Background

Excess Nutrients
Nutrients are naturally occurring and essential components of healthy waterways. However, excessive amounts of nutrients can impact water quality. Whenever excess nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus enter waterbodies, they act like fertilizer and can cause excessive algae growth. Algal blooms can be unsightly, smell bad, block sunlight, and even release toxins. When the algal growth dies, it decomposes and reduce oxygen in the water, and this can disrupt fish and other aquatic life.

Nitrogen and phosphorous come from a variety natural and human-related inputs. Sources of nitrogen include non-point sources such as agriculture, atmospheric deposition, urban runoff, and point sources such as wastewater treatment plants. Sources of phosphorous include agriculture, urban runoff, wastewater treatment plants, stream channel erosion, and natural soil deposits.

Excess Nutrients in Tennessee
Tennessee has developed the Tennessee Nutrient Reduction Framework as part of our efforts to accomplish long-term nutrient reduction in our water resources.  
 
More Information
For more information about nutrient pollution and Gulf Hypoxia, please visit:

• The EPA’s Nutrient Pollution Webpage - https://www.epa.gov/nutrientpollution
• The EPA’s Gulf Hypoxia webpage - https://www.epa.gov/ms-htf
• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Nutrient Pollution Webpage - https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/nutpollution.html
• U.S. Geological Survey https://www.usgs.gov/special-topics/gulf-of-mexico