For the year of 2024, we are posting on our LinkedIn page the history of the Gulf of Mexico Alliance. From it’s beginnings in 2004, to today. Follow along on social, or save this news article. We will update it with social posts as we progress throughout the year.
20 years of GOMA: Our Origin Story
While we can’t claim to have been bitten by a radioactive spider like spiderman, one could say that we got bit by the collaboration bug. In 2003, the Pew Oceans Commission and the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy called for regional collaborations to protect and restore America’s oceans. A year later, the governors of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas established us to do just that. Fast forward 20 years later and four action plans and here we are, continuing to bring people together and do good things for the Gulf. Learn more about our history at https://gulfofmexicoalliance.org/about-us/alliance-timeline/
Workshops
Public input has been a part of who we are from the beginning. During our early formative years, it was recognized that citizen input is critical for identifying priority issues and affecting on-the-ground change.
To capture this input, a series of meetings were conducted that were open to the general public and hosted in 10 communities across the five Gulf States in 2005.
While the series was interrupted by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the Gulf States managed to conduct all eight workshops prior to the Action Plan’s release.
Input from these workshops is incorporated throughout the Action Plan and represents the opinions of homeowners, recreational fishermen, local leaders, scientists, and a variety of others dedicated to the environmental and economic health of the Gulf.
Citizens expressed concerns about water quality, red tide, bacteria tracking/monitoring, habitat loss, environmental education, the need for additional data, and more.
They also acknowledged the need for a “holistic look at the Gulf system” to evaluate cumulative impacts and recommended that a regional approach be taken to link pollution sources to negative impacts. Ultimately, the workshops demonstrated that there is a strong, united Gulf-wide community voice supporting efforts to address priority issues using a regional approach.
If you’d like to see more of what input was given, check out the Governor’s Action Plan I and look for the Gulf Coast Citizen Input logo.https://gulfofmexicoalliance.org/files/pdfs/governors-action-plans/governors_action_plan_i.pdf
Action Plan I
The first Governors’ Action Plan for Healthy and Resilient Coasts officially came out in March 2006. This three-year plan outlines 11 actions under five priority issues.
“The Governors’ Action Plan is intended to be a dynamic starting point for effective regional collaboration,” – stated in a letter signed by all five Gulf state governors.
Jim Connaughton, White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair also added, “The Action Plan firmly establishes a practical framework and guide for meaningful and sustained progress in our shared economic and ecological stewardship of the Gulf of Mexico region.”
State and federal agencies and other partners committed to working on these 11 actions and to achieving outcomes within the 36-month timeline.
The priority issues focused on included:
- Water quality for healthy beaches and shellfish beds included three actions: 1. Improving harmful algal bloom detection and forecasting; 2. Improving water quality management; and 3. Improving government efficiency in water quality monitoring.
- Wetland and coastal conservation and restoration included two actions: 1. streamlining coastal restoration and conservation efforts and 2. Increasing the safety of Gulf communities by better understanding the risks of local sea level rise, storm surge and subsidence.
- Environmental education included two actions: 1. Encourage local communities to protect the Gulf through education and 2. Conduct a public awareness campaign for the Gulf.
- Identification and characterization of Gulf habitats included one action: creating and providing access to interactive habitat maps.
- Reductions in nutrient inputs to coastal ecosystems, included three actions: 1. Increase regional coordination in the development of nutrient criteria; 2. implement nutrient reduction activities during Gulf recovery; and 3. Assert and aligned five Gulf State position on the need to address Gulf of Mexico hypoxia.
Detailed Action Blueprints are included in the plan along with a list of what outcomes will occur at the end of the 36-months.
An amazing 99% of the actions detailed in Action Plan I were completed by the end of the 3 years.
Some of the accomplishments included:
Coastal Ecosystem Learning Centers (CELCs) were established in each of the five Gulf States and Veracruz, Mexico.
A Regional Sediment Management Master Plan was drafted to provide a framework for better management of Gulf sediment resources facilitating a reduction in coastal erosion and storm damages, as well as the restoration of coastal habitats.
Bi-national workshops designed to standardize harmful algal bloom identification and field sampling methods were conducted in Texas, Florida, and Mexico.
An ecosystem data portal was established and was used by resource managers to evaluate habitat extent and changes over time.
A regional Nutrient Criteria Research Framework was developed that led to a better understanding of nutrient impacts to Gulf ecosystems, as well as a coordinated approach to managing them.
To read the full Action Plan I, visit our website at GulfofMexicoAlliance.org.
Continue to follow along all year on LinkedIn as we continue to explore the 20-year history of the Gulf of Mexico Alliance.
Action Plan II
The Governors’ Action Plan II for Healthy and Resilient Coasts was released in 2009. This five-year plan was more aggressive with solutions to address the challenges of the time, including sustaining Gulf economies, improving ecosystem health, mitigating the impacts of climate change, and improving water quality.
“With this plan, the Alliance will continue to improve the ecological and economic health of the Gulf region,” said White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy H. Sutley.
“Capitalizing on the momentum of the first Action Plan, this second Action Plan covering five years is more ambitious and addresses some of the most pressing issues affecting our region.” – stated in a letter signed by all five Gulf state governors.
The core goals of the 2006 Action Plan were to build partnerships and lay a foundation for a true regional approach. Action Plan II was a road map to achieve goals.
Four major challenges were selected including sustaining the Gulf economy, improving ecosystem health, mitigating the impacts of and adapting to climate changes, and mitigating harmful effects to coastal water quality.
Priority issues included:
Water Quality for Healthy Beaches and Seafood with goals of reducing risk of exposure to disease-causing pathogens, minimizing occurrence and effects of harmful algal blooms (HABs), identifying sources of mercury in Gulf seafood, and improving monitoring of Gulf water resources.
Habitat Conservation and Restoration with goals of restoring and conserving critical habitat, providing improved management tools, and developing and implementing an accurate tracking system to document gains and losses of Gulf habitats.
Ecosystems Integration and Assessment with goals of developing regional data systems, establishing strategic partnerships to fill environmental and ecological data gaps, and providing ecosystem decision support tools to address priority issues within the Gulf.
Reducing Nutrient Impacts to Coastal Ecosystems with goals of designing a process for comparing nutrient criteria, developing and implementing strategies that reduce nutrient inputs and hypoxia, establishing a way to reduce impacts to coastal ecosystems, and helping Gulf coastal communities better manage nutrient impacts.
Coastal Community Resilience with goals of helping coastal communities, ecosystems, and economies become more resilient; increasing the understanding of coastal hazards risks; incorporating state-of-the-art mitigation methods for reducing risks and enhancing resilience; and encouraging the adoption of new methods for risk mitigation and resilience.
Environmental Education with goals of continuing implementing environmental literacy with a focus on the Gulf, and promoting stewardship of the Gulf region.
In addition, Action Plan II supported the creation of a parallel Mexican Gulf of Mexico Alliance.
The best laid plans once again hit a snag when, less than a year after its issuance, the unthinkable happened: the explosion and oil spill associated with the Deepwater Horizon platform.
More on how that impacted Action Plan II will be detailed in the next post.
The Oil Spill
When the Governors’ Action Plan II was released in 2009, no one could have imagined what would happen only a year later. Communities were still recovering from storms like Katrina. But the authors of the Action Plan recalled one major lesson learned during the Action Plan I years: change is inevitable. The proof is in the language used in the guiding document:
“Since Action Plan II is designed to be a flexible document, with the ability to react to unforeseen challenges and opportunities, the Alliance hopes that the public will help to identify issues and concerns along the way.”
In April of 2010, the public wouldn’t have to help identify issues, because one of the biggest Gulf of Mexico environmental issues was making international news.
The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig operating approximately 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana experienced a catastrophic failure causing 11 men to lose their lives. In addition, over 130 million gallons of oil were released and one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history had begun.
Restoration immediately became one of the Gulf ’s largest challenges to date.
“The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill tested the strength of the Alliance, creating unprecedented challenges and opportunities to work together toward Gulf restoration” – stated in a letter signed by all five Gulf state governors for Action Plan III.
The Gulf of Mexico Alliance began administering a 10-year, $500 million oil spill research program known as the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative or GOMRI for short.
In an effort to ensure there were layers between the research and the BP funding, GOMRI worked on studying the environmental and public health impacts of the oil spill and GOMA was in charge of all the fiscal/management aspects.
GOMRI
Two weeks ago, we talked about how the Deepwater Horizon changed the course of our Governors’ Action Plan II. One of the biggest outcomes of the spill for us was the creation of the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GOMRI).
In May 2010, BP committed $500 million over a 10-year period to create a research program related to oil spills and dispersants and an independent research board would be appointed to oversee the signature research program.
Dr. Rita Colwell, former-director of the National Science Foundation, became GOMRI’s first Chair of the Research Board. Colwell had conducted research and written scientific publications on microbial degradation of oil. The governors of the five Gulf of Mexico states then added to the group by nominating two members per state. The board included science, public health, and research administration experts.
While the board was in charge of reviewing and selecting projects, the Gulf of Mexico Alliance worked as the funding administrator.
The ultimate goal of GOMRI was to improve society’s ability to understand, respond to, and mitigate the impacts of petroleum pollution and related stressors of the marine and coastal ecosystems. The first call to order was to work on rapid-response studies in the immediate aftermath of the DWH oil spill.
The group hosted three public meetings including one in Washington D.C. convened by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, one at Louisiana State University sponsored by NOAA: National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration and the Consortium for Ocean Leadership, and one in New Orleans, sponsored by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Sciences Engineering and Medicine.
Over 500 people participated in these meetings including representatives from major ocean research institutions and academic departments.
The GOMRI Research Board identified five research themes from the results of these meetings:
Physical distribution, dispersion, and dilution of oil and gas.
Chemical evolution and biological degradation of the petroleum/dispersant systems.
Environmental effects of the petroleum/dispersant system on the ecosystems and wildlife.
Technology developments for improved response, mitigation, detection and remediation associated with oil spills.
Impact of oil spills on public health.
By the end of GOMRI’s 10 year period, in 2020, the program involved nearly 4,500 researchers, and resulted in more than 1,700 scientific publications. To learn more about GOMRI, visit https://lnkd.in/eesfcB2K
Non-profit status and the Business Advisory Council
As the years ticked on, the Alliance became more formalized. In 2010, the Gulf of Mexico Alliance transformed from a loose network of partners to an official 501(c)3 non-profit organization. That same year, the group established a headquarters office on the central Gulf Coast in Mississippi. A year later, the Business Advisory Council was formed to build relationships with the diverse industries dependent on the resources and resilience of the Gulf of Mexico. Business Advisory Council members collaborate with team participants on priority issues and work to foster a shared stewardship of the Gulf. The Council remains active today, meeting in-person annually and meeting online every quarter. If your business would like to join, visit the join us page at https://gulfofmexicoalliance.org/get-involved/join-a-team/ or email Becky Ginn at .
Deepwater Horizon Project Tracker
In 2014, the Gulf of Mexico Alliance, along with partners The Trust for Public Land and Ducks Unlimited, debuted the Deepwater Horizon Project Tracker. This interactive website became the place to view and track restoration, research and recovery projects funded as a result of the 2010 disaster.
To date, it is the most comprehensive picture of the location, type, cost, funding sources, and scope of Gulf of Mexico oil spill-related projects. Each project snapshot includes a brief project description, a point of contact, and a link to access detailed project information.
Today, the DWHPT is funded by the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council and other settlement partners and The Trust for Public Land and Ducks Unlimited are still key partners, providing a team of technical experts in geospatial analysis and financial database management for the project. Learn more at
https://dwhprojecttracker.org/
The 10-year Report
The Gulf of Mexico Alliance celebrated 10 years officially in 2014. A lot happened in those 10 years worth celebrating. So the group began putting together a 10-year report. Completed in 2016, this report details the projects and accomplishments of the Alliance and provides a brief overview of the history of GOMA. At that time, a total of 65 organizations were participating in GOMA (it’s over 165 today 🤯). 148 projects were competed in the first 10 years too. Check out the publication on our website at the bottom of the page.
https://gulfofmexicoalliance.org/resources/publications/
Governors’ Action Plan III
Governors’ Action Plan III was released in 2016. This five-year plan was the first to include Data & Monitoring and Wildlife & Fisheries as priority issues, offering proof that the Alliance can restructure its priorities and organization to better serve the changing needs of the region.
In addition, three new cross-team initiatives were created: Ecosystem Services; Marine Debris; and Conservation, Restoration and Resilience Planning.
“This plan reinforces the Alliance’s commitment to effective regional collaboration and coordination, addressing issues common to all five Gulf States in a voluntary way” – stated in a letter signed by all five Gulf state governors.
“We greatly value the partnerships developed through the Gulf of Mexico Alliance. It is a truly unique organization in the region dedicated to the power of collaborative work to reach common goals. These collaborative efforts will continue to become even more important with time. We are glad to be a part of the Alliance since its beginning and as it embarks on this current Action Plan.” – Kristen Laursen, Gulf of Mexico Regional Coordinator National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Gulf Star is born
In 2016, the Gulf Star Program was launched. This unique public-private partnership provides funding for projects supporting healthy beaches, clean waters, productive ecosystems, and thriving coastal communities in the Gulf of Mexico region. All projects in the Gulf Star Program accomplish actions identified by the Alliance’s Priority Issue Teams and Cross-Team Initiatives in the Governors’ Action Plan for Healthy and Resilient Coasts.
Since its inception, Gulf Star has supported more than 83 projects for a total in $5.8 million in funding. To learn more about becoming a Gulf Star partner, contact Becky Ginn, GOMA Development Director .
COVID
2020 was shaping up to be a banner year for the Gulf of Mexico Alliance. The Gulf Star Program was gaining momentum. Our Teams were looking forward to meeting together and planning our next Governors’ Action Plan. The “Embrace the Gulf” education and awareness initiative was ramping up, including plans for in-person events across the region and a celebratory gala event.
Then, everything stopped in its tracks. In March 2020, COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic with shutdowns and emergency stay-at-home orders following shortly afterward. It was a scary and uncertain time. GOMA staff and our partners began working from home. And, for the first time ever, we made the decision to cancel our annual All Hands Meeting.
As a regional organization with experience collaborating across all sorts of boundaries, GOMA quickly pivoted to the virtual world of Zoom meetings and Teams chats. We jumped in with both feet and supported our partners by hosting workshops to share virtual meeting best practices. Most importantly, we found ways to bring our community together, like mailing our Alliance Coordination Team coozies that said, “I’d Rather be at All Hands” and hosting an online social.
While 2020 and 2021 didn’t look like we originally planned, we moved forward with a new vision of success. Our “Embrace the Gulf” initiative became a wildly successful social media campaign. The Alliance wrote, edited, and launched Governors’ Action Plan IV. We hosted countless virtual meetings, workshops, and events. GOMA also grew in ways we never imagined, with staff now working both in our headquarters office in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, and remotely across the region.
Follow along as we continue to explore the Alliance’s past as we celebrate 20 years of history.
Governors’ Action Plan IV
Governors’ Action Plan IV was released in 2021 and continues through 2026.
Action Plan IV continues previous work in the six main priority issues, but includes changes to two of the cross-team initiatives. Ecosystem Services Assessment became Human Benefits of Nature, and Conservation, Restoration, and Resilience Planning became Integrated Planning. With this plan set to expire in just two years, Gulf of Mexico Alliance teams will soon begin discussing what the next plan will look like.
“This Governors’ Action Plan IV for Healthy and Resilient Coasts is the fourth in a series of plans that provide a blueprint for addressing common issues in a voluntary and collaborative way.” – stated in a letter signed by all five Gulf state governors.
Embrace the Gulf
In 2020, the Alliance launched the Embrace the Gulf campaign, a year-long education and awareness effort developed by the Education & Engagement Team as a way to promote positive messages highlighting the vitality, sustainability, and productivity of the Gulf of Mexico.
Knowing that the best way to reach a broad audience across the five Gulf states would be to use the power of social media, the Alliance shared daily messages across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The initiative was extremely successful, engaging over 25,000 new followers.
Building on this success, the Alliance continued the initiative through 2021 with a new focus on improving the health of the Gulf by turning awareness into action. Weekly messages shared ways to volunteer, help wildlife, get outside, and more.
GOMCON
One of our biggest achievements in recent years has been the coordination of the Gulf of Mexico Conference (GOMCON), the biggest Gulf of Mexico focused conference in the nation. It wasn’t without a struggle. This combination of conferences (our All Hands meeting, the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill and Ecosystems Science (GoMOSES) Conference, and the triannual State of the Gulf Summit) was first scheduled for 2020. You can guess how that went; we ended up having to pivot to a four-hour virtual GOMCON in 2021. While the virtual meeting was a good preview of what was to come, in 2022, we were finally ready to host our first ever in-person GOMCON. Hosted in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, more than 800 people registered for the four day event which focused on everything Gulf of Mexico. Two years later, we hosted our second in-person GOMCON in Tampa, Florida, and had more than 1,000 attendees. This event occurs every two years and in between GOMCONs, we host our All Hands Meeting. Our next GOMCON (2026) is tentatively scheduled for Mobile, Alabama.
Regional Ocean Partnership
In 2022, the Gulf of Mexico Alliance officially became the Regional Ocean Partnership (ROPs) for the region. This federal authorization under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration designated the four existing ROPs and established governance structures and procedures to be used when new Partnerships are created.
The leaders of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation, Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA, Chair) and Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS, Ranking Member) led the charge in recognizing the value of regional collaboration.
The purpose of the authorization is to recognize ROPs as intergovernmental coordinators for shared priorities related to the collaborative management of oceans and coastal regions, thereby reducing duplication of efforts and maximizing opportunities to leverage support.
This measure provides provisions for supporting interagency collaboration around priorities in the region; implementing research, modeling, monitoring, data collection, and outreach projects that support the region’s priorities; and serving as a liaison with international counterparts as appropriate.
Three other ROPs currently exist in the North Atlantic, the Mid-Atlantic, and the West Coast.