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Hypoxia Task Force realigns target date

The Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia Task Force (HTF) is revising its strategy to reduce the hypoxia or “dead” zone in the Gulf of Mexico. The HTF is a partnership of agencies from 12 states, five federal agencies and Native American tribes.

The group says efforts to reduce the hypoxia zone have not delivered the hoped-for results so they are extending the target date. The plan now is to trim the current 6,000-acre dead zone to 2,000 acres by 2035.

Progress has been made in certain watersheds within the region, but science shows that a 45-percent reduction is needed in the nitrogen and phosphorus entering the Gulf of Mexico. In order to track progress and spur action, the Task Force is aiming at a 20-percent reduction in nutrient loads by 2025.

HTF says it will expand existing and forge new partnerships with agriculture, businesses, cities, communities, non-government organizations and universities to track nutrient load reductions and monitor watersheds as part of the overall effort. Each state has outlined specific actions it will take to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus in the Mississippi River Basin from wastewater plants, industries, agriculture, and stormwater runoff.

Members of the Hypoxia Task Force are the Army Corps of Engineers; U.S. Department of Agriculture; Department of the Interior; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; and the states of Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, and Wisconsin. Tribes are represented by the National Tribal Water Council.

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