A Conversation with MillerCoors Grant Finalist - Louisiana Environmental Action Network

The Ouachita River watershed in northeast Louisiana drains into the Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico. Agriculture has been a mainstay in this part of the Mississippi Delta region for more than two centuries.

Q&A with Louisiana Environmental Action Network

RN: Describe your organization's proposed project for the MillerCoors/ River Network grant?

LEAN: The Louisiana Environmental Action Network intends to address a major source of Louisiana's contribution to the Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico by educating the agriculture community in an effort to reduce the amount of nutrient runoff into the Ouachita River Basin. The Ouachita River flows into the Atchafalaya River which flows into the Gulf of Mexico. The reductions of agricultural runoff will be accomplished by surveying agricultural operations in the Ouachita River watershed and interacting with the farming communities and government agencies in order to educate the farmers about the negative impacts caused by out-of-date farming practices and the resulting nutrient runoff.

RN: How does your proposed project complement your organization's mission?

LEAN: LEAN's philosophical approach is that education leads to advocacy, advocacy leads to activism, and activism leads to meaningful, systematic change. Our activities work to empower and support our members by employing public education, civic advocacy, community outreach, media exposure, legal action, technical assistance, grassroots organizing, and leadership development in order to assist them in achieving their goals. The proposed project will empower the agricultural community in the Ouachita River watershed and improve their agricultural skills. The use of improved farming techniques will result in a reduction of nutrient concentrations in the immediate watershed which will reduce the nutrient overload flowing into the Gulf of Mexico and decreasing the contributing elements that feed the Dead Zone.

RN: Why should people vote for your organization?

LEAN: A significant amount of the nations shrimp, oysters, crabs and other seafood comes from the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf is also home to one of the planets biggest "Dead Zones," an area in the ocean with oxygen levels so low that sea life is killed off or forced to flee. This Dead Zone is caused in large part by too much nutrients being brought into the gulf from the rivers that flow into it. These excess nutrients come mainly from agricultural runoff. Fix the runoff, fix the Dead Zone and more seafood for you and us!

RN: Thanks for all you are doing to protect and restore water quality in Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico.

View project summaries from the MillerCoors-River Network Watershed Protection Grant competition and cast your vote today!