AMES, Iowa – The status of nutrient reduction strategies in states along the Upper Mississippi River will be the focus of the spring 2026 Water Quality Research Seminar series hosted by the Iowa Nutrient Research Center.
The sessions feature scientists who have been leaders in developing, updating and tracking the progress of nutrient reduction strategies in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois and Indiana.
The presentations will take place the second Wednesday of each month, February through May, from 3:10-4:00 p.m. All sessions in this seminar series will be held online. Register via Zoom to participate in the seminars.
“Iowans have heard a lot about the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy, but they may not always remember that this has been an initiative through the Mississippi River/Gulf of America Hypoxia Task Force with the primary goal of improving water quality in the Gulf,” said INRC Director Matt Helmers.
“Other states along the river have taken their own unique approaches to meet the same overarching goals," he said. "We think there will be broad interest in learning more about what is happening with these strategies in nearby states. We look forward to getting glimpses of their approaches, how they are reporting progress and what their tracking shows.”
February 11: Wisconsin
A stakeholder-centered approach to developing a new nutrient loss reduction strategy for Wisconsin
Presenter: Joseph Bonnell, PhD, nutrient reduction strategy coordinator, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
March 11: Minnesota
2025 Nutrient Reduction Strategy Update and Next Steps
Presenter: Matt Drewitz, research scientist, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
April 8: Illinois
Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy Update
Presenter: Trevor Sample, Agency Coordinator for the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
May 13: Indiana
Indiana’s State Nutrient Reduction Strategy: Programs, Practices and Priorities
Presenter: Julie Harrold, program manager for CREP and water quality initiatives, Indiana State Department of Agriculture, Division of Soil Conservation
Presentations will be recorded and posted under Resources and Publications on INRC’s website with speakers’ permission. The INRC seminars are free and open to the public. More details about each session are available on the INRC website, under the Events tab.
Download a flyer for the spring 2026 seminar series, The Status of Nutrient Reduction Strategies in Other Upper Mississippi River Basin States.
For questions, contact malcolmr@iastate.edu.
Parts or all of 31 states, tribal lands and two Canadian provinces drain into the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin (MARB), totaling 41% of the contiguous United States and 15% of North America. Along with being the largest U.S. drainage basin, the Mississippi River also creates borders for 10 states. The MARB is the third largest in the world, after the Amazon and Congo basins. The Mississippi River provides necessary resources to the United States and the world and has helped shape American history and commerce, including tourism and the fishing industry.
Iowa’s representatives to the Mississippi River Gulf of America Hypoxia Task Force are Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig, task force co-chair, and Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship Water Quality Coordinator Matthew Lechtenberg, co-chair of the task force coordinating committee. Matt Helmers currently co-chairs the SERA-46 Committee, formed to convene researchers and extension specialists in the north-central and southern regions of the United States with common interests and expertise related to factors contributing to Gulf hypoxia.
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