlands and riparian 

buffers. Landowners and managers primarily 

are taking these actions to achieve local water 

quality goals or implement conservation 

practices and management practices. 

Even though current activities of landowners 

and managers will contribute to reducing the 

size of the hypoxic zone and improving basin 

water quality, they are not sufficient to meet 

the goals of this plan. Current funding for the 

necessary actions is insufficient. In addition, 

emerging issues, such as biofuels, climate 

change, changes in agricultural practices, 

and new technologies for monitoring and 

modeling will have significant effects on 

the design and implementation of this plan. 

The Task Force has identified the actions 

listed below to encourage and advance the 

continued implementation of cost-effective, 

voluntary, incentive-based best management 

practices and conservation practices at the 

local and regional level—actions to both 

reduce loss of nutrients into the water and 

to reduce those loads once they exist. These 

actions are intended to support and add 

greater specificity to the actions begun under 

the 2001 Action Plan.

Following each action are the reasons for 

the action, the key players, and the process 

for implementing the action. Because many 

of these actions are beyond the scope of 

existing state and federal water quality and 

conservation efforts, they will achieve only 

limited progress without additional financial 

(and in some cases legislative) support. 

Therefore, the plan also includes a description 

of the “critical needs”—additional funding 

and analyses that are essential to achieve 

significant reductions in the size of the hypoxic 

zone. The Task Force is committed to meeting 

these critical needs, wherever possible, and is 

publishing a separate, more detailed Operating 

Plan to guide the implementation of these 

actions.
Next Steps: Getting Results	

31

Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

Phosphorus Reduction

Phosphorus is the nutrient primarily responsible for the eutrophication of Minnesota’s 

surface waters. An overabundance of phosphorus results in excessive algal production in 

Minnesota waters. In response to a dissolved oxygen TMDL on the Lower Minnesota River, 

Minnesota developed the Statewide Phosphorus Report which quantifies the phosphorus 

loading to Minnesota waters from various point and nonpoint sources. In 2005, Minnesota 

developed a Phosphorus General Permit for forty point sources in the Minnesota River 

Basin. Under the permit, the point sources have the option of trading to meet their water 

quality-based effluent limits. 

The Metropolitan Council owns and operates eight municipal wastewater treatment plants 

in the Twin Cities metropolitan area of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Since 1990, the Council has 

achieved dramatic reduction in phosphorus discharged from its plants to area receiving 

waters. Since the peak of phosphorus discharge in 1995, the Council has achieved a 78% 

reduction in phosphorus loads.

To understand the magnitude of such a reduction, it would be as if we went back to before 

1900. At that time, the metropolitan area had a population of 500,000 people and it is 

estimated that 1,860 lbs/day of phosphorus was discharged to area rivers. Today, 2 million 

more people live in this area, yet discharge only 1,670 lbs/day.

Farmers use a line-transect method of determining the 

percentage of ground covered by crop residues for soil 

protection.
32

	 Next Steps: Getting Results

Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

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.

Why do this?

Because the soils, hydrology, land use, and cropping practices 

as well as the legal, legislative, and administrative framework 

vary considerably across the 31 states in the Basin, the Task Force 

recognizes that no single approach to nutrient reduction would 

be effective in every state. All states already have programs to 

reduce nutrient losses from both point and nonpoint sources. 

However, while most states have plans within those programs 

to reduce their water quality problems, those plans are often 

focused on local or regional water quality. Existing plans may 

need to be modified to incorporate nitrogen and phosphorus 

reduction activities within the state to reduce loadings to the 

Gulf, while continuing to protect and restore local water quality. 

These strategies will provide a road map for each state, a more 

detailed basis for budget development and implementation, and 

a vehicle for coordination with other states in the Basin. Once 

the state strategies are developed and adopted by the broad 

reach of stakeholders throughout each state, and new funding 

is provided, Federal and State agencies and many involved 

stakeholders can accelerate their efforts to reduce nutrient 

impacts on local waters and the Gulf.

Who will take the lead?

Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin States, Federal agencies

Who else will help?

Sub-basin Committees, local stakeholder groups, and other 

regional groups

How do we do this?

State nutrient reduction strategies should be completed as 

soon as possible but no later than 2013. Strategies should target 

those 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. Ongoing nutrient 
Next Steps: Getting Results	

33

Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

pollution control efforts should continue, 

while states, in collaboration with other states 

in the Basin and Federal agencies, complete 

the strategies and seek necessary funding. 

Implementation of the state strategies should 

be started as soon as practicable, but no 

later than 2013. The development of state 

nutrient reduction strategies as prescribed 

by this plan is to be complementary to, and 

shall in no way delay or interfere with the 

progress of any existing or planned nutrient 

reduction activities, or identification of priority 

watersheds. To further advance progress, 

the States should provide a list of activities 

for incorporation into the Annual Operating 

Plans, identifying planned nutrient reduction 

activities and the corresponding availability 

and needs for funding.

Implementation of the Action Plan will 

require a significant level of commitment 

from the Federal agencies and State and local 

governments, and increased awareness and 

action by the many varied stakeholders. Existing 

relationships with key stakeholders should 

be maintained and additional relationships 

developed with other stakeholders to develop 

and implement strategies to reduce nutrient 

loads to the Gulf of Mexico and to water 

bodies within the Basin. The States are uniquely 

qualified to identify the key stakeholders within 

their states who can influence opinion and 

support needed changes in practices and 

programs. State agencies have established 

relationships with their constituents, whether 

agricultural producers or regulated entities such 

as wastewater facilities. This approach will allow 

Federal and State agencies and stakeholders 

in each state to focus on activities that will be 

most effective in their area.

What are the critical 

needs?

Federal agencies, working with the States 

and the Sub-Basin Committees, will need to 

establish incentives through the 319 program, 

Farm Bill programs, or other federal funding 

sources to provide additional resources for the 

development and implementation of statelevel nutrient reduction strategies. 

The States and Federal agencies must 

coordinate efforts across organizations and 

programs and use adaptive management to 

modify the strategies as new information and 

innovative solutions are acquired to identify 

critical watersheds, assess current conditions, 

and maximize potential nitrogen and 

phosphorus reductions with the most costeffective approaches.

On-Farm Assistance

Since 2005, over $1 million 

has been provided to landowners 

in Arkansas for installation of 

on-farm structures to reduce 

sediment and nutrient runoff. These 

projects have been implemented 

in the Arkansas River and Bayou 

Bartholomew/Beouf-Tensas basins. 

Overwhelming public participation 

and interest has created additional 

opportunities for implementation 

of nutrient reduction programs in 

other Mississippi River tributary 

watersheds.
34

	 Next Steps: Getting Results

Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

Why do this?

Federal agencies have significant programs and projects that 

affect water quality in the Gulf and locally throughout the 

Basin. In some cases a Federal agency may have direct lead 

for a specific activity, such as management of water flow and 

navigation on large, interstate rivers or management of fisheries. 

In other cases federal programs help to set the parameters of 

programs that are co-implemented or delegated to states, such 

as technology standards for wastewater treatment or criteria 

used as the basis for water quality standards. Broader federal 

strategies are also needed to establish a context and approach 

to guide and coordinate the actions of these other partners. 

These strategies could include programs to identify effective 

nutrient reduction approaches, including streamlining regulatory 

requirements, utilizing innovative funding mechanisms, and 

implementing best management practices. For example, a 

federal strategy for restoration of the Mississippi/Atchafalaya 

River Basin’s natural assimilative system would facilitate and help 

coordinate federal and state actions to implement the plan. 

These federal, basin-level strategies will help set a framework 

for individual state action and support collaborative efforts for 

program planning and implementation.

Who will take the lead?

Federal agencies, Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin States

Who else will help?

Sub-basin Committees, other regional groups

How do we do this?

Federal strategies for programs and projects with the greatest 

impact on nutrient levels within the Basin should be identified 

by June 2008 and completed by 2009. As part of the strategy, 

Federal agencies will identify opportunities to align existing 

programs with hypoxia efforts. For example, the USACE should 

Complete and implement comprehensive nitrogen and 

phosphorus reduction strategies for appropriate basin-wide 

programs and projects. Target first those programs and 

projects with significant federal lead or co-implementation 

responsibilities.
Next Steps: Getting Results	

35

Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

look for opportunities to reduce nutrient 

loadings related to Corps projects and 

programs, ensure that environmental and 

related documents specifically address the 

hypoxia impact, and take advantage of 

environmental projects to create wetlands and 

reconnect backwater and riparian zone areas 

to absorb nutrients. Efforts should be made to 

better engage the research and development 

expertise in the Corps with regard to reducing 

nutrient loadings related to Corps civil works 

projects. Another example is for EPA to provide 

direct financial and technical support to its 

state partners in the Mississippi/Atchafalaya 

River Basin as they develop a scientific basis to 

assist in the adoption of state numeric nutrient 

standards. These cooperative efforts not only 

will serve to assist the states in protecting 

in-state water quality, but also may result in 

reduced nutrient loadings to the Gulf. More 

detail on each agency’s effort is documented 

in the Annual Operating Plan.

What are the critical 

needs?

The opportunity may exist through the 

implementation of the 2007 Farm Bill for 

additional conservation technical assistance, 

including rapid watershed assessments to help 

prioritize use of limited financial assistance 

for producers, establishing a Regional Water 

Enhancement Program to provide funding to 

support development and implementation 

of water quality plans at the watershed scale, 

providing funding to support conservation 

innovation addressing nutrient reductions, 

and additional funding for working lands 

(Environmental Quality Incentive Program) 

and wetland restoration, creation, and 

enhancement (Conservation Reserve Program/

Wetlands Reserve Program/Conservation 

Technical Assistance). 

Ongoing analysis of the impacts of emerging 

issues on water quality, such as the increased 

production of biofuels, will also be critical 

to ensure that the nitrogen and phosphorus 

strategies will continue to improve water 

quality in the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River 

Basin and ultimately the Gulf of Mexico.

Additionally, an interagency coordination 

strategy to leverage USDA, EPA, USACE, and 

other funding mechanisms to eliminate 

financial barriers for private landowners 

implementing conservation practices to 

address nutrient runoff from neighboring 

properties will aid in the implementation of 

these federal strategies.

Managing sediment sustains economic activity and can 

contribute to ecosystem restoration and protection.
36

	 Next Steps: Getting Results

Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

Why do this?

For programs whose primary intent is not to mitigate hypoxia, 

such as wildlife habitat enhancement, conservation practices, 

navigation controls, or wastewater discharge permits, 

incorporating considerations of additional benefits into 

implementation decisions can result in the “win-win” outcome 

of adding increased nutrient retention and capture benefits 

to these programs, and consequently improving water quality 

downstream and in the Gulf.

The guiding principle of this plan is that when establishing 

priorities for watershed restoration, States, Tribes, and Federal 

agencies within the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin will 

consider the potential for benefits to the Gulf of Mexico. This 

principle is especially important in the context of changes in 

agricultural markets such as the increased demand for corn 

for ethanol production that could have a substantial effect on 

nutrients delivered to the Gulf. Many federal, state, and tribal 

programs offer the opportunity to enhance nutrient reductions, 

whether large water infrastructure projects or day-to-day 

decisions on zoning, permitting, and land use planning. However, 

most state, tribal, and federal projects usually only address local 

water quality concerns. Support for approaches that protect local 

water quality, including drinking water sources, can be leveraged 

to increase support for mitigating Gulf hypoxia. There is frequently 

strong public support for protecting drinking water sources. 

Public awareness and support for local water quality benefits can 

increase support for actions that ultimately reduce Gulf hypoxia. 

These entities should consider this guiding principle, ensuring 

that these projects, including land and river management 

strategies, and flood control and navigation projects throughout 

the Basin, examine their effect on Gulf hypoxia as well as look for 

opportunities to increase the ability to reduce nutrients which 

harm local waters, including drinking water sources, and the Gulf, 

through design and operation changes.

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.
Next Steps: Getting Results	

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Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

Who will take the lead?

USACE, U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), 

EPA, USDA, Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin 

States 

Who else will help?

Sub-basin Committees 

How do we do this?

Each Federal agency and State will identify 

opportunities for implementing cost-effective 

nutrient reduction through existing programs. 

Two examples of how to do this are given 

below, although there are many other 

programs at each participating Federal agency 

that will need to be included. 

One example of this is the manner in 

which USDA plans to address concerns 

about the effect that increased biofuels 

production will have on nutrient loads to 

the Gulf. Management of agricultural lands 

in the Mississippi River Basin is not static, but 

invariably changes in response to changes 

in the demand for agricultural commodities. 

USDA provides technical and financial 

assistance to farmers and ranchers to help 

them address environmental concerns 

associated with agriculture production. 

The technical foundation for this assistance 

is the development and application of 

conservation practice standards through 

several conservation programs that address 

a wide variety of environmental issues in 

addition to water quality. These programs are 

designed to help maintain the sustainability 

of agricultural lands regardless of their use. 

Given the need for further reductions in 

nutrient loads to the Gulf, in the delivery of its 

programs within the Mississippi Basin, USDA 

will place additional emphasis on conservation 

practices with high potential for reducing 

nutrient loadings. These conservation practices 

include nutrient management, cover crops, 

the siting of wetlands, and on-farm drainage 

water management. This approach permits 

agriculture production to adjust to meet 

the changing needs of the market while 

maintaining the sustainability of the resource 

base and minimizing environmental effects. 

USDA will encourage the increased use of its 

nutrient management standard to minimize 

nutrient loss from fields to help alleviate the 

impact of increased biofuels production 

on nutrient loads to the Gulf. The nutrient 

management standard requires farmers to 

account for all plant-available nutrient sources 

immediately available or rendered available 

throughout the crop production cycle 
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Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

and to apply only the amount of nutrients 

needed to maintain nutrient balances. 

Nutrient applications needed to maintain 

nutrient balances are based on realistic yield 

expectations and attempt to maximize 

profitable production. The use of cellulosic 

feedstocks, such as crop residues, perennial 

grasses, and trees for biofuels production will 

require utilization of different conservation 

systems and conservation practice standards, 

such as the one for residue management. 

USDA will continue to adjust current standards 

and develop additional standards, where 

needed, to permit cellulosic feedstocks to be 

produced and utilized in a sustainable manner.

Another example is the massive coastal 

protection/restoration program being 

undertaken by the State of Louisiana, the 

federal government, and various stakeholder 

groups. The most critical element of this 

program involves retaining river sediment 

and river-borne nutrients within the coastal 

marshes to the greatest degree possible by 

redistributing river water throughout the 

delta before it reaches the Gulf of Mexico. 

Diverting river water into the deltaic system 

on a large scale could provide an important 

sink for some of the excess nutrients that 

When heavy rains occur, unprotected farm fields can yield topsoil, 

as well as farm fertilizers and other potential pollutants.
Next Steps: Getting Results	

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Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

cause hypoxia through plant uptake, bacterial 

processing, and sedimentation. In addition, 

increasing the number of outlets for river 

water could significantly increase mixing in the 

coastal ocean and reduce salinity stratification 

and the setup conditions for hypoxia. There 

is substantial evidence that such a program 

would save wetlands now in jeopardy and 

increase productivity and sequestration of 

both nutrients and carbon. 

While this apparent “win-win” strategy is 

complex and expensive, authorization and 

funding for Louisiana’s critical river diversion 

program has garnered broad public support. 

There are, however, serious environmental 

concerns about releasing huge volumes of 

nutrient-rich river water into the estuarine 

zone instead of into the nearshore ocean 

where it goes today. Thus, river diversions 

could be postponed until nutrient levels are 

significantly reduced upstream, although 

such postponement could undermine the 

restoration of what has come to be known as 

“America’s Wetland.” 

What are the critical 

needs?

 Identify barriers to aligning existing 

programs, projects, and initiatives with 

needs of hypoxia.

 Continue funding as defined by current 

budget requests for actions identified in the 

Annual Operating Plan.

A riparian buffer provides shelter and other 

habitat for wildlife along Bear Creek in 

central Iowa.

41

Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

Contents

Moving Forward on Gulf Hypoxia 2

Framework for Action. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

n	 Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

n	 Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

n	 Critical Needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Progress and Reassessment 2001–2007. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

n	 Trends in the Size of the Hypoxic Zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

n	 Trends in Nitrogen and Phosphorus in the Basin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

n	 Progress on Actions in the 2001 Action Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

n	 Updating the Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

n	 Conclusions from the Reassessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Next Steps: Getting Results 28

Actions to Accelerate the Reduction of Nitrogen and Phosphorus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Actions to Advance the Science, Track Progress and Raise Awareness. . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Appendix 60
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Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

The Task Force identified other actions to 

achieve its goals and improve awareness of 

the efforts to address hypoxia in the Gulf 

of Mexico. These actions will improve the 

effectiveness of nutrient reduction and track 

and report on the results of the effort. The 

actions emphasize the crosscutting nature of 

the problem and recognize the diversity of 

activities that must be undertaken to achieve 

the goals and the need to track and respond 

to progress. 

These additional actions advance the adaptive 

management approach and periodically 

reassesses the state of the science, keep track 

of progress of both environmental measures 

and programmatic actions, and seek to 

continually engage involved stakeholders 

in order to maximize results. Since the 2001 

Action Plan, researchers have advanced the 

understanding of nutrient transport and fate 

in the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin and 

the consequences on Mississippi/Atchafalaya 

Actions to Advance the Science, Track

Progress and Raise Awareness
Next Steps: Getting Results	

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Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

River Basin water quality and the Northern 

Gulf of Mexico’s hypoxic zone. States and 

Federal agencies will seek to further advance 

science in the priority needs recommended 

in the MMR workgroup and Science Advisory 

Board reports. Furthermore, effective 

implementation of this Action Plan will require 

monitoring and tracking progress. Finally, the 

2008 Action Plan is the result of several years 

of study and discussion by the members of 

the Task Force and many concerned officials, 

organizations, and citizens who participated 

in the deliberations. Given the cooperative 

and voluntary nature of the 2008 Action Plan, 

its implementation will be dependent upon 

broad acceptance and a willingness to pursue 

the identified actions. The engagement of 

stakeholders will continue to be a priority. 

The following actions implement the principle 

of adaptive management for this strategy.

This aerial photo shows the channelization of the Mississippi River and the loss of coastal wetlands.
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Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

Why do this? 

Understanding the most efficient and cost-effective conservation 

practices and management practices to reduce nutrient loads 

is central to the success of nutrient reduction strategies. Federal 

and State agencies and other partners need to be able to 

identify effective management practices and technologies, 

including conservation practices and wastewater treatment at 

the local scale, and large scale federal approaches to enhance 

the biological removal of nutrients. We also need to incorporate 

changing contexts in conservation practices and management 

practices and accurately assess the economic costs and benefits 

of different approaches.

Who will take the lead?

USDA (Agricultural Resource Service, Cooperative State Research, 

Education, and Extension Service, NRCS, Farm Service Agency), 

Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin States, USACE

Who else will help?

EPA, USGS 

How do we do this?

1 Continue to develop field and farm scale management 

practices that conserve nutrients for the wide range of 

agricultural production systems within the Mississippi/

Atchafalaya River Basin;

2 Quantify the effectiveness of conservation practices within 

local watersheds that are representative of the wide range 

of soils, climates, and farming systems within the Mississippi/

Atchafalaya River Basin;

3 Review, update, or develop USDA NRCS national and state 

conservation practice standards for the practices most 

effective in conserving nutrients; 

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.
Next Steps: Getting Results	

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Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

4 Assist State Extension, USDA personnel 

and agricultural consultants in delivering 

nutrient-conserving practices to farmers 

and ranchers within the Mississippi/

Atchafalaya River Basin; and 

5 Further analyze nutrient pollution 

contributions from point sources and nonagricultural sectors, including a full analysis 

of costs; target cost-effective actions to 

reduce nutrient loads from point sources as 

warranted. 

What are the critical 

needs?

 Obtain resources necessary to quantify at 

the watershed scale the efficacy of newly 

evolving nutrient control strategies proven 

effective at plot and field scales to ensure 

that these strategies produce equivalent 

benefits at the landscape scale. 

 Obtain resources necessary to use the 

Conservation Effects Assessment Project 

(CEAP) Watershed Network to monitor and 

assess how changes in agricultural practices 

driven by future market and other forces 

may affect efforts outlined above to reduce 

nitrogen and phosphorus inputs to the 

Gulf of Mexico. Progress toward reducing 

nutrient loads from agricultural lands could 

be assessed annually. 

 Obtain resources and priority for the 

development and implementation of 

strategies to use National Resources 

Inventory (NRI)/CEAP for monitoring 

progress in reducing nutrient loads from 

agricultural land management activities, to 

provide 5–10 year estimates with trends.

 It will be difficult to achieve the necessary 

nutrient reductions utilizing current 

technologies and with current cropping 

practices in the Corn Belt. New scientific 

findings and technology development will 

likely be needed.
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Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

Why do this?

Researchers have greatly expanded our understanding of 

the effects of hypoxia. However much uncertainty remains, 

specifically concerning the indirect biological and socioeconomic 

effects of hypoxia and excess nutrients throughout the 

Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin and on the Gulf. 

As State and Federal agencies, and other partners make progress 

reducing nutrient loads within the Basin, we need to better 

understand the changes that are occurring, their effects on the 

ecosystem and its economic resources, the costs and benefits 

of seeking additional reductions in loads throughout the Basin, 

and the additional effects that reductions in nitrogen and 

phosphorus may have on the economic and social welfare of the 

Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin. 

Research into the impacts of the hypoxic zone on living 

resources is authorized through the Harmful Algal Bloom and 

Hypoxia Research and Control Act. Within the Gulf ecosystem 

there is evidence that an ecological regime shift, associated 

with the expansion of hypoxia in the Northern Gulf of Mexico, 

has occurred. Effects of the hypoxic zone on fisheries and 

ecologically important species are often likely to be indirect 

and difficult to measure. Spatially-explicit ecosystem models are 

needed to quantify these indirect effects and their consequences 

on fisheries and ecologically important populations. Economic 

analysis of these impacts will improve resource assessments and 

help to better quantify the socioeconomic benefits of nutrient 

reduction achievements in the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin.

Who will take the lead?

USDA, NOAA, USACE, EPA

Who else will help?

DOI, Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin States

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.
Next Steps: Getting Results	

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Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

How do we do this?

1 Conduct an economic assessment of 

alternative options for reducing nutrient 

loads;

2 Identify and assess the ancillary 

environmental effects of the alternative 

options for reducing nutrient loads;

3 Improve quantification of the indirect 

effects of hypoxia on living resources, 

especially those related to interactions with 

additional stressors (e.g., fishing and climate 

change), to inform model development 

and management strategies;

4 Quantify the socioeconomic effects of 

hypoxia on coastal communities along the 

Northern Gulf of Mexico, especially impacts 

to commercial and recreational fisheries;

5 Quantify the socioeconomic effects on 

basin states from implementation of 

practices that will be required to meet the 

nutrient reduction goals of the Action Plan; 

and

6 Track progress to support future science 

assessments.

What are the critical 

needs?

 Continued resource allocation for a USDA 

Hypoxia Economic Analysis to assess 

the socioeconomic and bioeconomic 

implications of varying nutrient 

management scenarios.

 Expansion of resources for ecological 

impact studies on commercially and 

ecologically important species, such 

as those funded by NOAA’s Northern 

Gulf of Mexico Ecosystems and Hypoxia 

Assessment Program, to advance model 

capabilities that predict the impacts of 

hypoxia.

 Coordination and expansion of faunal 

monitoring surveys, such as SEAMAP, with 

increased resource allocations for fisheryindependent data on commercially and 

ecologically important fish and shellfish 

species. 

 Quantified nutrient loading thresholds 

and corresponding ecological responses 

to determine the magnitude of ecological 

system resiliency (i.e., point of regime 

change) within the northern Gulf.

Hypoxia is one of many ecological stressors that can affect 

Gulf fisheries and consequently fishing communities.
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	 Next Steps: Getting Results

Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

Why do this?

Currently many agencies are independently collecting, 

storing, and reporting information on progress and activities. 

The Task Force has committed to ensure that data collection 

methodologies are better described to aid reporting and ensure 

data comparability. In particular, some significant sources are not 

consistently collected or reported, leading to misunderstandings 

of their contributions to the total load to the Basin and Gulf.

Who will take the lead?

EPA, USGS, NOAA

Who else will help?

USACE, Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin States, Sub-basin 

Committees, Upper Mississippi River Basin Association, Lower 

Mississippi River Conservation Committee, Ohio River Valley 

Sanitation Commission, Gulf Alliance

How do we do this?

1 Define information needs and design a strategy to satisfy 

those needs in a comprehensive and interdisciplinary manner 

that brings scientists and resource managers together from a 

range of disciplines and perspectives, including from Gulf and 

Basin perspectives;

2 Gather and disseminate needed scientific information in a 

manner that is cost-effective, takes advantage of all existing 

activities, and explains the practical value of synergies gained 

from actions taken to address both local water quality and the 

quality of receiving waters;

3 Provide information gathered from monitoring, modeling, 

and research related to Gulf hypoxia, Basin water 

quality, and social and economic factors in a form and a 

timeframe that feed directly into complementary scientific 

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.
Next Steps: Getting Results	

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Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

interpretations, management planning, and 

implementation; and

4 Share, among scientists and managers, all 

information relevant to improving research 

and management decision-making, 

including those decisions that are directed 

primarily at other issues indirectly related 

to hypoxia, but also contribute to achieving 

the goals of the Action Plan.

What are the critical 

needs?

Current activities are unlikely to resolve serious 

inconsistencies or provide additional data 

from unmonitored sources. Additional work 

is needed to define processes for acquiring, 

documenting, storing, and accessing 

data. Particularly, we need to develop and 

implement programs to measure nitrogen and 

phosphorus discharges from non-agricultural 

sources for which data are not currently 

collected, such as municipal water treatment 

systems, and industrial, urban wet-weather, 

and air deposition sources. We also need to 

develop and implement strategies for using 

NRI/CEAP to monitor progress regarding 

reducing nutrient loads from agricultural land 

management activities. We need to design 

and implement a coordinated, ongoing state 

and federal sustainable monitoring program as 

recommended in the MMR workgroup report 

for the hypoxic zone and for the fresh waters 

of the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin that 

would allow comprehensive temporal and 

spatial data acquisition to assess progress.
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	 Next Steps: Getting Results

Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

Why do this?

There remain serious gaps in our ability to track and evaluate 

the effectiveness of programs and management efforts and 

their interactions in reducing the hypoxic zone. More attention 

should be paid and resources expended on improving the 

understanding of which efforts are the most effective, and how 

effective they are, so we can better design and target future 

actions.

Who will take the lead?

EPA

Who else will help?

Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Coordinating 

Committee, USDA (NRCS)

How do we do this?

1 Identify existing methods that can quantify the results of the 

existing suite of best management practices and conservation 

practices, and adapt or modify these methods to quantify best 

management practices and conservation practices used in the 

Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin that will impact hypoxia;

2 Coordinate with NRCS to collect state and federal 

implementation data; and

3 Use data to annually evaluate the effectiveness of programs 

and management efforts.

What are the critical needs?

 Consistent data that is standardized across programs.

 Authority and staff, financial or in-kind support. 

Track interim progress on the actions to reduce nitrogen and 

phosphorus by producing an annual report on federal and 

state program nutrient reduction activities and results.
Next Steps: Getting Results	

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Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

The sediment plume from the Mississippi River is clearly delineated in the Gulf of Mexico.
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	 Next Steps: Getting Results

Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

Why do this?

Gaps still exist in the science surrounding source, fate and 

transport of nitrogen and phosphorus in the Mississippi/

Atchafalaya River Basin. Eliminating these gaps is essential to 

the creation and implementation of effective nutrient reduction 

strategies.

Who will take the lead?

USGS 

Who else will help?

USDA, EPA, USACE, Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin States

How do we do this?

1 Evaluate and rank the scientific uncertainties and monitoring 

needs identified in the MMR workgroup report, the Science 

Advisory Board report, and other information; 

2 Develop and implement a long term research and monitoring 

strategy under the MMR Workgroup of the Coordinating 

Committee with greater emphasis on the spatial and 

temporal characteristics of nutrient source, fate, and transport 

in watersheds throughout the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River 

Basin; 

3 Reduce uncertainties associated with predictive models 

allowing for improved adaptive management capabilities; 

Continue to reduce existing scientific uncertainties identified 

in the Science Advisory Board and 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.
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Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

4 Integrate monitoring, modeling, and 

experimental results to understand the 

impacts of management actions on the 

spatial and temporal characteristics of 

nutrients in watersheds throughout the 

Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin; and

5 Track progress to support future science 

assessments.

What are the critical 

needs?

 Supplement existing monitoring efforts 

including emphasis for additional 

monitoring on smaller rivers and streams 

to enable an understanding of the sources 

of nutrients, processes that affect nutrient 

loading, and ways to reduce nutrient 

loading.

 Further analysis of nutrient pollution 

contributions from point sources and nonagricultural sectors, including a full analysis 

of costs.

A USGS employee servicing equipment at a USGS gaging station on 

the Mississippi River, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
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Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

Why do this?

Researchers have greatly expanded our understanding of the 

physical dynamics of the Gulf of Mexico and the causes of 

hypoxia, providing additional evidence that supports the strategy 

to reduce the size of the hypoxic zone by reducing nutrient 

loading to the Gulf. However, improved characterization of 

nutrient load and hypoxic zone properties is needed to further 

refine management strategies. As State and Federal agencies 

and other partners make progress at reducing nutrient loads, 

improved precision in understanding the effects of a dual 

nutrient strategy for the hypoxic zone is needed to best inform 

quantitative load reduction goals that will be required to reach 

the Coastal Goal. Improvements in hypoxic zone monitoring are 

needed to better characterize its magnitude and the processes 

that lead to its development, maintenance, and distribution as 

well as its impacts. Greater temporal and spatial coverage in 

monitoring efforts are needed to account for variability and precruise storm events, define boundaries, characterize seasonality, 

and support modeling efforts. Improvements are needed in 

the accuracy of models forecasting the quantitative association 

between biological, chemical, and physical processes, and 

hypoxia development, magnitude, and extent. 

Who will take the Lead?

NOAA

Who else will help?

EPA

How do we do this?

1 Evaluate and rank the scientific uncertainties and monitoring 

needs identified in the MMR workgroup report, the Science 

Advisory Board report, the White Paper to Improve Monitoring 

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.
Next Steps: Getting Results	

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Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

of the Gulf of Mexico Hypoxic Zone in Support 

of the Hypoxia Task Force’s Coastal Goal, and 

other information;

2 Develop and implement a long term 

research and monitoring strategy under 

the MMR workgroup of the Coordinating 

Committee with greater emphasis on the 

spatial and temporal extent of the hypoxic 

zone;

3 Reduce uncertainties associated with 

predictive models allowing for improved 

adaptive management capabilities;

4 Integrate monitoring, modeling, and 

experimental results to understand the 

impacts of nutrient management actions 

on the spatial and temporal characteristics 

of the hypoxic zone; and

5 Track progress to support future science 

assessments.

WHAT ARE THE Critical 

Needs

 Understanding of nutrient cycling 

and transformations with emphasis 

on quantifying the lag time between 

reductions in nutrient loadings and 

reductions in the extent of the hypoxic 

zone.

 A long-term and sustainable hypoxic 

zone monitoring program, with adequate 

spatial and temporal coverage. Critical 

components of this need include:

 Increasing the number of shelf-wide 

monitoring surveys beyond the current 

one per summer with increased 

number of sampling stations and 

greater area surveyed;

 Additional in situ platform-based 

continuous monitoring devices 

(observing systems);

 Mechanism to transition monitoring 

from a research to an operational 

framework; and 

 Improved predictive modeling 

capabilities.

Research vessels support monitoring and assessment of 

hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico.
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Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

Why do this?

There are many stakeholders invested in the effort to reduce 

hypoxia. While the Task Force has effectively communicated with 

its member states and agencies, national recognition of the issue 

and widespread implementation of management practices—two 

critical aspects to the ultimate resolution of Gulf hypoxia—will 

require increased cooperation and understanding from other 

stakeholders throughout the country. Regular, effective, and 

strategic communications, through public meetings, annual 

reports, and other communication mechanisms will be important 

components of outreach efforts to expand public awareness.

Who will take the lead?

EPA 

Who else will help?

USDA (NRCS), USACE, Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin States

How do we do this?

1 Create and maintain a Web site for accessing current 

information on Task Force activities, status of actions, and all 

associated monitoring, modeling, and research plans and 

products;

2 Identify and promote existing communication tools for 

outreach and education that are deemed most effective in 

reducing nutrients; and

3 Develop and distribute annual report for the general public 

and Task Force describing the condition of the Mississippi/

Atchafalaya River Basin and Gulf hypoxic zone, actions 

accomplished, and objectives for the next year. 

Promote effective communications to increase 

awareness of hypoxia and support the activities 

of the Task Force.
Next Steps: Getting Results	

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Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

What are the critical 

needs?

A Strategic Communications Plan that outlines 

a process and focuses on effective outreach 

to both the general public and specific 

stakeholders. The Communications Plan will 

focus on: 

 Creating and maintaining a Web site for 

accessing current information on Task 

Force activities, status of actions, and all 

associated monitoring, modeling, and 

research plans and products. 

 Identifying and promoting existing 

communication tools for outreach and 

education that are deemed most effective 

in reducing nutrients.

 Developing and distributing an annual 

report for the general public and Task Force 

describing the condition of the Mississippi/

Atchafalaya River Basin, Gulf hypoxic zone, 

actions accomplished, and objectives for 

the next year.

 Developing and distributing 

communications materials for the general 

public.

The Task Force Communications Plan can be 

assembled using existing staff resources. Under 

current levels of funding, communications 

efforts will remain status quo and relatively 

limited and will not meet the goal of 

expanding public awareness of Gulf Hypoxia 

and the publication of the Action Plan. To reach 

a broader audience, several activities outlined 

by the Task Force can be strengthened with 

a relatively modest increase in funding by 

engaging communications/media specialists 

and increasing publication of communications 

pieces and outreach materials to communicate 

the ongoing efforts of the Task Force.

An employee of Trees 

Forever helps students 

plant a tree that is part of 

a demonstration riparian 

buffer in west central 

Iowa. Trees Forever is 

helping establish more 

than 100 such demo sites 

across Iowa.
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Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

Why do this?

The Task Force has always been committed to adaptive 

management as we continue to implement strategies to reduce 

hypoxia. Because of the tremendous scientific attention drawn 

by the Gulf and Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin, as well as 

the rapidly changing practices surrounding biofuels, changing 

climate, and national economics, the Task Force believes that a 

significant reassessment is necessary every five years.

Who will take the lead?

EPA

How do we do this?

1 Determine reassessment strategy in FY2009;

2 Identify quantitative measures of in-basin nutrient reductions 

that exhibit progress toward both the Within Basin and 

Coastal goals. Measures will be developed at the state level 

with support as necessary from Federal agencies; 

In five 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 this Action 

Plan. Evaluate how current policies and programs affect 

the management decisions made by industrial and 

agricultural producers, evaluate lessons learned, and 

determine appropriate actions to continue to implement 

or, if necessary, revise this strategy.
Next Steps: Getting Results	

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Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

3 Identify scientific needs and financial and 

staff resources according to reassessment 

strategy; and

4 Implement reassessment strategy.

Farmers in Jackson County, Iowa, 

inspect corn planted no-till into sod.
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Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008

Appendix

Members of the Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient 

Task Force

Benjamin Grumbles, Task Force Chair, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

State Agencies

Dr. Len Bahr, Louisiana Governor’s Office of Coastal Activities 

Jerry Cain, Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality

Doyle Childers, Missouri Department of Natural Resources 

Charles Hartke, Illinois Department of Agriculture 

Sean Logan, Ohio Department of Natural Resources 

Larry Maxwell, Tennessee Department of Agriculture 

Brad Moore, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency 

Bill Northey, Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship

Russell Rasmussen, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources 

J. Randy Young, Arkansas Natural Resources Commission 

Federal Agencies

George Dunlop, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Vice Admiral Conrad Lautenbacher, U.S. Department of Commerce (National 

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)

Gary Mast, U.S. Department of Agriculture 

Timothy Petty, U.S. Department of the Interior (U.S. Geological Survey)

Merle Pierson, U.S. Department of Agriculture 

Members of the Coordinating Committee for the Mississippi River/Gulf 

of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force (and Contributing Staff)

State Agencies

Wayne P. Anderson, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency 

Ken Brazil and Earl Smith, Arkansas Natural Resources Commission 

Doug Daigle, Lower Mississippi River Sub-basin Committee

Bryan Hopkins, Missouri Department of Natural Resources 

Richard Ingram, Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality 

John Kessler, Ohio Department of Natural Resources 

Dean Lemke, Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship 

John McClurkan, Tennessee Department of Agriculture 

Dennis McKenna, Illinois Department of Agriculture 

Dugan Sabins, Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality 

Susan Sylvester, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

Peter Tennant and Greg Youngstrom, Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation 

Commission

Federal Agencies

Craig Hooks and Darrell Brown, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 

Dr. Robert Magnien, Dr. Alan Lewitus, and David Kidwell, 

U.S. Department of Commerce (National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration)

Mike Sullivan, Dan Jaynes, Skip Hyberg, and Mark Peters, 

U.S. Department of Agriculture

David Vigh, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Janice Ward, U.S. Department of the Interior (U.S. Geological Survey) 

Staff Support for the Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed 

Nutrient Task Force

Gregory Colianni, Katie Flahive, William Franz, Dr. Richard M. Greene, 

Bryon Griffith, Kathy Hurld, Christina Jarvis, Dr. Jacques Oliver, Dr. Amy 

Parker, and John Wilson, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Kristen Goodrich, Kavya Kasturi, and Tracy Rouleau,

Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education

Acknowledgments

Special thanks go to the many federal and state representatives and their staff 

who supported the efforts of the Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed 

Nutrient Task Force. Their diverse knowledge and expertise contributed to the 

successful collaboration and consensus building needed to produce this plan. In 

addition, the dedication of all the interested parties throughout the Mississippi 

River Basin who provided public comments and attended the Task Force meetings 

is greatly appreciated.
Resources

EPA’s Mississippi River Basin and Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia Web site: 

http://www.epa.gov/msbasin

EPA Science Advisory Board. 2008. Hypoxia in the Northern Gulf of Mexico. An 

Update by the EPA Science Advisory Board. Washington, DC. EPA Science 

Advisory Board. EPA-SAB-08-003. Available on EPA’s Science Advisory 

Board Web site at: http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/ 

C3D2F27094E03F90852573B800601D93/$File/EPA-SAB-08-003complete.

unsigned.pdf

Index of public comments received on the Draft Action Plan. Available on EPA’s 

Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/msbasin/taskforce/ghap08_comments.htm. 

Knecht, A.L. 2000. Nutrient Releases to the Mississippi River in the Louisiana Industrial 

Corridor: Voluntary Reductions in Nitrogenous and Phosphatic Compounds. Baton 

Rouge, LA: The Louisiana Environmental Leadership Pollution Prevention 

Program. Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, Interagency 

Agreement No 541321. 26 pages. 

Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force. 2006. Management 

Action Reassessment Team Report. Available on EPA’s Web site at: 

http://www.epa.gov/msbasin/taskforce/MART.pdf

Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force. 2004. A Science 

Strategy to Support Management Decisions Related to Hypoxia in the Northern 

Gulf of Mexico and Excess Nutrients in the Mississippi River Basin: prepared by the 

Monitoring, Modeling, and Research Workgroup of the Mississippi River/Watershed 

Nutrient Task Force. U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1270. 58 p. Available at: 

http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/2004/1270/

Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force. 2001. Action Plan 

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

Mexico. Washington, DC. 

For Additional Copies of the Action Plan, Contact:

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds (4501T) 

1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20460

E-mail: ow-hypoxia@epa.gov

Or Visit:

http://www.epa.gov/msbasin

For Citation of This Document, Use the Following:

Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force. 2008. Gulf Hypoxia 

Action Plan 2008 for Reducing, Mitigating, and Controlling Hypoxia in the Northern Gulf 

of Mexico and Improving Water Quality in the Mississippi River Basin. Washington, DC.

Photo Credits

Inside cover: Photo Courtesy of NASA.

Page 2: Photo Courtesy of Artwallpapers.com.

Page 3: Illustration Courtesy of USACE. Photo Courtesy of NASA.

Page 6: Photo Courtesy of USDA NRCS.

Page 8: Photo Courtesy of USDA NRCS.

Page 11: Photo Courtesy of USDA NRCS.

Page 14: Illustration Courtesy of N. Rabalais and A. Sapp, 

Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium. 

Page 21: Photo Courtesy of USDA NRCS.

Page 24: Photo Courtesy of USGS.

Page 26: Photo Courtesy of USDA NRCS.

Page 28: Photo Courtesy of USACE.

Page 31: Photo Courtesy of USDA NRCS.

Page 35: Photo Courtesy of USACE.

Page 38: Photo Courtesy of USDA NRCS.

Page 39: Photo Courtesy of USDA NRCS. 

Page 40: Photo Courtesy of NOAA. 

Page 43: Photo Courtesy of NOAA.

Page 51: Photo Courtesy of N. Rabalais, Louisiana Universities Marine 

Consortium.

Page 53: Photo Courtesy of USGS.

Page 55: Photo Courtesy of Kristen Goodrich.

Page 57: Photo Courtesy of USDA NRCS.

Page 59: Photo Courtesy of USDA NRCS.

Appendix	

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Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force  Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008