WASHINGTON, DC -- In an effort to protect Narragansett Bay, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) today announced that the University of Rhode Island (URI) will receive over $728,000 to study hypoxia, or ocean "dead-zones." Hypoxia occurs when oxygen levels are depleted, killing fish and other aquatic animals. Hypoxic events are often caused by nutrient pollution from sewage released into the Bay and high water temperatures. Scientists at URI's Graduate School of Oceanography will use the federal grant to develop simulation models used to predict how ecosystems respond to hypoxia.

"Narragansett Bay is critical to our environment and our economy. I am pleased that the University of Rhode Island is receiving this federal funding to continue their efforts to study and protect the Bay," said Reed, a member of the Appropriations Committee who helped secure over $270,000 for URI in March 2008. "This federal investment will help researchers determine how Narragansett Bay is affected by these dead zones and develop strategies to prevent and control the problem."

This federal grant, awarded through the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), will support development of simulation models for predicting the distribution of hypoxia under a range of conditions such as nutrient release. Data will be collected to provide resource managers with the capability to better assess ecosystem responses to hypoxia and evaluate strategies for proposed nutrient control.

In 2003, an anoxic, or ‘no oxygen' event occurred in Greenwich Bay resulting in a large fish kill. In response, a state law was passed imposing limits on the largest wastewater treatment facilities discharging to or just upstream of the Bay.