Nutrients in the Upper Mississippi River: Scientific Information to Support Management Decisions. The Upper Mississippi River - Values and Vulnerability
Nutrients in the Upper Mississippi River: Scientific Information to Support Management Decisions. The Upper Mississippi River - Values and Vulnerability

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 6

ISBN-13:

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The Upper Mississippi River (UMR) flows south about 1,300 miles from its headwaters in Minnesota to its confluence with the Ohio River at Cairo, Illinois. The river gains volume along its path as it drains nearly 190,000 square miles (490,000 km2) of land, extending over parts of South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri (fig. 1). The UMR is valued as a multiple-use resource where commercial navigation, water supply, and recreational demands coexist with valued natural resources. Some 7%80 million tons of commodities are transported on the river annually. More than 30 million residents rely on river water for uses such as public and industrial supplies and power plant cooling. The river hosts about 12 million recreational visitors annually. When the public has been asked to identify priorities for the river, however, environmental uses were considered more important (Carlson, 1999). The river is home to a wide variety of wildlife, fish, and aquatic invertebrates. Added to these year- round residents are the many bird species that migrate through the corridor or stop seasonally to breed or overwinter (fig. 2). The fact that three major National Wildlife Refuge complexes and several National Park units have been established along the corridor of the UMR reflects the river's importance to the natural resources of the Nation.

Nutrient Control Actions for Improving Water Quality in the Mississippi River Basin and Northern Gulf of Mexico
Nutrient Control Actions for Improving Water Quality in the Mississippi River Basin and Northern Gulf of Mexico

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2009-07-13

Total Pages: 91

ISBN-13: 0309141788

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A large area of coastal waters in the northern Gulf of Mexico experiences seasonal conditions of low levels of dissolved oxygen, a condition known as hypoxia. Excess discharge of nutrients into the Gulf of Mexico from the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers causes nutrient overenrichment in the gulf's coastal waters and stimulates the growth of large algae blooms. When these algae die, the process of decomposition depletes dissolved oxygen from the water column and creates hypoxic conditions. In considering how to implement provisions of the Clean Water Act to strengthen nutrient reduction objectives across the Mississippi River basin, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requested advice from the National Research Council. This book represents the results of the committee's investigations and deliberations, and recommends that the EPA and U.S. Department of Agriculture should jointly establish a Nutrient Control Implementation Initiative to learn more about the effectiveness of actions meant to improve water quality throughout the Mississippi River basin and into the northern Gulf of Mexico. Other recommendations include how to move forward on the larger process of allocating nutrient loading caps-which entails delegating responsibilities for reducing nutrient pollutants such as nitrogen and phosphorus-across the basin.

Mississippi River Water Quality and the Clean Water Act
Mississippi River Water Quality and the Clean Water Act

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2008-03-08

Total Pages: 252

ISBN-13: 0309114098

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The Mississippi River is, in many ways, the nation's best known and most important river system. Mississippi River water quality is of paramount importance for sustaining the many uses of the river including drinking water, recreational and commercial activities, and support for the river's ecosystems and the environmental goods and services they provide. The Clean Water Act, passed by Congress in 1972, is the cornerstone of surface water quality protection in the United States, employing regulatory and nonregulatory measures designed to reduce direct pollutant discharges into waterways. The Clean Water Act has reduced much pollution in the Mississippi River from "point sources" such as industries and water treatment plants, but problems stemming from urban runoff, agriculture, and other "non-point sources" have proven more difficult to address. This book concludes that too little coordination among the 10 states along the river has left the Mississippi River an "orphan" from a water quality monitoring and assessment perspective. Stronger leadership from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is needed to address these problems. Specifically, the EPA should establish a water quality data-sharing system for the length of the river, and work with the states to establish and achieve water quality standards. The Mississippi River corridor states also should be more proactive and cooperative in their water quality programs. For this effort, the EPA and the Mississippi River states should draw upon the lengthy experience of federal-interstate cooperation in managing water quality in the Chesapeake Bay.