Coastal Dead Zones

Farmers can produce far more than food and fiber. They can also produce clean water. Many farmers are willing to do more to protect and improve water quality in the nation's bays by applying fertilizer and manure with greater care, managing manure properly, restoring wetlands and streamside buffers, and otherwise changing the way they farm to reduce polluted runoff. But, most farmers are rejected when they seek federal financial and technical assistance to implement these simple, cost-effective practices. This fall, legislators will have an opportunity to reward farmers when they help protect and restore the nation's bays when Congress renews federal farm programs.

Farmland and ranchland covers more than half of the American landscape so it is no surprise that agriculture dramatically impacts the water quality of many of the nation's bays. Nearly nine-out-of-ten raindrops fall on private land - mostly farm and ranch land before flowing into rivers, lakes and bays. Consequently, polluted runoff from farms, ranches and feedlots is among the leading reasons that 44% of the bay waters assessed by state officials cannot support fishing or swimming.

Low-oxygen "dead zones" are the most dramatic and ecologically significant challenge facing many of America's bays. Although bays receive pollution from many sources, nutrient-rich runoff from farms and feedlots is among the leading contributors to periodic dead zones.

Polluted runoff from farms and feedlots promotes a complex array of problems in bays, beginning with the excessive growth of algae, which, in turn, can lead to other more serious symptoms. By triggering the growth of algae, polluted runoff reduces the amount of oxygen dissolved in bay water in two ways: by consuming oxygen at night, and through decomposition when the algae die.