Nitrogen pollution of water may cause severe health problems. Nitrogen pollution also harms local waters in a watershed, leading to high concentrations of unwanted bacteria, algae, and plants that can collapse entire ecosystems. Often, frontline communities are the most affected.

BlueGAP will bring new solutions to nitrogen management by: a) providing information, b) expanding communication networks, c) fostering community action, d) changing  policy, and e) finding sources of financing. These leverage points were identified in a systems analysis of the Blue-Green economy during Phase I through a collaboration between scientists, engineers, and community organizers.

Pollution data and knowledge about impacts on health and the local economy are not easily accessible to people. Data on nitrogen loads in water are obtained differently by various government jurisdictions across the nation. For the general public, such data are challenging to comprehend. Opportunities exist to coalesce and account for missing data and to reduce confusion.

BlueGAP solves these problems by focusing on four objectives: 1. Advancing human-centered design of solutions to pollution. 2. Integrating storytelling with cutting edge scientific evidence to identify leverage points for action. 3. Creating inclusive educational materials to impact  nitrogen management and inform communities. 4. Establishing a sustainability plan for BlueGAP.

BlueGAP focuses on solving information problems in 3 sites at 3 scales: the massive Mississippi watershed, the medium-sized Tampa Bay watershed, and a small watershed in the US Virgin Islands. BlueGAP guides people to solutions by pairing stories of lived experiences of water pollution within a watershed with visualizations of water quality data, presenting short documentaries about Blue Economy “Champions” fighting to combat nitrogen pollution, sharing first-hand experiences of frontline communities, and providing resources on policy, law, financing, and science.