Mississippi River Basin Nutrients Science Workshop

Mississippi River Basin Nutrients Science Workshop

October 4-6, 2005
St. Louis, Missouri

Call for Abstracts

About the Workshop
We invite you to participate in a 3-day workshop to assess the state of the science  regarding the fate and effect of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) in large rivers in the  Mississippi River Basin (including the Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio Rivers as well as other major tributaries). The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is committed to  supporting efforts by the States to develop and adopt water quality standards for nutrients  in the Mississippi River and its major tributaries.  EPA believes it is important to better understand how excessive nutrients impact large rivers as part of the process to develop and  adopt appropriate numeric nutrient water quality criteria for these waters.  As part of this  effort, this workshop will review the available science from government, academia, industry  and environmental organizations and will seek to identify the best and most expedient  approach(es) to develop nutrient water quality standards to protect the Mississippi River  Basin and the Gulf of Mexico.  EPA expects that the outcome of this workshop will be a report that establishes a clear roadmap for a collaborative effort to set standards and  possible approaches for nutrients in the Mississippi River Basin.

Topics to Be Covered Include, But Are Not Limited To:

A. The Status of Nutrient Criteria Development in the States -- identification of nutrient  impairment in rivers, the State plans to adopt numeric nutrient criteria, the scientific  approaches being used, successes and obstacles.

B. The Science Behind Nutrient Criteria Derivation in Large Rivers -- the transfer of EPA's  guidance for nutrient criteria development in rivers and streams to large river systems  (including the appropriateness of causal, nitrogen and phosphorus, and response, chlorophyll-a and turbidity, variables in large rivers and the applicability of a reference  condition approach in large rivers), how nutrient dynamics and biological effects in large  rivers may differ from smaller rivers and streams, possibly criteria derivation approaches  for large rivers and their associated data needs, and development of effective monitoring  strategies for nutrients in large rivers.

C. The Science of Nutrients in the Upper and Lower Mississippi River Basins -- the sources,  fate, transformation, bioavailability and transport of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus)  in the Upper and Lower Mississippi River Basins and the available modeling tools describing  these processes, identification, and quantification of biological responses to  eutrophication in large rivers, and the role of floodplains, wetlands, and suspended solids  in these processes.

D. The Science of Nutrients in the Gulf of Mexico: the Far-field Downstream Effect -- the  effect of nutrient loadings from the Mississippi River on the impairment and extent of  hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico, current efforts and future needs to reduce nutrients in the Mississippi River Basin to protect the Gulf of Mexico and what can be learned from other  large rivers and estuaries.

E. The Approaches Needed to Address the Downstream Effect of Nutrients -- policy,  implementation, and interstate jurisdiction issues, case studies of efforts to address  nutrients in other large waterbody systems, possibilities of using watershed allocations,  watershed permitting, and water quality trading to reduce nutrient loading, the role of  tributary criteria and goals to protect downstream uses in large river systems, and  identification of the necessary next steps.

Call for Abstracts
Please submit individual abstracts on the topics listed above.  The abstract should be no  more than 400 words and include the following information:

- Presentation title
- Author(s)
- Topic area (select from the topics listed above)
- Name of principal presenter (do not list all authors on the abstract)
- Affiliation
- Mailing address and physical street address
- Phone, fax, and e-mail address

All abstracts must be received by July 1, 2005 and can be submitted via e-mail or CD-Rom to  Ansu John, Tetra Tech, Inc. (EPA Contractor), 10306 Eaton Place, Suite 340, Fairfax, VA  22030; phone (703) 385-6000, ext. 185; e-mail: Ansu.John@tetratech-ffx.com. Persons whose submissions are accepted for presentation at the workshop will be notified and will receive  further instruction at that time.

More Information
A more detailed agenda and registration form for this workshop will be distributed in the  summer of 2005. For more information, contact:

Dana A. Thomas, Ph.D.
Standards and Health Protection Division
Office of Science & Technology, Office of Water
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW (4305T)
Washington DC 20460
Phone: 202-566-1046
Fax: 202-566-0409
Email: Thomas.Dana@epa.gov

Sponsored by:
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water