Mississippi River Basin/Gulf Hypoxia Landscape Conservation Design

Seven LCC's and many individual agencies that overlap the Mississippi River Basin are leading an effort to prioritize agricultural conservation areas by mapping the most cost-effective and receptive places for implementing practices with multiple benefits, such as the intersection of watersheds where benefits for each of the following factors is high: a) nutrient export to the Gulf of Mexico;  b) fish and wildlife habitats; c) optimal design of practices using input from the agricultural community on desirable production, economic, and ecological impacts; d) and  social capacity to network and provide extension outreach in locations with high project visibility to encourage adoption of conservation practices in designated high-value areas. The LCC's effort is designed to be complementary to the principles and goals of the Hypoxia Task Force, Mississippi River Basin Initiative, and similar existing efforts, with a common mission to reduce nutrient loading through watershed and effectively achieve water quality benefits both locally and in the Gulf of Mexico, but with an integrated focus on habitat conservation.