By Diana Yates
Illinois News Bureau
Agricultural runoff from Midwestern farms is a major contributor to a vast “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico. Nitrogen, phosphorous and other farm nutrients drain into the Mississippi River, which empties into the Gulf, spurring algae to overpopulate and suffocating other aquatic life. Illinois is a main culprit in this ongoing environmental blight. News Bureau life sciences editor Diana Yates spoke with U. of I. natural resources and environmental sciences researcher Lowell Gentry about possible solutions.
How big is the Gulf of Mexico dead zone today and how much does Illinois agriculture contribute to the problem?
Last summer, researchers at Louisiana State University measured the dead zone in the Gulf at 6,334 square miles, which was larger than its historical average. The largest ever measured was 8,776 square miles in 2017. In Illinois, nonpoint sources (of which, agriculture is, by far, the greatest) contribute 80% of the nitrogen and about half of the phosphorus to our rivers and streams. Illinois and Iowa are the greatest contributors of nutrients to the Gulf and both states have developed nutrient loss-reduction strategies, with the goal of reducing nitrogen and phosphorus losses by 45% by 2035.