Sunset over a coastal marsh. Photo 

credit: Gulf of Mexico Alliance 

Governors' Action Plan

Priority Issues: Nutrients & Nutrient Impacts

Nutrients & Nutrient Impacts

Priorities for Productive Marine Ecosystems

The determination of healthy levels of nutrients is an important 

step toward reducing their impact, and providing vital 

management tools. Establishing nutrient criteria for coastal 

waters and estuaries could improve their quality and productivity, 

but the challenge is to eliminate only the excess nutrients while 

maintaining adequate levels to ensure ecosystem productivity. 

The Alliance is providing a collaborative approach to build and 

evaluate tools needed to reduce excess nutrients and restore 

coastal waters that have been negatively impacted by nutrients.

Long-term Goals

◦ Design a regional process for comparing nutrient criteria across coastal and estuarine waters

◦ Develop and implement strategies that reduce nutrient inputs and hypoxia

Establish a comprehensive ecosystem approach to manage nutrient inputs and reduce impacts to 

coastal ecosystems

◦

Increase the capacity of Gulf coastal communities so that nutrient impacts are better managed 

and reduced

◦

ACTIONS

Nutrients 1: Nutrient Characterization

Action: Implement regional nutrient characterization studies to evaluate ecosystem responses and to 

develop the tools for better characterization of nutrients in coastal waters.

Expected Results: 

Nutrient impacts are adequately characterized to establish key ecological relationships, 

thresholds, and socioeconomic values for state-selected indicators.

◦

Integrated models are designed and used to estimate nutrient loads, establish goals, and predict 

the ecological and socioeconomic impacts of management decisions for the Gulf States.

◦

Improved science and management tools are employed to better understand how freshwater and 

wetland systems influence nutrient impacts.

◦

Nutrients 2: Nutrient Criteria Development

Action: Identify common state needs and priorities for the development of nutrient criteria and provide

support and technical assistance to facilitate a regional approach to nutrient criteria development and 

management.

Expected Results: 

Milestones are established for state-specific Nutrient Criteria Development Plans for all Gulf 

States.

◦

A consistent framework exists for the development of appropriate and protective coastal nutrient 

criteria.

◦

Regional forums are organized for communication and resource sharing to address nutrient 

pollution to coastal ecosystems.

◦

◦ Nutrient criteria are established for at least one Gulf estuary.

Gulf of Mexico Alliance: Priority Issues: Nutrients & Nutirent Impacts Page 1 of 2

http://www.gulfofmexicoalliance.org/issues/nutrients.html 7/22/2011
Barataria Bay salt marsh, Jefferson 

Parish, LA. Photo credit: Gulf of Mexico 

Alliance Governors' Action Plan

Nutrients 3: Hypoxia

Action: Coordinate strategies and provide guidance to better characterize hypoxia and the resulting 

socioeconomic impacts.

Expected Results: 

◦ An integrated, regionally-comparable model that predicts hypoxia and its impacts is developed.

Watershed nutrient reduction plans are complete and include strategies for reducing Gulf hypoxia 

in state-selected priority watersheds.

◦

◦ Nutrient reduction plans for at least five project areas are developed.

A partnership between the Alliance and the Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient 

Task Force is formed to implement nutrient reduction and monitoring strategies within the 

Mississippi River Watershed.

◦

Nutrients 4: Nutrient Reduction Strategies

Action: Develop management tools and implement nutrient reduction activities in cooperation with 

local communities to reduce excess nutrient inputs to estuaries and coastal waters.

Expected Results: 

Awareness of the ecological and socioeconomic impacts of nutrient pollution and prevention is 

significantly enhanced.

◦

There is an increase in access to information documenting nutrient reduction progress for Gulf 

States and partners.

◦

A nutrient reduction strategy template is developed that can be applied to Gulf of Mexico 

watersheds.

◦

◦ Additional partnerships with upstream states are formed. 

Highlights of Governors’ Action Plan Accomplishments

Gulf of Mexico Alliance Water Quality / Hydrodynamics Model 

Database (zip, 707kb)

Primer on Hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico (pdf, 9.65mb)

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http://www.gulfofmexicoalliance.org/issues/nutrients.html 7/22/2011