Nitrogen Strategy

EPA is proposing a strategy  to aggressively continue progress on nitrogen reductions, in parallel with the States’ continued implementation of the 2000 Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL), and achieve water quality standards throughout Long Island Sound and its embayments and near shore coastal waters. The strategy recognizes that more work must be done to reduce nitrogen levels, further improve dissolved oxygen (DO) conditions, and address other nutrient-related impacts in Long Island Sound. The nitrogen reduction strategy complements the 2000 TMDL in important ways. Foremost, while the 2000 TMDL is premised on achieving water quality standards for DO in the open waters of LIS, the EPA strategy expands the focus to include other nutrient-related adverse impacts to water quality, such as loss of eelgrass, that affect many of LIS’s embayments and near shore coastal waters.  The draft strategy is available as a pdf download.