Lower Mississippi River Sub-Basin Committee on Gulf Hypoxia

Lower Mississippi River Map

Steering Committee

States	Federal Partners Agencies
Arkansas Natural Resources Commission	EPA Headquarters
Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality	EPA Region 4
Louisiana Governor's Office of Coastal Activities	EPA Region 6
Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality	Gulf of Mexico Program
Missouri Department of Natural Resources	U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – ERDC Lab
Tennessee Department of Agriculture	USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
	U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
	U.S. Geological Survey

Supporting Member

Agriculture Coalition for the Environment

Focus Watersheds

At its initial meeting in February 2003, the LMR SBC decided that each state would select a focus watershed project as part of the sub-basin committee workplan. Due to lack of funding for new projects at that time, these selections were made from projects already underway, following a list of suggested criteria. These included the use of widely applicable BMPs and the existence of available baseline data for the project. The projects each focus on a diverse problem affecting nutrient loss and runoff, including drainage, erosion, sedimentation, and wetland loss.

The LMRSBC states selected the following Focus Watershed Projects:

Arkansas - Bayou Bartholomew
Louisiana - Cabin Teele
Louisiana - Coulee Baton
Mississippi - Lake Washington
Missouri - St. Francis River
Tennessee - Dry Creek Watershed/Hatchie River

2005 Activity Summaries

Bayou Bartholomew:
A nine-element watershed plan, which will help prioritize and direct funding to 12-digit watersheds within the drainage basin, has been submitted to EPA for review; Arkansas Natural Resources Commission, USGS, Arkansas DEQ, Louisiana DEQ.

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Cabin Teele:
The USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) completed GIS mapping of the watershed, along with compilation of crop, field, and fertlizer information for the past ten years; collection of background data is beginning. LSU Agriculture Center and School of the Coast & Environment applied for a USDA CSREES grant in March (declined).

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Coulee Baton (Vermillion Basin):
Adopted as a new micro-watershed project by USDA NRCS and Industry-Led Solutions, following model developed by the Texas Institute for Applied Environmental Research (TIAER); formed a monitoring group to focus on the major impacts in the watershed (residential, pasture, rice, sugar cane); this watershed was impacted by Hurricane Rita in September.

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Lake Washington:
MS Department of Environmental Quality continued monthly nutrient monitoring (begun in November 2002); completed a Water Quality Assessment, formation of Water Implementation Team, and development of Watershed Implementation Plan; and engaged in ongoing education and outreach efforts with stakeholders.

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St. Francis River:
NRCS and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources worked with local landowners on timing of fertilizer application and irrigation; work continued on 319 projects in the watershed; the St. Francis River was selected as a USDA CEAP watershed. (Missouri also selected the North Fork of the Salt River as a focus watershed for the Upper Mississippi River Basin.)

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Dry Creek Watershed/Lower Hatchie River:
TN Department of Agriculture formed the Hatchie River Alliance with local and state partners (TN Dept. of Environment & Conservation, Nature Conservancy, Chickasaw-Shiloh Resource Conservation & Development, W. TN River Basin Authority, University of Tennessee Knoxville, UTK Ag Extension Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, other cooperating agencies and organizations). Ongoing stakeholder education and an increased focus on small tributaries were main actions in 2005.

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Lower Mississippi River Sub-basin Activities

Programs and Projects that are contributing to reduction of nutrient loading to the Mississippi River and Hypoxia in the Gulf

Listed by State: Arkansas | Louisiana | Mississippi | Missouri | Tennessee

Arkansas

Agricultural Conservation & Management Programs:

Lower Arkansas River Watershed

Arkansas CSP Program

Potash & Phosphate Institute
"Best Management Practices for Fertilizer: Cotton"

Fertilizer BMPs for Midsouth Cotton

Tributary Watersheds

Arkansas Watershed Advisory Group

The Nature Conservancy - Benson Creek-Bayou DeView

Buffalo National River Watershed Partnerships:
Improving Swine Waste Management/Local Watershed Assistance to Dairy Farmers
Section 319 Success Stories III

Illinois River Watershed Partnership

White River Basin Project
Fact Sheet; Landscape Atlas of Ecological Vulnerability U.S. EPA - Landscape Ecology (2 pp, 1.6MB, about PDF)

Habitat Conservation, Protection, and Restoration

"Present and Proposed Conservation Efforts in the Active Floodplain of the Lower Mississippi River: Arkansas" - Summary Map
Lower Mississippi River Conservation Initiative
Lower Mississippi River Conservation Committee

Arkansas Wetland Reserve Program

Ducks Unlimited Arkansas Habitat Projects in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley

Fourche Creek Watershed, (PDF) (22 pp, 476K, about PDF)

The Fourche Creek Wetlands Non-point Pollution and Threats

Research and Scientific Studies:

"An Ecological and Habitat Vulnerability Assessment of Arkansas' White River Basin"
R. Lopez, D. Heggem, US EPA
EPA/600/R01/040
May 2001
EPA Office of Research and Development

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Louisiana

Agricultural Conservation & Management Programs

Flat River and Red Chute Bayou Watersheds
Bayou Plaquemine Brule
Bayou Queue de Tortue Watershed
Section 319 Success Stories III

Louisiana Master Farmer Program
Louisiana State University Agriculture Center

USDA Agricultural Research Service Soil & Water Research Unit,
Louisiana State Univeristy, Baton Rouge
http://www.ars.usda.gov/main/site_main.htm?modecode=64-13-00-00

Tributary Watersheds

Ouachita River Basin
http://www.wlf.state.la.us/pdfs/experience/Ouachita.pdf (4 pp, about PDF)

Red River
Conservation Habitats & Species Assessments
LA-CWCS-Dec 2005
http://www.wlf.state.la.us/pdfs/experience/Red.pdf (4 pp, about PDF)

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Mississippi

Agricultural Conservation & Management Programs

USDA Conservation Security Program Watersheds
2005 CSP Watershed - Lower Big Black River
http://www.ms.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/

Habitat Conservation, Protection, and Restoration

"Present and Proposed Conservation Efforts in the Active Floodplain of the Lower Mississippi River: Mississippi" - Summary Map
Lower Mississippi River Conservation Initiative
Lower Mississippi River Conservation Committee
http://www.lmrcc.org/MRCI.htm

Ducks Unlimited Mississippi Habitat Projects in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley
http://www.ducks.org/Page1666.aspx

Wetlands Reserve Program - Mississippi
http://www.ms.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/MSWetlandsReserveProgram.html

Research & Scientific Studies:

ARS Papers

"Nutrient Through Flow, Deposition and Assimilation in Agricultural Drainage Ditches: When and How Do Nutrients Move?"
Society of Wetland Scientists, 11/30/05
Authors: Kroger, R.; Holland, M. University of Mississippi; Cooper, C.; Moore, M., ARS
http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publications.htm?seq_no_115=185872

"A Comprehensive Stream-Riparian Corridor Model to Study the Impact of Riparian Buffers on Channel and Edge-of-Field Processes: Simulation of Streambank Hydrology"
Federal Interagency Hydrologic Modeling Conference, 10/15/05
Authors: Langendoen, E.; Simon, A.; Pollen, N.; Williams, R.; Lowrance, R.
http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publications.htm?seq_no_115=186415

USGS Studies

Bogue Phalia Watershed - Fact Sheet 2005-3050
May 2005
Contacts: R.Coupe (rhcoupe@usgs.gov), P. Capel (capel@usgs.gov)
http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2005/3050

"Streamflow and Nutrient Data for the Yazoo River Below Steele Bayou Near Long Lake, Miss., 1996-2000"
Runner, Turnipseed, Coupe, USGS
Water-Resources Investigations Report 02-4215; 9/02
http://water.usgs.gov/nawqa/

Yazoo River Basin Hydrologic Observatory (Proposal)
http://www.olemiss.edu/sciencenet/Yazoo/poster/YazooHOPoster_V05_quarter_size.pdf (1 pg, 8MB, about PDF)

Tributary Watersheds

Big Black River Basin Watershed Management
MS Department of Environmental Quality
http://www.deq.state.ms.us/mdeq.nsf/page/WMB_Big_Black_River_Basin

Yazoo Joint Water Management District
129, Stoneville, MS 38776
(662)-686-7712
http://www.ymd.org

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Missouri

Agicultural Conservation & Management Programs

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Habitat Conservation, Protection, and Restoration

"Present and Proposed Conservation Efforts in the Active Floodplain of the Lower Mississippi River: Missouri" - Summary Map
Lower Mississippi River Conservation Initiative
Lower Mississippi River Conservation Committee
http://www.lmrcc.org/MRCI.htm

Ducks Unlimited Missouri Bootheel Partners Program
http://www.ducks.org/Missouri/MissouriConservation/1460/MissouriBootheelPartnersProgram.html

Ducks Unlimited Missouri Habitat Projects in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley