Dr. Martin Locke, Research Leader, Water Quality & Ecology Research Unit, Oxford, MS, participated in a meeting of the Lower Mississippi River Sub-Basin Committee on Gulf Hypoxia in Olive Branch, MS, September 18, 2007. The meeting was attended by representatives from state environmental regulatory agencies (Arkansas, Louisiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, and Tennessee), EPA, USDA-NRCS, International Plant Nutrition Institute, US Army COE, and USGS. The LMR Sub-Basin Committee was formed to help coordinate implementation of the Action Plan for reducing, mitigating, and controlling hypoxia in the Northern Gulf of Mexico. Dr. Locke is ARS' representative for the committee.

Martin Locke, Water Quality & Ecology Research Unit of the National Sedimentation Laboratory, Oxford, MS, attended the 14th Public Meeting of the Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force that convened to review the EPA Science Advisory Board draft report on hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico. The meeting took place on June 12, 2007, in New Orleans, LA. The draft report can be accessed at http://www.epa.gov/sab/pdf/5-24-07_hap_draft.pdf, and public comments will be accepted until June 29, 2007. Dr. Locke is a member of the Lower Mississippi River Sub-Basin Committee that functions to help coordinate implementation of the Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan at the state and sub-basin level.

Dr. Charlie Cooper, Water Quality and Ecology Research Unit, National Sedimentation Laboratory, Oxford, MS, attended an EPA-sponsored Regional Technical Assistance Group (RTAG) meeting in Decatur, Georgia. The meeting's purpose was to provide guidance to all southeastern states as they prepare new nutrient criteria plans for public water bodies. Dr. Cooper attended as a technical reviewer. EPA Region 4 also provided a TMDL workshop for participants.