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Welcome to Prairie Rivers Network's e-Newz. We're excited to keep communities informed about volunteer opportunities, clean water issues, and river conservation news within our state.

- February 2008-

1. Gulf Hypoxia - Barriers to Reducing the Dead Zone

2. Take Action on NPDES Permits

3. Lobby Day - Give Your Elected Officials an Earfull

4. Become a Member of Prairie Rivers Network

Gulf Hypoxia - Barriers to Reducing the Dead Zone

Every summer an area depleted of oxygen develops south of New Orleans in the Gulf of Mexico. This “Dead Zone” results from too much nitrogen and phosphorus entering the ocean via the Mississippi River and its tributaries. Phosphorus and nitrogen are nutrients that cause excessive aquatic plant, algae, and plankton growth when present in high concentrations. Once these short-lived organisms start to die in late spring and summer, the water becomes starved of oxygen as bacteria and other species consume the decaying matter. Areas that become particularly low in oxygen are uninhabitable for fish and other marine life. In 2007, the Dead Zone was almost 8,000 square miles, approximately the size of New Jersey.

To combat this problem, a coalition of federal, state, and tribal agencies created a special committee known as the Task Force. In 2001, the Task Force issued an Action Plan, containing goals and voluntary actions for achieving a cleaner Gulf of Mexico. The hope was that government agencies within the Mississippi River Basin would implement policies and actions consistent with the Action Plan. Several important steps have been taken as a result of the 2001 Plan, but the size of the 2007 Dead Zone (the third largest on record) makes clear there is still much work to be done.

The Task Force is currently in the process of finalizing a new Action Plan, which will incorporate the lessons learned in the last seven years. One of the Action Plan’s goals is to reduce the average size of the Dead Zone to less than 2,000 square miles by the year 2015. Unfortunately, while the new Action Plan is big on ideas its proposed solutions are numerous and voluntary, calling into question the ability of the new Plan to actually achieve this reduction goal.

For instance, the Action Plan gives a laundry list of vague solutions. Ideally, the Action Plan should focus on a few solutions that have proven successful, such as increasing the use of vegetative buffers that absorb chemicals running off of streets and farm fields so that fewer pollutants reach streams.

The lack of funding to support the voluntary actions is another problem. Participating agencies such as the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) must use their existing resources to execute actions proposed in the Action Plan. Rather than relying on current insufficient funding, the Task Force should make securing specific federal appropriations one of its top priorities.

The public comment period has ended for the Action Plan, but the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) is at the beginning stages of working on numeric criteria for phosphorus. Citizens like you can still take action to reduce the devastating impacts of the Dead Zone. One of the most important steps you can take is to let the IEPA and your elected officials know you want criteria developed for both phosphorous and nitrogen (for information on writing letters to the editor and opinion pieces for newspapers, see the May 2006 edition of Volunteer eNewz).

As the development process for nutrient standards proceeds, Prairie Rivers Network will be closely involved, and will be a resource for citizens who would like more information on this topic.

For more information on Gulf hypoxia:
http://www.epa.gov/msbasin

http://www.ncddc.noaa.gov/ecosystems/hypoxia

Take Action on NPDES Permits

Three hearings on NPDES permits are scheduled for March 12th (Annawan), March 13th (Hennepin) and March 25th (Champaign). Prairie Rivers Network requested Illinois Environmental Protection Agency hold these public hearings to allow members of the public an opportunity to ask questions and voice concerns about the new ethanol plants. These facilities will use approximately 5-6 gallons of high quality groundwater and discharge between 1-2 gallons of wastewater for every gallon of ethanol produced. Prairie Rivers is particularly concerned about the proposed water discharge permits for the new ethanol facilities due to inadequate water quality standards and monitoring requirements that should, by law, protect the aquatic life in the receiving streams.

For details on the public hearings and how you can get involved go to www.prairierivers.org, or call our office at 217.344.2371

Lobby Day - Give Your Elected Officials an Earfull

Come to Springfield on April 2nd to participate in Lobby Day. Lobby Day is one of the most effective forums for speaking to your elected officials about critical environmental issues in Illinois. The Illinois Environmental Council and Sierra Club will be holding lobbyist training sessions (time[s] TBA).

Water resource-related bills currently being considered by the General Assembly include Senate Bill 2307 (allows county health departments to assist EPA in enforcement of community-based wastewater system performance violations), and House Bill 5256 (requires EPA to create policy with other states bordering Lake Michigan for reciprocal notification process when state will be permitting new source of pollution or increased pollution levels into Lake Michigan).

For more Lobby Day and registration information contact Chrissy Maher at 217.544.5955 or cmaher@ilenviro.org.

Become a Member

Not already a member of Prairie Rivers Network or need to renew your membership? Donate online to PRN online and help us protect water quality and river habitats to make our community a better place to live.

Join our Watershed Listserv or visit our Events Calendar for more river related activities in Illinois.

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