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Sea Oat Planting GulfCorps members working on a Gulf restoration project. © John Stanmeyer

Stories in the Gulf of Mexico

Ten Years of Progress in the Gulf of Mexico

The lingering problems are solvable with continued restoration efforts.

Director of The Nature Conservancy in the Gulf of Mexico
Bob Bendick Director, Gulf of Mexico

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Ten years ago today on July 15, 2010, after 87 days and more than 200 million gallons of oil spilled, the Deepwater Horizon oil well was plugged, bringing an end to the first phase of one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history.

The capping of the spill brought relief to those who live along the Gulf and whose lives depend on its health. Finally, the process of looking forward, of overcoming the impacts of the spill, could begin. The settlement in 2016 of legal claims against BP for the spill then did something unprecedented in this country and perhaps the world. It set aside a large amount of money over an extended period of time for the restoration of an ecosystem of global importance. These funds do not need further appropriation and cannot be diverted for other purposes.

Ten Years After the BP Oil Spill (5:07) Watch to learn what TNC has been doing in the Gulf of Mexico in the decade since the BP oil spill in 2010.

Gulf of Mexico Restoration Success Stories

Over the past ten years we have seen the promise of recovery unfold in ways that are making a real difference in the human and natural communities of the Gulf of Mexico:

  • Large-scale coastal land acquisition like the purchase of the 17,000 acres Powderhorn Ranch on the Texas coast, the 20,000-acre Lake Wimico tract at the west end of Apalachicola Bay in Florida, land in Grand Bay Alabama and Mississippi that creates a 26,000-acre protected coastal corridor, continuation of conservation of land around Laguna Madre in South Texas, and large tracts along the Perdido River in Alabama.
  • The creation of three estuary programs by Florida panhandle counties and enhanced support of National Estuary Program planning such as in Mobile Bay.
  • Important steps to defend coastal Louisiana from erosion and land loss like the reconstruction of barrier islands and funding for the Maurepas Swamp river diversion.
  • Strengthening of coastal features like the Lightning Point project in Bayou LaBatre, Alabama and Shamrock Island, Texas.
  • Construction of oyster reefs in Matagorda, Galveston, Pensacola, Apalachicola, and St Louis Bays, Calcasieu Lake and Florida’s Suwannee River estuary.
  • Creation of GulfCorps to involve disadvantaged young people in meaningful Gulf restoration in all five Gulf states.
  • Restoration of forests in important Gulf watersheds such as in the Apalachicola Basin.
  • Acquisition and improvement of many access points to the shore for citizens of and visitors to enjoy the Gulf.
Powderhorn Ranch, Texas
Powderhorn Ranch, Texas The 17,351-acre Powderhorn Ranch in Calhoun County is one of the few remaining large tracts of intact native coastal prairie and wetlands on the Texas coast. © Jerod Foster
Lightning Point
Lightning Point Restoration work at Lightning Point in Bayou La Batre, Alabama. © Hunter Nichols
Powderhorn Ranch, Texas The 17,351-acre Powderhorn Ranch in Calhoun County is one of the few remaining large tracts of intact native coastal prairie and wetlands on the Texas coast. © Jerod Foster
Lightning Point Restoration work at Lightning Point in Bayou La Batre, Alabama. © Hunter Nichols

A Vision of Our Future Gulf

We at The Nature Conservancy are excited about how far recovery has come, but even more so about the promise of what is ahead of us. We believe that with the continuation of a concerted and coordinated Gulf restoration effort a future Gulf of Mexico can look like this:

  • A pattern of development is created where, while large cities may be protected by seawalls and floodgate but in most places built-up areas are integrated with restored natural features and coastal open space designed to reduce the impacts of rising seas and storms. More barrier islands and beaches are restored as parks with dunes and forests that protect the mainland from storm surge.
  • Coastal wildlife refuges and other public lands extend inland to enable marsh migration as an integral part of coastal land protection.
Aerial view of wetlands and marshlands that comprise the Mississippi River delta on the Louisiana Gulf Coast
Louisiana Gulf Coast marshes Aerial view of wetlands and marshlands that comprise the Mississippi River delta on the Louisiana Gulf Coast © Bridget Besaw
  • Millions of acres of floodplains along the Mississippi and other Gulf rivers that are too wet for reliable agriculture are restored to bottomland forests to hold floodwaters and remove nutrients.
  • The Mississippi River Delta has more open water to the south, but the remaining wetlands are more durable having benefitted from additional sediment from river diversions.
  • A new generation of oyster reefs is thriving in the Gulf’s estuaries which then have clearer water and much more seagrass. Oystermen harvest oysters from some reefs and leave others to produce young oysters and to support thriving populations of crabs and fish. In some bays there are rows of oyster cages from an expanded aquaculture industry.
  • Large schools of baitfish have returned to the bays and nearshore waters--increased  by the renewal of oyster reefs, by migratory fish passage on the Alabama and Apalachicola Rivers, and by improved fisheries management.
  • And, the people of the Gulf continue to work and live along its shores in ways that are safer from storms but where they can still enjoy the grace and beauty of the Gulf region.
GulfCorps members after their orientation retreat.
GulfCorps members GulfCorps members after their orientation retreat. © Mike Dumas/TNC

This good future Gulf is achievable if the people of the Gulf region take ownership of both its problems and its great potential, if they recognize the full importance of nature to human well-being, and if those of us working on Gulf restoration today can successfully pass along care of the Gulf’s resources to a new, diverse and energetic generation of Gulf stewards.

Director of The Nature Conservancy in the Gulf of Mexico

Bob Bendick is director of The Nature Conservancy in the Gulf of Mexico. Learn about Bob’s background and expertise.

More About Bob Bendick