This Action Plan describes a national strategy to reduce the frequency, duration, size and degree of oxygen depletion of the hypoxic zone of the northern Gulf of Mexico (the Gulf). The Plan is the result of several years of study and discussion by the members of the Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force (the Task Force) and many concerned officials and citizens who participated in their deliberations. This Plan is submitted in accordance with The Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act of 1998, Title VI of Public Law 105-383, section 604(b), enacted on November 13, 1998

The 2001 Action Plan has since been revised and expanded. 

• Hypoxia Task Force 2001 Action Plan (PDF)(36 pp, 7 MB, January 2001)