Mississippi Basin/Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan sent to Congress

Culminating an intense 5‐year effort, President Clinton sent to Congress on January 18 a consensus‐based action plan to deal with the summertime hypoxic “dead zone” that appears each spring and summer in the northern Gulf of Mexico (see Eos , July 18, 2000, p.321). The plan aims to reduce the hypoxic area to less than 5,000 square kilometers by 2015, about two‐thirds less than the running average over the past 5 years. The plan states that “the best current science” indicates that the aim should be for a 30% reduction in nitrate and other forms of nitrogen discharge from the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers. This represents a compromise that stops short of declaring a nutrient reduction goal.