Rather than summarizing the status of all the commitments made in the management plan, I am submitting for the record a copy of the Fact Sheet, Putting the Plan in Motion, that highlights the significant progress made in implementation. A comprehensive report that tracks the status of implementation as of January 1997 is also in preparation and will be available this Summer. However, there are some areas I would like to emphasize here. As you know, the condition of hypoxia, or low dissolved oxygen, has been our highest priority. Low oxygen levels during late summer diminish the health and habitat value of Long Island Sound.
Hypoxia is caused by excessive discharges of nitrogen.
Nitrogen fuels the excessive growth of planktonic algae, ultimately resulting in the depletion of oxygen in the Sound's bottom waters. Also, it reduces the amount of light available for submerged aquatic vegetation, resulting in a loss of this valuable nursery habitat. More than 90,000 tons of nitrogen are estimated to be delivered to the Sound each year. Of this, more than half is the result of human activities, or enriched nitrogen. To understand the relationship between these nitrogen loads to the Sound and levels of dissolved oxygen in the Sound, the Long Island Sound Study has supported monitoring of the Sound each year since 1986 and the development of complex computer models of both water quality and circulation.