Government and independent scientists believe nutrient runoff is the main cause of the dead zone.  Pollutants such as nitrogen and phosphorus flow into the gulf of Mexico by way of the Mississippi River and its tributaries.

For many, the ethanol industry and the government’s 2005 Renewable Fuel Standard carry a lot of the blame.  Since the governments introduction of the Renewable Fuel Standard in 2005, acreage of U.S. land to farm corn and soy beans has grown by 16.8 million and over 1.2 million acres of grassland has been lost.

Flooding in 2015 and earlier this year washed away tremendous amounts of pollutants that had accumulated on land during the prolonged drought. The sources of much of these nutrients were cornfields, 40% of which are dedicated to producing ethanol, which fuel companies are compelled by Congress to blend with gasoline.

NOAA officials estimate the Dead Zone costs the nation’s seafood and tourism industries $82 million a year. And it likely will get worse, scientists believe. The gulf produces about 40 percent of the nation’s seafood, which includes offshore species such as shrimp and red snapper. And Louisiana is second in seafood production to Alaska, according to The Nature Conservancy.

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The Stickney Water Reclamation is the biggest single source of phosphorus in the entire region that drains into the Mississippi River. Combined with other sewage plant releases a state task force concluded that these plants are responsible for about half of the phosphorus pollution in rivers that drain into the Mississippi.

The need for more aggressive and widespread action is especially acute in Illinois, which by most estimates is the largest contributor of phosphorus and nitrogen pollution to the Gulf of Mexico.

A new $31 million project will help to reduce that pollution by diverting wastewater through three reactors that use catalysts to form tiny, nutrient-rich “pearls” for the fertilizer industry. The district estimates the equipment will produce up to 10,000 tons of slow-release fertilizer a year and reduce the Stickney plant’s phosphorus discharges by about 30 percent.

More still needs to be done, but this project is a good start.

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The species spawn in rivers and feed on phytoplankton, disrupting the food chain for younger fish. The voracious eaters can weigh as much as 100 pounds and grow to four feet.  The longer the carp remain in large numbers, the greater the chance that they could devastate the aquatic environment.

Asian carp made national headlines in 2010, when federal and state officials worked to track the fish in Illinois and the carp threatened to reach the Great Lakes via the Chicago River.  It was predicted that the carp would crush the Great Lake fishing industry and destroy the already fragile ecosystem if infiltrated.

In 2013, Asian carp DNA was discovered in the Wisconsin waters of Lake Michigan. It can’t be determined how the DNA got into the water whether by a live fish, dead or from a bird, but the threat is real.  Last month, a joint Army Corps and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service report showed fish were moving through the electronic barrier in the Chicago Waterway meant to serve as Lake Michigan’s last line of defense against the carp.

With the Asian carp within 55 miles of Lake Michigan, the Army Corps of Engineers were assigned the task of determining how to keep the carp from reaching Lake Michigan.  After seven years, the report outlines eight different options, but didn’t recommend one.

The options provided include physical separation, special locks and gates and chemical agents.  In a situation where time is of the essence, one option which relies largely on a new kind of lock, chemical treatments and more, but with limited physical barriers would take about 10 years and $8 billion to implement.

Another option would take 25 years and $15 billion to $18 billion and while may be the most effective option has now only time and cost hindering it, but would have a cost impact on commercial cargo.  This option faces much criticism from business interests.

That option would be to put a physical separation at the edge of Lake Michigan.  Not only would this keep the Asian carp out of Lake Michigan, but also prevent the invaders found in Lake Michigan from making their way into the Mississippi watershed.

While the separation is going to have a lot of opponents, it seems to be the only real solution that will truly protect the Great Lakes.  It will not only stop the Asian carp from coming into the Great Lakes, it will stop any further diversion of the Great Lakes water.

According to a 2012 study by Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans, it would take as few as 10 male and 10 female Asian carp to establish a reproducing population in the Great Lakes.

Read the Report https://www.lrd.usace.army.mil/Missions/Projects/Article/3646258/great-lakes-and-mississippi-river-interbasin-study-glmris/