By managing nutrients more efficiently in farm fields and by restoring wetlands and riparian systems to capture nutrients and reduce runoff, The Nature Conservancy’s Mississippi River Program and Gulf of Mexico Initiative are working with farmers and other partners to slow or even reduce the growth of the Gulf’s dead zone and its effects throughout the region. We've seen that dams and levees alone will not solve problems like floods and their impact in the Gulf. It's time for us to take a fresh look at the way we manage large rivers and the gulfs and bays into which they flow. Legislation like the RESTORE Act and Farm Bill plays critical role in protecting the country's natural resources.The reconnection of rivers to their floodplains not only helps to mitigate floods, but filter excess nutrients from the water.The Nature Conservancy is working with farmers to promote more effective and efficient use of fertilizers.We must work collaboratively to find solutions that address the connectivity of this system-solutions that benefit people and nature. The Mississippi River, its tributaries and floodplains, and the Gulf are an inner-connected system that affects-and is affected by-people. However, high levels of nutrient runoff continue to flow into the Gulf, meaning that the underlying cause of large recent dead zones remains a serious problem. This is the fourth-smallest dead zone mapped since 1985, likely due to wind patterns that helped mix more oxygen into the water. Scientists have determined that the dead zone was about the size of Delaware during the summer of 2018. Those species that can’t move-or can’t move fast enough-die off, leading to the name “dead zone.” Because fish and other commercial species usually move out to sea in order to avoid the dead zone, fishermen are forced to travel farther from land-and spend more time and money-to make their catches, adding stress to an industry already hurt by hurricanes and the oil spill.
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