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New “Dead Zone” Report Calls for Greater Protection of Wetlands and Streams
Source: Natural Resources Defense Council
Each summer, enormous quantities of nitrogen and phosphorus flow down the Mississippi River into the Gulf of Mexico. These pollutants contribute to the formation of a “dead zone” in the Gulf, an area where the bottom layer of water is so oxygen-depleted that most aquatic life cannot survive. Typically, the Gulf “dead zone” stretches west from where the Mississippi River enters the Gulf towards Texas, making it the largest in the U.S. and the second largest in the world. In 2007, it grew, covering an area roughly the size of New Jersey.
According to the report, Missing Protection: Polluting the Mississippi River Basin’s Small Streams and Wetlands, countless streams, rivers, lakes and other waterways are in danger of pollution and destruction. Two recent Supreme Court rulings, along with policy directives from the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, have raised questions about whether the Clean Water Act’s protections extend to a host of “non-navigable” and “isolated” waterways. This loophole is particularly troubling in relation to the problem of nutrient pollution in the Mississippi River Basin.
Small waterways such as wetlands and streams have important roles both as conduits and as sinks for this nutrient pollution. Evidence shows that while many of the nutrient pollution that reaches the Gulf comes from runoff that enters headwater streams, small streams and wetlands can also intercept and remove nutrients from the water before they get to major river systems and the Gulf. They also provide drinking water, prevent floods, provide habitat for fish and wildlife, and filter out other pollutants.
+ Full Report (PDF; 2.4 MB)
