LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY | Secretary Aurelia S. Giacometto
A DEPARTMENT OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA
The Nutrient Reduction Decision Support Toolbox is intended for use by state and local agencies and other organizations interested in reducing nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) and other pollutants to our waterbodies. The toolbox originated from the Gulf of Mexico Alliance (GOMA) Nutrient Reduction Priority Issue Team (PIT) and its initiatives to reduce the size of the hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico as well as occurrences of hypoxic events across Gulf of Mexico coastal and estuarine waters. Nutrient reduction efforts must be made throughout the five Gulf states, as well as the states within the upper and lower Mississippi and Ohio River Basins to be successful at reducing Gulf hypoxia. The toolbox is based on a comprehensive and holistic framework for nutrient reduction developed through the collaborative interaction of local, state, and federal agencies; non-governmental organizations; agricultural producers; private businesses; and academic institutions. Each of the drawers in the toolbox represents one of the 10 key decision elements that are essential to reducing nutrients and their impacts within our waters.
The Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative (GLCI) is a national and state driven effort led by a coalition of producer and resource management organizations. The purpose of GLCI is to get more trained NRCS personnel to deliver the best, applied grazing land science to producers and managers on private grazing lands. The use of this technical assistance is voluntary and at the request of private grazing-land owners and managers. On the national level, the GLCI steering committee is a confederation of national organizations focused on carrying out actions needed to increase NRCS technical assistance on privately owned grazing lands. This also includes those operations where private lands are commingled with federal, state, and tribal lands. The original founding organizations include: American Farm Bureau Federation, American Forage and Grassland Council, American Sheep Industry, Dairy Industry, National Association of Conservation Districts, National Cattlemen's Beef Association, National Farmer's Union, Society for Range Management, and Soil and Water Conservation Society. The GLCI through national and state steering committees seeks to: Increase the number of trained grazing land conservationists in NRCS, Strengthen partnerships at national and state levels, Promote voluntary actions for resource management, Encourage diversification to achieve multiple benefits through a sound grazing land management planning process, Emphasize training and education, and Increase public awareness on the societal benefits of well-managed private grazing lands.
Green infrastructure uses vegetation and soil to manage rainwater where it falls. By weaving natural processes into the built environment, green infrastructure provides not only stormwater management, but also flood mitigation, air quality management, and much more. Resources related to green infrastructure basics, tools, case studies, research, and library.
The Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force was created by President Obama through an Executive Order (PDF) on October 5, 2010, and is the result of a recommendation made in Secretary Mabus' report on long term recovery following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. By October 5, 2011, the Task Force is charged with development of a restoration strategy that proposes a Gulf Coast ecosystem restoration agenda.
Secretarial Order No. 3289 establishes Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs), a network of public-private partnerships that provide shared science to ensure the sustainability of America's land, water, wildlife and cultural resources. Area includes southwest Louisiana and Texas, Oklahoma, and Mexico.
The 2008 Action Plan describes a national strategy to reduce, mitigate, and control hypoxia in the Northern Gulf of Mexico and improve water quality in the Mississippi River Basin.
Provide sufficient monitoring data to ensure that management is adequately informed in efforts to achieve the Coastal Goal. Assess annual changes in the magnitude, seasonality, duration, and distribution of hypoxia, and relate these to management activities that affect nutrient loading and other influences on hypoxia. Provide adequate data for predictive models to develop accurate forecasts of hypoxia given alternative management targets for nutrient reduction and alternative scenarios of climate change. Determine the relationship between hypoxic zone magnitude, timing, and distribution, and the distribution, production, and health of ecologically and commercially important finfish and shellfish.
The Gulf of Mexico Data Atlas provides answers to questions related to the physical environment, marine resources, and economic activity in the Gulf of Mexico. Information is presented in the form of map plates with descriptions, written by recognized subject matter experts, explaining how the data were gathered and how they are relevant. The Gulf of Mexico Data Atlas has data from federal, state, non-governmental agencies, and academia. Web-based mapping abilities.