Gulf Restoration Network

OMINOUS DEAD ZONE PREDICTIONS Blog - Healthy Waters / Dead Zone Wednesday, 01 July 2009 15:03

It looks like we’re in for another big one. In July, the USGS reported that the nitrogen pollution delivered to the Gulf is among the highest measured. Recently this was followed up by three predictions regarding the size of the 2009 Gulf Dead Zone. One prediction made by Scavia and Liu predicts that the Dead Zone will be 7,336 square miles. Turner and Rabalais ran two models which predict the size of the Dead Zone to be between 8,456 and an astonishing 9,669 square miles.

If these predictions hold true, we are in for a Dead Zone that ranks anywhere from the 6^th largest to the largest since regular Dead Zone measurements began in 1985. Whatever the size, it is obvious that the Dead Zone is not getting smaller. This is why we need to demand that the Mississippi River states, the EPA, USDA, and other agencies start taking drastic action to reduce the Dead Zone-causing pollution that is flowing off the Nation’s fields and out of our sewage treatment plants. This is a national problem that will require a national solution.

Matt Rota is the Water Resources Program Director for GRN.