Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone

Green Muze, Staff
Published May 29, 2009

The Dead Zone at the mouth of the Mississippi in the Gulf of Mexico is directly attributed to agriculture. In fact, agriculture is a leading source of water pollution in the 10 states that border the Mississippi River. A new report - Making EQIP Work for Water Quality in 10 Mississippi River Border States - by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), found that enrolling farmers into the voluntary federal Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) is unlikely to result in cleaner water unless taxpayer funds are targeted to the highest priority locations and used in watershed-scale clean-up projects. EWG’s report on the 10 Mississippi River border states that the EQIP program, which pays farmers and ranchers to reduce farm runoff, improve water and air quality and preserve wildlife habitat, is a promising but unfocused tool for remedying the unintended environmental consequences of agriculture. EWG believes that in order to remedy the problem the USDA President must set clear and specific goals for how much pollution needs to be reduced, identify which lakes, streams or tributaries are priorities for improvement, and set a timetable to achieve those goals. To continue reading, please go to: http://www.greenmuze.com/nature/water/1160-gulf-of-mexico-dead-zone.html