The LAC DU flambeau band of lake superior chippewa indians will receive funding through the infrastructure investment and jobs act (IIJA) (PL 117-58)

Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 awarded the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians $500,000 under the Non-State Member Support for the Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan (CFDA 66.487) on January 1, 2026, to develop and update nutrient reduction strategies and incorporate them into water resource management plans and permitting processes.

The recipient will update four foundational management documents—water monitoring strategy, nonpoint source assessment, nonpoint source management program, and wetland management plan—to embed nutrient reduction strategies and climate adaptation actions. The tribe will continue its existing water quality monitoring program and implement nutrient reduction strategies through shoreline, dredge-and-fill, and land-use permitting. A nutrient reduction demonstration project and programmatic capacity support complete the scope. Water quality data compiled through monitoring activities will feed into the tribe's Tribal Water Quality Assessment Report to evaluate the effectiveness of nutrient reduction efforts and inform future management decisions.

Performance occurs on the Lac du Flambeau Reservation in Park Falls, Wisconsin. The period of performance runs through January 1, 2030. The funding derives from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act appropriation to support water quality actions that reduce nutrient loading in the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River basin and shrink the hypoxic zone in the northern Gulf. No sub-recipients are included in this award.

This project sets forth the capacity and planning needed to identify effective nutrient reduction strategies, and incorporate these strategies into management practices and plans, and respond to increases in development and nutrient stressors. This project builds on the adaptation work completed in 2020 and increases capacity to identify nutrient reduction strategies and incorporate these strategies into plans, monitoring strategies, and management operations, and regulations. Activities:task 1. Update/develop nutrient reduction strategies and incorporate nutrient reduction planning and strategies into plans and program operations task 2. Continue existing water quality monitoring program and implement nutrient reduction strategies in shoreline, dredge and fill, and land use permitting task 3. Support programmatic capacity to complete workplan task 4: nutrient reduction demonstration project subrecipient:no subawards are included in this assistance agreement.outcomes:task 1: the following plans will be updated with the nutrient reduction strategies and climate adaptation actions by the water resource staff and contractor: water monitoring strategy, nonpoint source assessment , nonpoint source management program, wetland management. By having updated plans that include nutrient reduction strategies and climate adaptation actions will provide water resource staff with a comprehensive management framework to help reduce nutrients flowing downstream. Task 2: water quality data that can be compiled into the tribal water quality assessment report. The data compiled can be utilized to analyze the nutrient reduction efforts within the work plan. Incorporating nutrient reduction strategies into the LUA process will provide information at the beginning of the project phases rather than retroactively. This approach will limit the number of mitigation projects conducted in the future. Task 3: this project will support a hydrologist at 50% and a water resource program manager at 50% for four years. Task 4: completion of one nutrient reduction project that will be reported in the tribal water quality assessment report and the final report for the gulf hypoxia grant. This will contribute to reduction of nutrient inputs into the corresponding watershed of project area. The intended beneficiaries are the residents of the LAC DU flambeau territory.