![]() Our work with the Forever Green Partnership is based on the belief that we can make it profitable and sustainable for farmers to adopt continuous living cover practices, both here in Minnesota and throughout the entire run of the river. By incorporating new crops that grow year-round or during otherwise-bare periods, such as Kernza or pennycress, we can keep living root systems intact and, in turn, limit the excess nutrient runoff that drives the damaging aquatic algae growth in the Gulf. Most upper Midwest "row crops" (like corn and soy) only grow during the summer, which means that fields with these crops don't retain much water or fertilizer during the wet spring and autumn months. This change could pay big dividends for water quality and boost farmers' bottom lines. The main solution we're advancing is a transition to clean-water crops and continuous living cover cropping systems on our agricultural landscapes. We also work with partners to implement solutions on the ground. We advocate for solutions at the State Capitol and the federal level. The only way to restore the Gulf's natural vitality is to change our habits in the Mississippi basin.įMR's water program is dedicated to addressing the root causes of water pollution, including excess nutrients. By the end of the summer, the official measurements are released. Paul can very well end up feeding phytoplankton off the coast of Louisiana.Įach June, scientists predict how many square miles the dead zone will stretch - usually in the thousands. That's how fertilizer applied to a cornfield in Traverse County or a football field in St. The Mississippi River, in turn, acts like a giant storm drain system, channeling nutrients from its entire watershed into the Gulf. Urban runoff and wastewater treatment effluent can also contribute to the problem, as storm drains and sanitary sewers discharge nutrients into our waterways. That's bad news for farmers too farm operations lose hundreds of millions of dollars each year when fertilizers wash off their fields and head downstream. The Midwest's contributionĮven though we're 1,500 miles north, our land-use practices contribute to the Gulf dead zone.Ĭonventional agriculture relies on the liberal use of fertilizers containing nitrogen and phosphorous (the very nutrients that make marine microorganisms go into overdrive), not all of which stays in the soil.Īs we detailed in the 2016 State of the River Report, nitrogen - the primary driver of the annual Gulf dead zone - comes primarily from Midwestern croplands, including Minnesota's. The resulting "dead zone" can wipe out fish, ocean plants and crustaceans, and may even affect marine mammals and birds that rely on these food sources. ![]() Bacterial decomposition uses up the oxygen in the water, suffocating any creatures that can't quickly make their way out of the area. When this happens, massive die-offs quickly occur, and the dead algae and phytoplankton sink en masse to the seafloor. ![]() But when they're given too many nutrients, their populations and density can run amok to the point where there is simply not enough oxygen and food to support them. How does a dead zone form?Īlgae and tiny organisms called phytoplankton are important parts of the marine food web. Runoff pollution from 31 states collects and flows out into the Gulf, where it creates a giant anti-habitat each summer. The Gulf's dead zone is the result of land-use practices all along the Mississippi River. While dead zones can occur naturally, the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico is a humanmade disaster. Yet at its mouth, an area stretching thousands of square miles each year becomes so choked with pollution that little aquatic life can survive. The Mississippi River is treasured for the way it sustains life - from migrating birds to the millions of people who rely on the river for drinking water.
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