It will take a long time to reverse decades of decline and severe damage to the Gulf ecosystem.
The Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force has released its final strategy for what it hopes will become a longer-term restoration for the severely damaged Gulf Coast, following the BP oil spill and decades of decline in the region.
The plan calls for stopping wetland development, reducing the flow of nutrients from farming, and working with individual states to develop or implement coastal improvement plans.
The strategy is the first restoration blueprint ever developed for the Gulf to include input from states, tribes, federal agencies, local governments and thousands of involved citizens and organizations across the region, according to EPA.
The Task Force has also begun reviewing existing policy, program and regulatory issues that are slowing down restoration progress, particularly in the habitat restoration area. The Task Force will continue to explore ways to implement restoration, measure success and support the restoration with science, EPA said in a release.
Key elements of the restoration are:
Stopping the Loss of Critical Wetlands, Sand Barriers and Beaches
- The strategy recommends placing ecosystem restoration on an equal footing with historic uses such as navigation and flood damage reduction by approaching water resource management decisions in a more comprehensive way that will bypass harm to wetlands, barrier islands and beaches. The strategy also recommends implementation of several congressionally authorized projects in the Gulf that are intended to reverse the trend of wetlands loss.
Reducing the Flow of Nutrients into the Gulf
- The strategy calls for working in the Gulf and upstream in the Mississippi watershed to reduce the flow of excess nutrients into the Gulf by supporting state nutrient reduction frameworks, new nutrient reduction approaches, and targeted watershed work to reduce agricultural and urban sources of excess nutrients.
Enhancing Resiliency among Coastal Communities
- The strategy calls for enhancing the quality of life of Gulf residents by working in partnership with the Gulf with coastal communities. The strategy specifically recommends working with each of the States to build the integrated capacity needed through effective coastal improvement plans to better secure the future of their coastal communities and to implement existing efforts underway.
President Barack Obama established the Task Force by executive order after the BP oil spill. The group is made up of representatives from the five Gulf States and 11 federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, White House Council on Environmental Quality, Department of Agriculture, Department of Commerce, Department of Defense, Department of the Interior, Department of Justice, Department of Transportation, Office of Management and Budget, Office of Science and Technology Policy and White House Domestic Policy Council.
