NEWS NOTES ON SUSTAINABLE WATER RESOURCES Nutrient Reduction White House Promotes EPA Innovation Challenges to Reduce Nutrients in Waterways&nbs...
NEWS NOTES ON SUSTAINABLE WATER RESOURCES Nutrient Reduction White House Promotes EPA Innovation Challenges to Reduce Nutrients in Waterways https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2016/08/03/improving-nutrient-management-and-reducing-pollution-through-open-innovation-prizes By Bruce Rodan, Assistant Director for Environmental Health for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus, are essential for plant growth and for the production of food and livestock feed. Too much nitrogen and phosphorus in our waterways, however, can cause algal blooms, eutrophication, and hypoxia in lakes, estuaries, and oceans—damaging ecosystems and threatening human health far from the original site of application or deposition. Open innovation to reduce nutrients in waterways is among the Administration’s top 100 leadership examples in science, technology, and innovation. Federal agencies—OSTP, EPA, NOAA, USDA, USGS, and NIST—have come together to take action to improve nutrient management and reduce pollution, including by forming the Challenging Nutrients Coalition with engagement from academia and the private sector. One way the Administration has taken action in this area is by calling for challenges and prizes that seek potentially transformative ideas to tackle intractable problems. This link will also be placed on the 2016 Actions and Activities Page of the Sustainable Water Resources Site at https://sites.google.com/site/sustainablewaterresources/">https://sites.google.com/site/sustainablewaterresources/ Tim Smith Sustainable Water Resources Coordinator Government Web Site, http://acwi.gov/ Sustainable Water Resources Site, https://sites.google.com/site/sustainablewaterresources/">https://sites.google.com/site/sustainablewaterresources/