2019 Great Lakes to Gulf Watershed Leadership Summit

Building on the success of the Great Lakes to Gulf Watershed Leadership Summit in 2018, members of the Southern Extension-Research Activity-46 (SERA-46) team hosted a second leadership summit in 2019. The summit was held in Long Beach, Mississippi in February 2019 and brought together farmers, farm advisors, fishermen, state and federal agencies, universities, and NGOs to share ideas and develop partnerships to tackle nutrient losses in the Mississippi and Atchafalaya River basin (MARB). Over 40 participants from 13 states heard presentations on state nutrient reduction strategy progress and Gulf Coast conservation research, and brainstormed solutions to increasing adoption of conservation practices. Also included in the summit was a field trip to the local shrimpers’ docks where attendees heard from a multi-generational shrimping family about local impacts from water quality degradation. Summit attendees were surveyed after the event. Ninety-seven percent of respondents strongly agreed or agreed that participating in the summit helped develop a greater appreciation for Gulf Coast impacts of upstream actions; 94% strongly agreed or agreed that the summit strengthened their learning networks among other farmers, farm advisors, and watershed practitioners. Discussion with fishermen and the importance of partnerships/working together were listed as the top two most important takeaways from the summit. Key quotes from attendees include the following:

“Hearing others’ progress always renews my motivation to make progress 

within my state.” 

“The numbers given by the commercial fisherman and the reduction of their 

catch were much more revealing than test or trials or studies.”

Future work from this project includes expanding our MARB Leaders Network and incorporating lessons learned into a new project focused on engaging farmers in local watershed leadership.