Background

The Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley, the formerly diverse 25-million acre floodplain ecosystem through which 41% of the conterminous United States drains, exhibits severe water quality impairment. Historically supporting a vast wetland complex of rivers, swamps, sloughs, and floodplain forests that harbored a wealth of biodiversity, today the LMAV ranks as one of the nation's most degraded and biologically impaired ecosystems. This change occurred largely because of wholesale conversion of forests to agricultural lands, as well as associated drainage and flood control projects during the 20th Century (Messina and Conner, 1998; Mitsch and Gosselink, 2000). With approximately 80% of the LMAV currently in agricultural production, the region's waterways exhibit numerous impairments related to agricultural Non-Point Source (NPS) pollutants, ranging from high turbidity and elevated nutrient loads to high pesticide concentrations, including residual DDT and Toxaphene. Public health concerns abound, with fish consumption advisories blanketing much of the region. Furthermore, the five hundred mile long floodplain, along with coastal marshes, serves as a buffer between the nitrogen-loading croplands of the Midwest and the growing zone of hypoxia, or the Dead Zone, in the Gulf of Mexico.In response to the LMAV's ecological impairments, numerous conservation organizations and public health agencies have projects and programs that enhance water quality, and watershed planning efforts are on the rise. Furthermore, reforestation through cost-share programs is driving the conversion of significant acreages of marginal cropland. The reforestation of ecologically sensitive riparian and flood-prone areas holds much potential for mitigating water quality problems via increased nutrient and sediment retention rates and decreased erosion. Between these reforestation efforts and other programs geared specifically toward water quality improvement, the potential exists to significantly impact the quality and health of aquatic systems throughout the LMAV. With support from the USDA Forest Service Restoring the Delta Program, DU developed a web-deployed water quality enhancement Decision Support System (DSS) built upon Geographic Information System and remote sensing technologies. Project STREAM, System for Targeting Restoration and Enhancing Aquatic Monitoring, contains a robust assemblage of watershed planning datasets that will help regional water quality professionals analyze watersheds and determine beneficial sites for water quality enhancement work. These decision support tools, coupled with the Forest Service funded Wetland Restoration Suitability Index, will provide a powerful resource for conservation delivery agents and planners seeking to maximize the ecological benefits of conservation programs. Below the components of STREAM are profiled.