The Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force (“Hypoxia Task Force [HTF]”] issued a February 2016 Report on Point Source Progress in Hypoxia Task Force States (“Report”).
The State of Arkansas is a member of the federal/state/tribal partnership that was established to gain a better understanding of the causes and effects of the Northern Gulf of Mexico hypoxic zone and to reduce its size, severity, and duration.
Besides Arkansas, the HTF is comprised of representatives from six federal agencies (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Department of Interior, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (and eleven other states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin and Tennessee) along with the National Tribe Water Council (representing tribal interests).
The Report states that in 2008 HTF states committed to develop State Nutrient Reduction Strategies to reduce nutrient loads to the Gulf of Mexico and to waters within the Mississippi-Atchafalaya River Basin (“Basin”). The strategies are described as “road map” for each state to target those watersheds with significant contributions of nitrogen and phosphorous to the Gulf of Mexico and a vehicle for coordination with other states, partners, and stakeholders.
The Report is described as presenting the HTF’s approach for tracking common measures and documents progress made through September 30, 2014. It also notes that:
… some states have made additional progress since this date and some are using additional, state-specific approaches to make and track progress towards reducing point source loads.
Common point source measures are used to track progress toward the interim load reduction target:
… the number and percentage of major sewage treatment plants, including publicly owned treatment works (POTWs), issued National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits with: (1) monitoring requirements for nitrogen and/or phosphorous; and (2) numeric discharge limits for nitrogen and/or phosphorous.
The Report includes information regarding Arkansas including a table listing major sewage treatment plants and those with monitoring or limits for nutrients.
Click here to download a copy of the Report.
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