February 13, 2014 — Louisiana plans to use existing and proposed sediment and freshwater diversions as part of a new plan for removing a small share of the fertilizers and other nutrients from the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers that are linked to springtime low-oxygen "dead zones" along the state's coastline each year.
The plan also relies on a series of existing programs to voluntarily reduce the release of nutrients from farmlands, urban wastewater treatment plants, rural homes and industries in the state. The plan was developed by the state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority and Departments of Agriculture and Forestry, Environmental Quality, and Natural Resources.
Environmental groups said the plan wouldn't do enough to reduce the problem.
The dead zone is created each spring when nutrient-rich freshwater from the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers triggers blooms of algae at the Gulf's surface. The algae dies and sinks to the bottom, where its decomposition uses up oxygen in the saltier water layer there. The low oxygen levels kill organisms living in bottom sediments and cause shrimp and fish able to escape to move to more oxygen-rich waters.
In recent years, the low-oxygen areas have covered as much as 8,000 square miles of relatively shallow water along the coast, extending at times into Texas and Mississippi. In 2013, it covered 5,840 square miles.
Read the full story at The Times-Picayune