Breaux Act Newsflash - Town Hall Meeting; Dead Zone Record; Seminar
***********************************************************************Coulee Baton Microwatershed Town Hall Meeting
All interested home septic system owners and users are invited to attend one
of two Town Hall Meetings which have been scheduled. The first will be held
June 23 from 9:00 - 11:00am. The second will be held June 30 from 6 - 8pm.
Both are scheduled at the Vermilion Parish Library (Room B) located at 405
East St.Victor Street in Abbeville. At these meetings, representatives from
the Vermilion Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) and Acadiana
Resource Conservation and Development Council (RC&D) will give participants
an overview of the project, an opportunity to explore its potential for the
region, and an opportunity to apply for this cost share assistance.
Homeowners in this watershed should attend at least one of the scheduled
meetings; however, they may attend both.
Only home owners in the Coulee Baton Microwatershed Demonstration Project
area are eligible for this home sewer system project. Please check the
location of your home on the project map carefully for eligibility or call
for clarification to avoid making a trip to the meeting only to find out you
are not eligible for the project. This meeting is only for residents that
live in the project area! Project maps will be available for viewing
beginning Monday, June 9th at the Vermilion SWCD office at 1049 W Summers
Drive Suite B in Abbeville.
See the full press release for these events at
http://lacoast.gov/news/press/2008-06-13/town_hall.pdf
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'Dead Zone' Record Year Predicted
A team of scientists from Louisiana State University (LSU) and the Louisiana
Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON) is forecasting that the "Dead Zone"
off the coast of Louisiana and Texas in July this summer will be the largest
since shelf-wide measurements began in 1985.
The "Dead Zone" is an area in the Gulf of Mexico where seasonal oxygen
levels drop too low to support most life in bottom and near-bottom waters.
It is caused when phytoplankton growth, stimulated by nutrients such as
nitrogen and phosphorus from the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers, settles
and decays in the bottom waters. The decomposition of these algae consumes
oxygen faster than it can be replenished from the surface, leading to
decreased levels of dissolved oxygen. The excessive nutrient loading may
also result in the growth of harmful algal blooms and a changed food web
that is unfavorable to commercial fisheries. "Low oxygen conditions have
been present off Terrebonne and Barataria Bays since March, and the number
of stations that are hypoxic is increasing," reported Nancy Rabalais of
LUMCON. "We map the whole area on July 21-29."
The modeling effort, led by R. Eugene Turner of LSU, predicts that this
summer's "Dead Zone" will be about 10,084 mi2 (26,118 km2), an area about
the size of the state of Massachusetts. The average size of the annual
hypoxia-affected area since 1990 has been approximately 6,046 mi2 (15,659
km2). Tropical storms and hurricanes have the potential of disrupting the
physical structure of the water column and aerating the bottom layer. But if
no strong storms appear, then this year's Dead Zone will be 17-21% larger
than previously measured (in 2002), and will stretch into Texas continental
shelf waters.
This is a preliminary forecast based on nitrate loads from the Mississippi
River in May at Baton Rouge, Louisiana. "The prediction of a large hypoxic
zone this summer is because the nitrate loading this May, a critical month
influencing the size, was exceptionally high," said Turner in explaining the
forecast. "The size of the hypoxic zone last year was only slightly below
the largest zone measured. The nitrate concentration in May 2008 is 79% of
that in May 2007, but the river discharge was 75% higher. This means that
nitrogen loading to the Gulf of Mexico in May this year will be 37% higher
than last year and the highest since measurements began in 1970. The
intensive farming of more land, including crops used for biofuels, has
definitely contributed to this high nitrogen loading rate." A final forecast
will be made in early July that uses a more robust estimate of nitrogen
loading provided by the U.S. Geological Survey.
There are multiple models of the size of the hypoxic zone that are useful in
evaluating the influence of nitrogen load and variations in ocean currents
on the size of the "Dead Zone."
These models do not always produce similar results, and model improvement is
one focus of ongoing research. The LSU model is the most accurate model
based on past performance, but the ecosystem is evolving. The size of the
hypoxic zone for the same amount of nitrogen loading increases each year.
Turner wonders if "the model might need to be adjusted to account for the
limited space left on the shelf to accommodate the potential size of the
hypoxic zone resulting from a nitrogen loading this big." Additional
research for model improvement is required before predictions can become an
operational forecast for other months. More information for the prediction
and hypoxia research is on the Internet at:
Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia website:
http://www.gulfhypoxia.net/
and NOAA/NCCOS/CSCOR Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia Research:
http://www.cop.noaa.gov/stressors/extremeevents/hab/features/hypoxiafs_repor
t1206.html.
Public Release of Action Plan
The public release of the 2008 Action Plan and the signing ceremony will be
held on June 16 from 1 to 5 pm at The Historic New Orleans Collection, Royal
Street Complex, Counting House, at 533 Royal Street, New Orleans, LA.
The public session of the Task Force Meeting will be held on June 17 from
8:30 am to 12:30 pm at the Marriott New Orleans at 555 Canal Street, New
Orleans, LA. The purpose of the meeting is to publicly release the 2008
Action Plan; approve the 2008 Annual Operating Plan; and discuss composition
of the Task Force.
Contacts:
R. Eugene Turner, euturne@lsu.edu
Nancy N. Rabalais, nrabalais@lumcon.edu
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Seminar
NOAA National Hurricane Center
Storm Surge and Coastal Inundation Models to be used by NOAA
For South Louisiana During the 2008 Hurricane Season
When: Monday, June 16th, 2008
Time: 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Where: NOAA Building, 646 Cajundome Blvd, Lafayette, Louisiana
Who: Dr. Roy Dokka, Louisiana Spatial Reference Center, Dr. Stephen Baig,
NOAA National Hurricane Center, Storm Surge Team Lead
and Dr. Wilson Shaffer, NOAA National Weather Service
For additional information: Tim Osborn, NOAA, 337-291-21111
Roger Erickson, NOAA, 337-477-5285
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