Reducing nitrogen in the Great Bay Estuary.

• Position: New Hampshire - Brief article

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As part of its ongoing initiative to protect the Great Bay Estuary, ELF is tackling the single greatest risk to New Hampshire's sensitive estuarine waters: increased nitrogen levels. Nitrogen, a nutrient that causes oxygen-depleting algae blooms and loss of important habitat, is a pollutant of significant concern for the health of the Great Bay Estuary and the many wildlife species that depend on it. Nitrogen concentrations have reached the same levels that have caused major problems in other estuaries, including the devastating collapse of Chesapeake Bay.

While the Great Bay Estuary has not yet suffered the ecological catastrophes experienced elsewhere, troubling signs of stress are occurring, including the increased presence of algae and the decline of eelgrass meadows that provide essential habitat. These signs of stress are all the more alarming considering the sudden collapse of estuarine ecosystems-including widespread species...