Known as “America’s River,” the Mississippi River is North America’s largest river, flowing over 2,300 miles through America’s heartland to the Gulf of America. The Mississippi River watershed not only provides drinking water, food, industry and recreation for millions of people, it also hosts the migratory flyway and home for more than 325 bird species.

Elevated nutrient levels in the Mississippi River flow downstream and are contributing to the Gulf of America hypoxic (low-oxygen) zone. To address these water quality concerns and agricultural sources of nutrients and sediment, NRCS is working with farmers and conservation partners to implement conservation practices proven to improve the overall health of the Mississippi River.

How It Works

Launched in 2009, the 12-state MRBI uses several Farm Bill programs, including the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), to help landowners conserve America’s natural resources through voluntary conservation. The overall goals of MRBI are to improve water quality, restore wetlands and enhance wildlife habitat while ensuring economic viability of agricultural lands.

States within the Mississippi River Basin have developed nutrient reduction strategies to minimize the contributions of nitrogen and phosphorus to surface waters within the basin, and ultimately to the Gulf of America. MRBI uses a small watershed approach to support the states’ reduction strategies. Avoiding, controlling and trapping practices are implemented to reduce the amount of nutrients flowing from agricultural land into waterways and to improve the resiliency of working lands.

Results

To date, segments of the Cache River and St. Francis River in Arkansas, and Flowers Creek in Indiana, have been scheduled for de-listing from the state impaired waters lists due to improved water quality conditions.

MRBI has shown that focused water quality efforts in high priority areas can be effective in building strong partnerships, increasing trust and collaboration with landowners and farmers, and getting more conservation systems on the ground. In fact, the initiative has helped increase the adoption of critical water quality conservation practices, such as cover crops, no-till, residue management, grassed waterways and nutrient management by more than 30 percent (based on practice obligations) compared to focus area watersheds with general EQIP alone.

Over the past ten years, MRBI has helped farmers and ranchers: 

• Implement conservation on nearly 1.5 million acres.
• Reduce sediment loss by more than 2.4 million tons.
• Reduce phosphorous loss by more than 5.5 million pounds.
• Reduce nitrogen loss by more than 20.2 million pounds. 

Fiscal Year 2025 Watersheds

Contact

John Bullough, Conservation Initiatives Coordinator for Water Quality