The persistence and growth of a large area of hypoxic (low oxygen) water off Louisiana’s coast is a long-standing problem that threatens the state’s coastal fisheries and the communities who depend on them. Louisiana Environmental Action Network, Louisiana Audubon Council, Gulf Restoration Network, Atchafalaya Basinkeeper, Delta Chapter of the Sierra Club, Louisiana Bayoukeeper, Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper, Ouachita Riverkeeper and RESTORE write letter to CPRA to address nutrient reduction.
Louisiana Environmental Action Network
Louisiana Audubon Council
Gulf Restoration Network
Atchafalaya Basinkeeper
Delta Chapter, Sierra Club
Louisiana Bayoukeeper
Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper
Ouachita Riverkeeper
RESTORE
March 20, 2013
Mr. Garret Graves, Chair
Coastal Protection & Restoration Authority
1051 N. 3rd Street, Suite 138
Baton Rouge, LA 70802
Dear Mr. Graves,
The persistence and growth of a large area of hypoxic (low oxygen) water off Louisiana’s coast is a long-standing problem that threatens the state’s coastal fisheries and the communities who depend on them. The national policy effort to address this problem was initiated by environmental organizations in Louisiana in 1995, and the state has been a participant in that process since then. A central component of that national policy response has been the Action Plan to Reduce Hypoxia in the Northern Gulf of Mexico, signed by the states and federal agencies on the Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force in 2001 and 2008.
We are writing to express our concerns about the recent decision by Louisiana agencies to revise a key commitment under that agreement, that of developing a state nutrient reduction strategy. At the November 1, 2012 meeting of the Louisiana Water Environment Association, and in subsequent public statements, representatives of state agencies announced that Louisiana will instead create a “nutrient management strategy.”1The state has further attempted to codify this change by creating a new website, “Louisiana Nutrient Management.”2
Letter on Louisiana Nutrient Strategy – pg 2
Far from being a minor alteration of terminology, this action goes to the heart of the commitment Louisiana and other Task Force states have made to reduce the size of the Gulf hypoxia zone. Action 1 under the 2008 Revision of the Action Plan reads:
“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 the Gulf of Mexico.”3(emphasis added)
The commitment to reduce nutrients, in addition to being scientifically recognized as the necessary step needed to reduce the Gulf Hypoxic zone, has been a core part of state and national policy agreements on this issue for over a decade. Number 6 among the Short-term actions of the 2001 version of the Action Plan stated clearly that
“By Fall 2002, States, Tribes, and Federal agencies within the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Basin, using available data and tools, local partnerships, and coordination through sub-basin committees… will develop strategies for nutrient reduction. These strategies will include setting reduction targets for nitrogen losses to surface waters, establishing a baseline of existing efforts for nutrient management, identifying opportunities to restore floodplain wetlands…”,4(emphasis added)
While this deadline was not met, the goal remained as a key provision of the Plan. The Task Force has continued to issue annual reports to meet Action 7 of the 2008 Action Plan to report “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.”5
A presentation titled “Update by Louisiana on Status of Nutrient Reduction Strategy Development” was presented to the Task Force on your behalf at their August 3, 2011 meeting in New Orleans, and a widely reported grant award to Louisiana from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2012 was predicated on development of a state nutrient reduction strategy as agreed to in the 2008 Action Plan.,6 Other states on the Task Force, such as Iowa, have released drafts of Nutrient Reduction Strategies, as agreed to in the Action Plan.7
While “nutrient management” can clearly be a component of an overall strategy, it is reduction of nutrients flowing to the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers that is necessary to reverse the trend of growing hypoxia in the Gulf. As the state whose coastal fisheries are put at risk by Gulf hypoxia, Louisiana has long had the strongest interest in achieving this goal.
Letter on Louisiana Nutrient Strategy – pg 3
Louisiana’s decision to abandon an explicit nutrient reduction strategy gives the impression that our state has no expectation that other states and agencies will honor their commitments under the Action Plan. It sends a message from Louisiana to other states in the basin that undermines the agreement and goals of the Action Plan, as well as the prospects for reducing Gulf hypoxia.
Sincerely,
Marylee Orr
Executive Director
Louisiana Environmental Action Network
Dr. Barry Kohl
Chair
Louisiana Audubon Council
Matt Rota
Director, Science & Water Policy
Gulf Restoration Network
Dean Wilson
Director
Atchafalaya Basinkeeper
Haywood Martin
Chair
Delta Chapter, Sierra Club
Tracy Kuhns
Director
Louisiana Bayoukeeper
Paul Orr
Coordinator
Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper
Cheryl Slavant
Ouachita Riverkeeper
Michael Tritico
President
RESTORE
1 http://www.labi.org/quorum/an-eq-event-a-discussion-on-louisianas-nutrient-management-strategy; http://theadvocate.com/news/5321195-123/louisiana-agencies-to-address-dead
2 http://lanutrientmanagement.org/
3 Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008, p. 32, http://water.epa.gov/type/watersheds/named/msbasin/upload/2008_8_28_msbasin_ghap2008_update082608.pdf
4 “Action Plan for Reducing, Controlling, and Mitigating Hypoxia in the Northern Gulf of Mexico,” 2001, p. 13, http://water.epa.gov/type/watersheds/named/msbasin/upload/2001_04_04_msbasin_actionplan2001.pdf
5 Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan 2008, p. 50.
6 http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2012/08/epa_gives_la_grant_to_help_fig.html
7 “Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy,” www.nutrientstrategy.iastate.edu/
- LEAN
- dead zone
- hypoxia
- mississippi river
- gulf of mexico
- riverkeeper
