Latest / The Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Podcast / Episode 01 | Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy
Transcript
- Episode 01 | Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy 00:00:07:05 - 00:00:27:22 Todd Gleason This is the NLRS podcast, episode one I'm your host, University of Illinois Extension's Todd Gleason. We're joined by Jonathan Coppess, Laura Gentry, Jennifer Woodyard and Haley Haverback to talk about the nutrient loss reduction strategy. I think Jonathan we’ll start with you, just exactly what is this policy? 00:00:27:25 - 00:00:33:16 Jonathan Coppess Well, this is a statewide effort to reduce, the nutrients that are getting into our waterways. 00:00:33:16 - 00:01:00:10 Jonathan Coppess So particularly phosphorus and nitrogen, this is looking from agricultural to, municipal, nutrient losses from everything from from what we're losing nitrogen through tile drains and farm fields to, municipal water and wastewater supply. From Chicago all the way down downstate. So an effort statewide to try to cut down what's getting into that waterway, particularly what's getting into the Mississippi River and down to the Gulf of Mexico, where we see it contributing to the hypoxic zone. 00:01:00:12 - 00:01:15:00 Jonathan Coppess And this is, it's a statewide effort. This is is region wide, all the way up through the Mississippi River basin as an attempt to reduce, the nutrients that are feeding algae. And this, helping contribute to this hypoxic or dead zone in the Gulf. 00:01:15:03 - 00:01:20:02 Todd Gleason Jonathan Coppess, of course, is a policy specialist here on the Urbana-Champaign campus of the University of Illinois. 00:01:20:02 - 00:01:30:19 Todd Gleason Laura Gentry is the director of water quality research for ICGA, the Illinois Corn Growers Association. Why was it that this kind of policy was necessary? 00:01:30:21 - 00:02:02:25 Laura Gentry Well, the policy was directed from the US EPA, back in 2012 and it came about, as, the work of, a group called the Gulf Hypoxia Task Force. They developed an action plan that came out, and they determined that in order to meet what they considered a, acceptable size of, the dead zone, the hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico, there needed to be reductions all the way up the Mississippi River basin and specifically from 12 states. 00:02:02:25 - 00:02:34:11 Laura Gentry So the US EPA directed 12 states to develop their state nutrient reduction strategy. And that end goal had to be to, have a specific reduction of 45% in nitrogen and phosphorus. And they set deadlines around that. And they gave some general guidelines. But it was to begin as a voluntary effort. And, it that's really the the necessity of it came out of creating that acceptable size of hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico. 00:02:34:13 - 00:02:51:27 Todd Gleason So we're trying to reduce this load that's coming through the river system, that's creating the hypoxic zone, sometimes called the dead zone. In the Gulf of Mexico. How does that affect farmers? What is it that they need to do? 00:02:52:00 - 00:02:59:28 Laura Gentry Well, because, of course, nitrogen and phosphorus don't just come from agricultural fields. They also come from home lawns and and golf courses. 00:02:59:28 - 00:03:23:11 Laura Gentry They come from point sources like municipal treatment facilities and commercial water treatment facilities. But we do know that, for one thing, the state of Illinois is a major contributor of nitrogen and phosphorus to the Gulf of Mexico. In fact, in most years, the state of Illinois contributes more nitrogen and phosphorus than any other state to, the Gulf of Mexico. 00:03:23:14 - 00:03:43:20 Laura Gentry We also know, and this is where the farmer part comes in, that 80% of all of the nitrogen that leaves the state of Illinois is coming from agricultural fields. So 80% of the nitrogen is coming from agricultural fields and, 48%, almost half of the phosphorus is coming from agricultural fields. 00:03:43:23 - 00:03:48:12 Todd Gleason A couple of people here on campus that are leading this process have joined us as well. 00:03:48:12 - 00:04:01:01 Todd Gleason Jennifer Woodyard is here and Haley Haverback. Haley, thanks for being with us. You too. Jennifer, tell me a little bit about what it is you expect to do. As part of your job. 00:04:01:01 - 00:04:23:17 Haley Haverback So we provide outreach to farmers, and we're going to help coordinate nutrient loss reduction strategy programing for farmers. I'm located in Priority nitrogen watersheds, which is the Mississippi central Henderson Creek watershed in the lower Rock River watershed in unit seven, which is I'm in the Henry Stark office, which is in Galva, Illinois. 00:04:23:20 - 00:04:32:14 Todd Gleason And then finally, as we wrap things up on this first episode, Jennifer, tell me just a little bit about the steps that need to be taken to reach these goals. 00:04:32:14 - 00:04:43:04 Jennifer Woodyard So I'll start off with I am based out of the Embarras and little Wabash watersheds, which are in east central and south eastern Illinois, and I'm based out of the Effingham County Extension office. 00:04:43:07 - 00:05:01:24 Jennifer Woodyard There are a lot of things farmers can do. And the first thing is just to, reach out to someone if they want to know more about the different practices listed within the NLRS. So there are a lot of different things that farmers can do, either in the field or on edge of field. Things like cover crops, conservation tillage, woodchip bioreactors. 00:05:01:24 - 00:05:16:12 Jennifer Woodyard And there are a lot of specialists all around the state. And Haley and I are, open to educating and helping farmers implement those practices and so they can feel free to reach out to us or any, any of the other specialists around the state to get more information. 00:05:16:14 - 00:05:21:12 Todd Gleason And if you'd like to learn more about the Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy program, of course you can do that. 00:05:21:17 - 00:05:43:05 Todd Gleason It's easiest to make contact with the folks we've been talking to here, especially Jennifer and Haley, by looking them up in the extension website that's at extension.illinois.edu check, the staff box and then look in A N R, which is for agriculture and natural resources. I'm the University of Illinois extension’s Todd Gleason.