Ten Years of Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Projects Since the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
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In 2020, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) Gulf Research Program created the Committee on Long-Term Environmental Trends in the Gulf of Mexico. Our committee was tasked to consider the synthesis of additive, synergistic, and antagonistic cumulative effects resulting from ecosystem restoration following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill. This anticipated multidecadal restoration was made possible by dedicated settlement monies, distributed over the past decade as governed by the RESTORE Act of 2012 and other legal vehicles, which are today approaching one-half spent or committed. Thus, in our view, it is important to take stock of progress and, looking forward, to make recommendations regarding strategies for evaluation and management.