The mighty Mississippi, one of the world’s great rivers, originates as a small trickle in Itasca State Park in northern Minnesota. It gains its famous breadth as it flows south through the Twin Cities and nine other states en route to the Gulf of Mexico.

With a watershed spreading over 31 states, the Mississippi River is a crown jewel of Minnesota and the nation. Yet the river was recently described as an “orphan” by the National Academy of Sciences for its poor water quality and the lack of coordinated efforts among the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Agriculture and states in its watershed to remedy the problem. The river suffers from agricultural pollution, urban runoff, excessive sedimentation and flood damage exacerbated by wetland loss.

Addressing the Mississippi’s water quality problems has been a major focus of MCEA for years. We’ve concentrated considerable efforts on cleaning up Lake Pepin and the Minnesota River, both part of the Mississippi River watershed. We have also worked to shape numerous permits and restoration plans elsewhere in the river’s watershed, occasionally taking the state to court when it has issued permits that insufficiently protect the river.

MCEA is a founding member of the Mississippi River Collaborative convened in 2005 by the McKnight Foundation to connect water quality advocates in states along the river’s mainstem. The Collaborative aims to improve water quality in the river basin and achieve full implementation of the Clean Water Act for the entire Mississippi River system. It is structured around four major strategies:

• Controlling nitrogen and phosphorus pollution to fully protect both freshwater resources and the Gulf of Mexico.
• Addressing agricultural pollution by supporting federal Farm Bill conservation programs, as well as requiring minimum standards of conservation to receive subsidies.
• Encouraging targeted implementation of best management practices through the Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watershed Initiative and a variety of state-based programs.
• Ensuring that wetlands are protected and restored, providing water quality benefits and reducing flood impacts up and down the river basin.

MCEA leads the Collaborative’s  work on nutrient pollution, specifically advocating adoption of numeric water quality standards for nitrogen and phosphorus,  clean-up plans to address the impacts excessive levels of these pollutants have on freshwater and saltwater systems connected with the Mississippi, and adequate protections in discharge permits and nutrient trading programs. Phosphorus and nitrogen pollution from agricultural runoff and municipal wastewater discharges cause localized algae blooms, fish deaths and the Gulf of Mexico dead zone, an area the size of Massachusetts where marine animals die due to lack of oxygen.

Learn More
Read the Collaborative's petition to the EPA demanding action to shrink the Gulf of Mexico dead zone.
Read the petition's cover letter. Read a news release about the petition.
Read a fact sheet about the dead zone. Contribution of nitrogen and phosphorus pollution to the Gulf of Mexico by states in the Mississippi River basin. (map)
Growth of the dead zone, 2000 & 2008. (map) 
McKnight Foundation Mississippi Water Quality Collaborative
Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia 2007 National Academies of Science report concluding the EPA must take a more aggressive role in restoring the Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico.
Update on the dead zone by the EPA Science Advisory Board
USGS maps of sources of nitrogen and phosphorus pollution in the Gulf of Mexico.