[From the U.S. Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov]











                                  A Sped                  h Anniversary Report
                        Estuaries of the United States
                              Vital Statistics of a National Resource Base























                                         U. S. Departmem of Commerce
                                      -ional Oceanic and Atmospheric AdministratIO11
                                                                          I I
                                               National Occan Service








                                              NOAA's National Estuarine Inventory


                                The National Estuarine Inventory (NEI) is a series of activities within the Office of
                                Oceanography and Marine Assessment of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
                                Administration (NOAA), to define and characterize the Nation's estuarine resource
                                base and develop a national estuarine assessment capability. NOAA began the NEI
                                in 1983 because no comprehensive inventory of the Nation's estuaries or their
                                resources existed, despite increased conflicting demands forthe goods and services
                                they provide: habitat for fish and wildlife, food, areas for recreation, waste disposal,
                                energy, and transportation. Four major NEI atlases, six national data bases, and
                                numerous technical reports, including a Supplement Series, containing thematic
                                information about the Nation's estuaries, have been produced.

                                The first volume of the National Estuarine Inventory data atlas series was completed
                                in November 1985. This atlas identified 92 of the most important estuaries of the
                                contiguous U.S., specified their fundamental physical and hydrologic characteris-
                                tics, and defined consistently-cle rived spatial boundaries for each estuary. This
                                volume established the NOAA framework for data collection and analysis of the
                                Nation's estuarine resource base. Othervolumes in the atlas series have since been
                                produced on land use and population, wetlands, and outdoor public recreation
                                facilities. Data from other strategic assessment projects have been adapted to the
                                NEI framework to characterize important resource themes. Projects on classified
                                shellfishing waters, distribution of fishes and invertebrates, and pollutant suscepti-
                                bility are a few examples.

                                Development of the data bases and assessment capabilities of the NEI is a dynamic
                                and evolOng: process.      NOAA continues -.to evaluate the scale and scope of
                                information in the NEI and to make the necessary additions and refinements to
                                improve its capability to assess the Nation's estuaries. The information now
                                assembled in the NEI can be used for comparisons, ranking, and other analyses
                                related to the resources, environmental quality, and economic values among the
                                Nation's estuaries.












                               A Special NOAA 20th Anniversary Report
                      Estuaries of the United States

                           Vital Statistics of a National Resource Base


                                        Strategic Assessment Branch
                                        Ocean Assessments Division
                                Office of Oceanography and Marine Assessment
                                          National Ocean Service
                             National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
                                         6001 Executive Boulevard
                                         Rockville, Maryland 20852




                                                               ;0 A-4.19doza





                                                   PIT








                                                    ENWT OF

                                               October 1990


                                           US  Department of commerce
                                           NOAA Coastal Services center Library
                                           @234 South Hobson Avenue
                                           Charleston, Sc 29405-2413









                                 Report Team                                     Anthony S. Pait, and Eileen F. Lavin,
                                                                                 from SAB's National Coastal Pollutant
                                 Strategic Assessment Branch                     Discharge Inventory Team, assisted
                                 Ocean Assessments Division                      by providing data for numbers and types
                                 Office of Oceanography and Marine               of point sources of pollution, the
                                 Assessment                                      amounts of pesticides and fertilizers
                                 National Ocean Service                          applied, and land use information for
                                 National Oceanic and Atmospheric                selected estuaries. Data on shellfish
                                 Administration                                  landings and closures were provided
                                 Rockville, MD                                   by Eric A. Slaughter and Dorothy L.
                                                                                 Leonard, members of SAB's Shellfish
                                 Daniel J. Basta                                 Team. Tony A. Lowery, a member of
                                 Maureen A. Warren                               the Estuarine Living Marine Resources
                                 Timothy R. Goodspeed                            Team, assembled the commercial fish-
                                                                                 eries landings data used in Table 2.
                                 Carol M. Blackwell                              Barbara L. McDonald, from the Ocean
                                 Thomas J. Culliton                              Resource Economics Team, provided
                                 John J. McDonough III                           private coastal recreation information.
                                 Mitchell J. Katz
                                 Davida G. Remer                                 Charles N. Ehler, Thomas F. LaPointe,
                                 John Paul Tolson                                Don W. Field, Mark E. Monaco, and
                                 C. John Klein                                   Harold M. Stanford extensively re-
                                 S. Paul Orlando, Jr.                            viewed drafts of the report. Their careful
                                 David M. Loft                                   examination of the text and overall lay-
                                                                                 out and design helped make this report
                                                                                 a more readable and usable document.
                                 Acknowledgments                                 The Report Team is especially grateful
                                                                                 to Kim Keeter Scott for providing edi-
                                 This report is a result of the dedication       torial support throughout this effort.
                                 and cooperation of many individuals in
                                 NOAA's Strategic Assessment Program
                                 who have worked on the National Estua-
                                 rine Inventory since 1984. A multi-
                                 disciplinary team including geographers,
                                 engineers, and scientists organized and
                                 distilled the information presented. Some
                                 of those who assisted in this effort are not
                                 listed above. Farzad Shirzad and David
                                 A. Bontempo, members of the Strategic
                                 Assessment Branch's (SAB) Coastal and
                                 Estuarine Processes Team, helped or-
                                 ganize the physical and hydrologic fea-
                                 tures information. Daniel R.G. Farrow,








                                                                                                   Estuaries of the United States

                                   Introduction                                         Society places a high value on estuarine
                                                                                        areas as places for living, working, and
                                   This report describes briefly the                    recreating. It demands that estuaries
                                   Nation's estuarine resource base. It                 provide cooling waters for industry and
                                   updates information presented in a                   energy production, accommodate the
                                   number of previous NOAA reports                      needs of large ships and tanker traffic,
                                   and atlases developed through its                    sacrifice wetland and bottom habitat to
                                   National Estuarine Inventory (NEI)                   supply space for coastal development,
                                   program, characterizing the Nation's                 and filter pollutants from the Nation's
                                   estuaries.                                           rivers and streams into coastal waters.
                                                                                        Estuarine areas are among the most
                                   Estuaries,   among the most productive               densely populated and heavily used in
                                   natural systems, are important features              the Nation; an estimated 45 percent of
                                   of coastal regions, especially along the             the U.S. population now lives within these
                                   Atlantic Coast and the Gulf of Mexico.               areas (Culliton et al., 1990).
                                   They form a transition zone between
                                   freshwater and marine ecosystems.                    In spite of their high value, intense use,
                                                                                        and frequent overuse, estuaries only
                                   Estuaries are most commonly defined                  recently have been recognized as a
                                   as semi-enclosed coastal bodies of wa-               uniqueand important depleted resource
                                   ter having a free          Estuaries are most commonly defined as               base of national
                                   connection with            semi-enciosed coastal bodies of water hav-           significance.
                                   the open sea and           ing a free connection with the open sea and          Major oil spills,
                                   within which sea-          withinwhich seawater is diluted measurably           shellfish bed clo-
                                   water is diluted           by freshwater from land drainage.                    sures, and habitat
                                   measurably by              Bays are semi-enclosed areas connected               losses have in-
                                   freshwater from            with the open ocean in away that moderates           creased aware-
                                   land      drainage                                                              ness of the declin-
                                   (Pritchard, 1967).         and controls their circulation, producing an         ing quality of the
                                                              environment and ecosystem different from
                                   The important role         adjacent waters. They exhibit many estua-            Nation's estuar-
                                   estuaries play in          rine characteristics and processes.                  ies. Because of
                                   sustaining the             "....Because many characteristic features of         their importance to
                                   health and abun-           estuaries extend into the coastal areas be-          both economic
                                   dance of marine            yond their mouths    ..... the field of estuarine    development and
                                   fishes, shellfish,         oceanography is often considered to include          ecological pro-
                                   and birds has long         the study of some waters which are not               cesses, estuaries
                                   been recognized.           strictly, by the above definition, estuaries."       are among the
                                   Estuaries are im-          (Dyer, 1977).                                        Nation's        most
                                   portant coastal            In this report, selected bays, sounds, and           highly stressed
                                   habitat, particu-          other coastal waters are included as "estu-          natural systems.
                                   larly during early         aries."                                              As d mands for
                                   life stages of many                                                             increased use of
                                   animals. The freshwater and nutrients                estuarine resources continue, so will
                                   they provide to coastal areas are criti-             conflicts among competing users of this
                                 Ically important to living resources.                  important national resource base.








                                     Estuaries of the United States

                                     Unlike other resources, no Federal pro-              Most decisionmakers and scientists
                                     gram is dedicated to developing a com-               continue to address selected estuaries
                                     prehensive and consistent national policy            on an individual basis only, with little or
                                     on the use and management of estuar-                 no directed, comprehensive national
                                     ies. Current Federal legislation (includ-            framework. Without a comprehensive
                                     ing the Rivers and Harbors Act; Coastal              national framework and data base, the
                                     Zone Management Act; Marine Protec-                  assessment and        comparison of estu-
                                     tion, Research, and Sanctuaries Act;                 arine conditions and development of
                                     Clean Water Act;        and Safe Drinking            effective national     policies to promote
                                     Water Act) only                                                                the long-term bal-
                                     partially or indi-         When physical features (volume, freshwa-            ance between de-
                                     rectly affects how         ter inflow, and water surface area) only are        velopment and
                                     the Nation's estu-         considered, a small number (11) of large            protection are not
                                     aries are used.            estuaries and bays accounts for the major-          possible.
                                                                ity of the Nation's resource base. Chesa-
                                     In 1987, Congress          peake Bay, Puget Sound, Albemarle/                  This report pre-
                                     established the            Pamlico Sound, and Long Island Sound are            sents information,
                                     National Estuary           most prominent.                                     primarily from ex-
                                     Program (NEP)              Estuaries in the North Atlantic contain the         isting sources, on
                                     under the jurisdic-        smallestwater surface area among regions,           the physical and
                                     tion of the U.S. En-       are the deepest, receive the least freshwa-         hydrologic fea-
                                     vironmental Pro-           ter inflow, and are dominated by tidal forces.      tures, population
                                     tection Agency.            Estuaries in the Middle Atlantic, e.g.,             and land use, wet-
                                     The program was            Chesapeake Bay and Long Island Sound,               lands, and se-
                                     established         to     are the most susceptible to pollutant retention     lected economic
                                     identify the prob-         because of their relatively large volumes,          characteristics of
                                     able cause of ma-          moderate to low freshwater inflow, and low          102 estuaries that
                                                                tidalexchange.
                                     jor environmental                                                              describes          the
                                     problems in estu-                                                              Nation's estuarine
                                     aries of national significance and to                resourcebase. WNe the NEI currently
                                     promote and sustain long-term state and              is limited to the contiguous U.S., estuar-
                                     local commitments to solving these prob-             ies in Alaska and other coastal regions
                                     lems. The program is also intended to                will be added as resources permit. Some
                                     generate meaningful public involvement               estuaries included do not fit the tradi-
                                     and participation; focus existing regula-            tional definition of an estuary, such as
                                     tory, institutional, and financial resources         Cape Cod, Monterey, Santa Monica,
                                     on identifying problems; and to encour-              and San Pedro bays. These "coastal
                                     age innovative management approaches.                bays" are semi-enclosed areas con-
                                     The NEP currently includes 17 estuaries              nected with the open ocean in a way that
                                     (identified in Appendix B) selected to               moderates and controls their circula-
                                     reflect specific regional problems, as well          tion, producing an environment and
                                     as problems common to all the Nation's               ecosystem different from adjacent wa-
                                     estuaries.                                           ters. In general, they illustrate on a large
                                                                                          scale manyestuarine characteristics and
                                                                                          processes.


                                     2








                                                                                                Estuaries of the United States

                                 Although the information presented is                age area, and comprising a significant
                                 only a sample of that available in NOAA's            percentage of either freshwater inflow
                                 NEI data base, it nevertheless sets the              or water surface area.
                                 nationwide context in which all estuaries
                                 may be considered. It enables a number               Estuarine and Fluvial Drainage Ar-
                                 of simple rankings to be made of the                 eas.    An estuarine drainage area or
                                 estuaries according to some of their most            EDA is the land and water component of
                                 fundamental and important characteris-               a watershed that drains directly into
                                 tics, and suggests those estuaries that              estuarine waters (NOAA, 1985). EDAs
                                 may be most sensitive or most durable to             are defined for all estuaries in the inven-
                                 the stresses society has placed on this              tory. The EDAwas established by NOAA
                                 important resource base.                             to provide a spatial framework for orga-
                                                                                      nizing information within the NEI. The
                                  Physical and Hydrologic                             assumption is that those natural pro-
                                  Features                                            cesses and human activities in close
                                                                                      proximity to estuarine waters generally
                                                                                                                affect them the
                                 Some of the most           Although estuaries in     the South Atlantic        most.     In most
                                 important factors          contain the smallest volume among regions,          cases, EDAs co-
                                 determining how            their relatively shallow depths support ex-         incide with hydro-
                                 estuaries work are         tensive wetlands, second only to the Gulf of        logic cataloging
                                 their physical and         Mexico. Albemarle/Pamlico Sounds is by              units of the U.S.
                                 hydrologic fea-            far the largest estuary in this region.             Geological Survey
                                 tures. These in-           Estuaries in the Gulf of Mexico contain the         (USGS). An EDA
                                 clude estuarine            greatest amount of water surface area, are          includes all or part
                                 and fluvial drain-         the most shallow overall, and receive the           of the cataloging
                                 age areas, water           largest freshwater inflow among regions,            unit containing the
                                 surface area, vol-         even when the Mississippi River is not con-         most upstream
                                 ume, tidal range,          sidered. As a result, they support the largest      extent of tidal in-
                                 salinity regime,           wetlands area in the Nation and are the             fluence. Depend-
                                 and freshwater             least susceptible to pollutant retention.           ing on the com-
                                 inflow. Together,          Estuaries along the Pacific Coast are rela-         plexity of coastal
                                 these characteris-         tively small compared to other regions.             drainage patterns,
                                 tics help define the       Exceptions are Puget Sound, which ac-               certain cataloging
                                 ecological pro-            counts for almost 60 percent of estuarine           units were modi-
                                 cesses and habi-           volume and 40 percent of water surface              fied to eliminate
                                 tats within an es-         area in the region; and the Columbia River,         the portion of the
                                 tuary and deter-           which accounts for almost 60 percent of the         drainage area not
                                 mine how human             freshwater inflow.                                  draining directlyto
                                 activities affect an                                                           estuarine waters.
                                 estuary's overall    condition. The "vital           Figure 1 shows the distribution and ex-
                                 statistics" described below are used                 tent of EDAs currently included in the
                                 throughout this report. Note that sub-               NEI. Appendix A shows the EDA and
                                 estuaries are portions of a large estu-              fluvial drainage areas for selected estu-
                                 ary having definable sub-basin drain-                aries.

                                                                                                                                3




















                                                                                                                                                                                                -n    I-Tj


                                                                                                                                                              Nort                              (D
                                                                                                                                                              Atlan@tic
                                                                                                                                                                               Maine
                               Washington                                                                                                                    Ne
                                                                                                                                                              w                                 rn
                                                                                                                                                            Hampshire
                                                                                                                                                                                                      Cb

                                                                                                                                                  Massachusetts                                 :z
                                                                                                                                                                                                (b
                               Oregon
                                                                                                                                                                                                      CL
                                                                                                                           Middle                                                                     Co
                                                                                                                                                                                                4     a;
                                                                                                                           Atianti             New York          Connecticut@                   (I)

                                       Pacific
                                                                                                                                         Pennsylvania                 Rhode
                                                                                                                                                                      Island
                                                                                                                              Marylan                         New Jersey
                                                                                                                                                           Delaware


                                California                                                                                          Virginia

                                                                              Gulf of Mexico                                        North
                                                                                                          M                         Carolina


                                                                                                                         Georgia
                                                                                                            Alabama                         South
                                                                        Texas                                                               Carolina


                                                                                                                                             South
                                       PaC .. C
                    '(Callfo@r,nla                                                                          Ississippi

                                                                                                Louisiana                                    Atlantic




                                                                                                                                       Florida








                                                                                                                                                                                Estuaries of the United States

                                                             The extent to which the watershed of an                                                          land. Consequently, estuaries with large
                                                             estuary is contained within an EDA de-                                                           freshwater inflow, such as the Missis-
                                                             termines the degree to which actions                                                             sippi and Columbia rivers, Chesapeake
                                                             taken in close proximity to an estuary                                                           and Delaware bays, and Albemarle/
                                                             may effect its overall quality. For ex-                                                          Pamlico and Mississippi sounds, receive
                                                             ample, for many estuaries, especially                                                            significant contaminant inputs from up-
                                                             those with small watersheds along the                                                            stream agricultural runoff and municipal
                                                             Atlantic and Pacific coasts, the EDA                                                             and industrial facilities.
                                                             comprises the entire watershed. For
                                                             estuaries with watersheds that have                                                              Estuarine Water Surface Area. Es-
                                                             large inlandfluvial areasoutsideof EDAs,                                                         tuarine water surface area i's approxi-
                                                             actions taken within EDAs may have                                                               mated at mean tide level. It is needed to
                                                             little impact, depending on the problem                                                          estimate an estuary's volume, flushing
                                                             of concern.                    For example, while the                                            rate, and pollutant susceptibility. Water
                                                             Mississippi and Columbia rivers drain                                                            surface areas range from less than one
                                                             huge inland areas, their EDAs comprise                                                           square mile for small estuaries along
                                                             only a small fraction of their watersheds.                                                       the Pacific Coast to nearly 4,000 square
                                                             Estuarine drainage areas range in size                                                           miles for Chesapeake Bay. The 31
                                                             from 14 square miles (Netarts Bay) to                                                            estuaries in the Gulf of Mexico contain
                                                             over 21,000 square miles (Chesapeake                                                             nearly 12,000 square miles of water
                                                             Bay). Table 1 summarizes selected                                                                surface. No single estuary in this region
                                                             characteristics of the Nation's estuar-                                                          accounts for more than 20 percent of
                                                             ies.                                                                                             this total. In contrast, the 28 estuaries
                                                                                                                                                              on the Pacific Coast have about 2,400
                                                             Fluvial drainage areas or FDAs are the                                                           square miles of water surface area, over
                                                             land and freshwater portions of water-                                                           half in Puget Sound and San Francisco
                                                             sheds upstream of estuarine drainage                                                             Bay.
                                                             areas. FDAs coincide with hydrologic
                                                             cataloging units of the USGS and in-                                                             Estuarine Volume. The volume of an
                                                             clude a majority of the Nation's hinter-                                                         estuary helps determine its ability to

                                                             Table 1. Summary of Selected Characteristics of the Nation's Estuaries

                                                                                                   PHYSICAL and HYDROLOGIC FEATURES                       NATURAL RESOURCES                            ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES

                                                                                                                                                                   Classified Shellfi.h                                    Point Sources
                                                                                                                                                                          Waters                       La    so
                                                                                                                                                                     (1 Dos rri.)                      (% of               of Poilltio,
                                                                                                                                                                                                                           (10

                                                                 Region                                                                                               Jr,

                                                             North Atlantic         23            36        2        48         65       4           12       10      12        211          7         7         2         1          3

                                                             Middle Atlantic        48          123         7        20       172        6           35       63      74        822          19        27        18        9          10

                                                             South Atlantic         55          148         4        12       158        2           92       30      40        104          4         22        4         8          3

                                                             Gulf of Mexico         96       1,562          12       8        970        3       166          38      88        122          5         30        20        13         4

                                                             Pacific                38          362         2        37       449        9           18       1           5     529          12        11        7         3          7
                                                             INational             260       2,231          27       23     1,814       24       323       142       219        309          9         23        51        34         27
                                                             Note: All values are rounded.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           5








                                   Estuaries of the United States

                                   dilute pollutants. When volume is used            Of particular concern are wetlands and
                                   in conjunction with freshwater inflow and         fisheries, especially shellfishing.
                                   the portion of total volume that is fresh-
                                   water, the susceptibility of an estuary to        Wetlands. Wetlands are a vital compo-
                                   concentrate pollutants can be assessed.           nent of the Nation's estuarine resource
                                                                                     base. They are unique areas between
                                   Freshwater Inflow. Freshwater inflow              terrestrial and aquatic systems that pro-
                                   is a major determinant of the physical,           vide critical habitat for fish, shellfish and
                                   chemical, and biological characteristics          wildlife; filter and process residential, ag-
                                   of most estuaries. It affects the concen-         ricultural, and industrial wastes; and buffer
                                   tration and retention of pollutants, the          coastal areas against storm and wave
                                   distribution of salinity, and the stratifica-     damage. Wetlands also generate rev-
                                   tion of fresh and salt water within an            enue and provide employment from rec-
                                   estuary.   Freshwater inflow statistics           reational activities such as fishing and
                                   were estimated for gaged and ungaged              hunting.
                                   areas of an estuary's watershed. For
                                   gaged areas, data were compiled from              The Nation's estuaries presently con-
                                   USGS streamflowgage records (USGS,                tain over 32,000 square miles of wet-
                                   1990) and from records of significant             lands (NOAA, 1990a), about 12 percent
                                   flow diversions not accounted for in the          of the total estuarine drainage area.
                                   USGS data. For ungaged areas, NOAA                Despite their apparent abundance, wet-
                                   precipitation data were used to estimate          lands are disappearing rapidly in many
                                   freshwater runoff and direct precipita-           areas due to urbanization, agriculture,
                                   tion to an estuary.                               hydrocarbon exploration, shoreline ero-
                                                                                     sion, and other factors. Between the
                                   Fifty-three percent  of all freshwater in-        mid-1950s and the late 1970s, over
                                   flow into the Nation's estuaries is dis-          17,000 square miles of wetlands have
                                   charged into the Gulf of Mexico (nearly           been lost in inland and coastal areas
                                   one million cubic feet per second).               throughout the Nation due to human
                                   However, over halt of the inflow into the         activity and natural processes (Frayer et
                                   Gulf comes from the Mississippi and               al., 1983).
                                   Atchafalaya rivers. The amount dis-
                                   charged into the estuaries of the Gulf of         Estuarine and coastal wetlands alone
                                   Mexico is more than twice that dis-               are decreasing nationally by an average
                                   charged into estuaries along the Pacific          of 31 square miles peryear (Tiner, 1987).
                                   or Atlantic coasts.                               Chesapeake Bay, for example, which
                                                                                     has over 1,500 square miles of wetlands
                                   Natural Resources                                 (Reyer et al -, 1 990a), lost approxi mately
                                                                                     six percent of its coastal wetlands an-
                                   Estuaries provide the Nation with highly          nually between 1955 and 1980 (Tiner,
                                   productive habitats and important living          1987).
                                   resources. Intensive use of these eco-
                                   systems for industrial, residential, and          A major concern over wetland losses is
                                   recreational activities has had adverse           the long-term impact on the many spe-
                                   effects on many estuarine resources.              cies of fish and shellfish that depend on

                                   6









                                                                                                           Estuaries of the United States

                                     these habitats. Wetland habitat losses                   and management. However, these ac-
                                     can translate into economic losses that                  quisitions represent only a fraction of
                                     affect entire regions. Estimates of the                  the privately-owned land base. For ev-
                                     value of coastal wetlands to commercial                  ery square mile of privately-owned
                                     and recreational fisheries may range                     coastal conservation land, another 200
                                     from about $2,200 per acre along the                     square miles of privately-owned land
                                     Pacific Coast, to almost $10,000 per                     remain unprotected, either being used
                                     acre along parts of the Florida coast                    or available for development (NOAA,
                                     (Bell, 1989).                                            1990b).

                                     In addition to wetland loss, rising devel-               Fisheries. Estuaries provide food, ref-
                                     opment costs and the demand for wa-                      uge from predation, and habitat for a
                                     terfront property promote increased                      wide variety of fishes and invertebrates.
                                     competition for limited space in estua-                  Many of these species are economically
                                     rine and coastal areas. This, combined                   important and use various estuarine
                                     with industrial pressures and natural                    habitats to complete their life cycle.
                                     stresses, makes wetland preservation a                   Estuaries are especially important as
                                     more important issue than ever before.                   nursery areas for many species during
                                                                                              their early and juvenile life stages. As a
                                     Recognizing the need to preserve                         result, the economic viability of many of
                                     coastal ecosystems, private and non-                     the Nation's commercial and recreational
                                     profit conservation organizations have                   fisheries is also estuarine dependent.
                                     been active in coastal land acquisition

                                     Table 2. Economic Value of Selected, Commercially Important Estuarine-
                                                 Dependent Fisheries, 1989 (millions of dollars)

                                                                   FISHES                          INVERTEBRATES



                                        Region                                          19

                                     North Atlantic       0        <1      4       8       0       1       3       0     13     250a
                                       Rank                        40      18     13       -       28      19      -       8      -

                                     Middle Atlantic      0        1       18      0    42         22      26      0       7    500a
                                       Rank               -        31      9       -       2       7       6       -      14      -

                                     South Atlantic       0        2       11    54     18         3       12      0       0    169
                                       Pank               -        16      6       1       2       12      5       -       -      -

                                     Gulf of Mexico       0        52      <1   374     24         41      <1      0       0    648
                                       Rank               -        2       26      1       4       3       30      -       -      -
                                     Pacific b           84        0       0       0       0       16      4     37        0    337
                                       Rank               1        -       -       -       -       5       14      2       -      -

                                     Total               84        55      33   436     84         83      45    37      20    1,904

                                     Note: All values are rounded. Rank indicates rank among all commercial fisheries in region.
                                     a. Values are estimated.
                                     b. Does not include Alaska fisheries values.
                                     -Source: NOAA, 199of, and unpublished 1989 statistics








                                  Estuaries of the United States

                                  Table 2 shows the value and rank of             by NOAA indicates that urban stormwater
                                  commercially important "estuarine-              runoff, sewage treatment plant effluent,
                                  dependent" species by region. Estua-            agricultural runoff, and increased boat-
                                  rine-dependent fisheries are among the          ing activity are the primary causes of
                                  most valuable within regions and across         harvest restrictions in most areas of the
                                  the Nation. For example, the species            Nation (NOAA, 1 990c).
                                  comprising the top four fisheries in the
                                  Gulf of Mexico (shrimp, menhaden, oys-          In 1985, almost 22,000 square miles of
                                  ter, and blue crab) use estuaries exten-        estuarine waters were classified as
                                  sively. The first, second, fifth, and sixth     shellfish harvest areas (Broutman and
                                  most valuable South Atlantic fisheries          Leonard, 1988; Leonard et al.,1989;
                                  (shrimp, blue crab, hard clam, and sum-         Leonard and Slaughter, 1990). How-
                                  mer flounder) are also estuarine depen-         ever, many areas were restricted for
                                  dent. In the North Atlantic, the eighth         harvesting at certain times of the year
                                  mostvaluable fishery (softclam) is found        due to public health threats from bacte-
                                  only in estuaries. The Pacific region's         rial orviral contamination. About 15,000
                                  first, second, and fifth most valuable          square miles were approved for shell-
                                  fisheries (salmon, clungeness crab, and         fishing without restriction, a decline of
                                  oyster) are estuarine dependent. The            about six percent from 1980.
                                  Nation's second most valuable fishery is
                                  for the penaeid shrimp along the Gulf of        Despite the continued harvest of shell-
                                  Mexico, South and North Atlantic coasts.        fish in the Gulf of Mexico and Middle
                                  In total, estuarine-dependent fisheries         Atlantic regions, degradation of harvest
                                  generated most of the Nation's seafood          areas remains a national concern. Rapid
                                  landings income in 1989 (NOAA, 1990f).          development has placed increased envi-
                                                                                  ronmental stress on many estuarine re-
                                  Shelifishing. Molluscan shellfish fish-         sources. Shellfish are indicators of such
                                  eries are of special concern because            changing conditions. Once waters are
                                  these bottom-dwelling organisms com-            closed to shellfish harvest, they soon
                                  plete their entire life cycle within estuar-    become unavailable for recreation and
                                  ies. Because of their bottom-dwelling           the support of other recreational and
                                  nature, they may be affected more di-           commercial species.
                                  rectly by human impacts than other es-
                                  tuarine-dependent marine organisms.             Human Uses

                                  Molluscan shellfish are filter-feeders,         In addition to their ecological importance,
                                  capable of pumping large volumes of             estuaries are valuable sources of food,
                                  water through their bodies and accumu-          recreation, housing, and aesthetic plea-
                                  lating particles and pollutants. The bac-       sure. Continued modification of their
                                  terial orviral pathogens that accumulate        ecosystems seems probable. Conse-
                                  in shellfish tissue in heavily polluted         quently, understanding the distribution
                                  areas may be passed on to humanswho             and extent of human activities affecting
                                  consume raw or partially cooked shell-          the Nation's estuaries is fundamental to
                                  fish. The National Shellfish Register of        improving and maintaining their environ-
                                  Classified Estuarine Waters conducted           mental quality.


                                  8








                                                                                        Estuaries of the United States

                               Population Growth. Estuarine and                ban, industrial, and agricultural land
                               coastal regions include some of the             uses; and restricted access to outdoor
                               Nation's most densely populated areas,          recreation opportunities.
                               where growth rates and population con-
                               centrations are highest. Current popula-        Land Use. The use of land in estuarine
                               tion patterns reflect historical develop-       drainage areas is a function of historical
                               ment and population pressures, location         development. The type and extent of
                               relative to transportation networks, and        certain land uses are a partial indicator
                               the characteristics and natural resources       of the pollutants entering estuarine wa-
                               of the coastal areas themselves.                ters and the extent to which the environ-
                                                                               ment of the surrounding drainage basin
                               Population in these areas has increased         has been altered. Land use may also be
                               by about 30 million people over the last        indicative of the economic value placed
                               three decades (almost half the total U.S.       on estuarine areas.
                               population increase), and is expected to
                               continueto increase, although at reduced        The development of urban and agricul-
                               levels (Culliton et al., 1990). Population      tural lands and the activities associated
                               densities in estuarine drainage areas are       with them alter the landscape and gen-
                               greatest in the Middle Atlantic and Pacific     erate most of the pollution entering estu-
                               regions, reflecting the major population        ariesfrom human activities. Stormwater
                               corridors extending from New York to            runoff from urban areas and agricultural
                               Washington, Los Angeles to San Diego,           runoff contribute significantly to the dis-
                               and within the San Francisco Bay met-           charge of sediments, nutrients, pesti-
                               ropolitan area.                                 cides, and other pollutants into estua-
                                                                               rine waters.     Industrial, commercial,
                               The pattern of population growth in es-         residential, and municipal activities in
                               tuarine areas ranges from the traditional       urban areas are major dischargers in
                               growth outward from an inner city, char-        most estuarine drainage areas.
                               acteristic of the older urban centers in
                               the North Atlantic and Middle Atlantic          Urban or agricultural land uses are sig-
                               regions, to the suburban sprawl along           niticant (accounting for 25 percent or
                               narrow coastal strips characteristic of         more of land use in an estuarine drain-
                               sections of the South Atlantic and Gulf of      age area) in almost half (50 of 102) of the
                               Mexico regions.                                 estuaries in the inventory. Almost 20,000
                                                                               square miles are classified urban and
                               Evidence is mounting that increasing            52,000 square miles as agricultural. As
                               development pressures are at the heart          population patterns indicate, urban land
                               of many environmental quality problems          use in estuarine drainage areas is con-
                               affecting the Nation's estuaries. Prob-         centrated in the Middle Atlantic and
                               lems associated with population growth          southern portion of the Pacific region.
                               and development include changing and
                               conflicting land uses; the growing infra-       In the Pacific region, although large ur-
                               structure needed to support increased           ban expanses surround San Francisco
                               population; pressures and demands for           and extend from Los Angeles to San
                               services; pollutant discharges from ur-         Diego, urban land use in many EDAs is

                                                                                                                      9








                                Estuaries of the United States

                                overshadowed by large areas of agricul-          nomicgrowth and stability in mostcoastal
                                tural and forested land. Estuaries with          communities. However, private outdoor
                                extensive agricultural lands are concen-         recreation sites and activities also place
                                trated in the Gulf of Mexico and South           added stress on coastal and estuarine
                                Atlantic regions.                                resources. Over 3,800 private marinas
                                                                                 and over 4,500 private charter boats are
                                Demands for Recreation. With a                   located within the Nation's coastal ar-
                                growing population and continued ur-             eas (NOAA, 1990d).
                                banization of coastal areas, the Nation
                                is experiencing an ever-growing demand           While the ability of estuaries to sustain
                                for open space, wilderness areas, and            recreational activities at current levels of
                                other places for recreating that are close       quality is uncertain, recent public reac-
                                to population centers. Between 1972              tion to beach closures and coastal pollu-
                                and 1984, public recreation lands in             tion underscores the high value our so-
                                estuarine and coastal areas increased            ciety places on coastal and estuarine
                                by about 27 percent (NOAA, 1988).                recreation. In economic terms, this re-
                                Given the large populations surround-            flects the fact that recreation resources
                                ing estuaries, the increasing demand for         might well be undervalued, particularly
                                estuary-based recreation opportunities           with respect to other commercial uses.
                                is not surprising.
                                                                                 Estuaries in the Middle Atlantic region
                                With over 50,000 miles of estuarine and          contain the greatest number of public
                                coastal shoreline (Outdoor Recreation            outdoor recreation sites (over 10,000)
                                Resources Review Commission, 1962)               and the largest number of private mari-
                                and almost 44,000 square miles of out-           nas, over 42 percent of the national total
                                door public recreation area along the            (NOAA, 1990d). However, the amount
                                Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf of Mexico            of land area available for recreation is
                                coasts offer a wide variety of marine-           significantly less than in all other regions
                                based outdoor recreation opportunities.          (less than 3,000 square miles), except
                                They also provide other recreation ac-           the North Atlantic.     Pacific estuaries
                                tivities that are enhanced by their prox-        have the second largest number of out-
                                imity to the coast. Although only nine to        door public recreation sites (over 6,500)
                                14 percent of the outdoor public recre-          and contain the most land area set aside
                                ation sites (e.g., parks, boat ramps, fish-      for recreation in EDAs (over 14,500
                                ing piers, beaches, picnic areas) in             square miles) (NOAA, 1988).
                                coastal areas provide access to estua-
                                rine waters, they provide increasingly           Pollution Stresses. Many of the envi-
                                important recreational opportunities             ronmental quality problems affecting the
                                (NOAA, 1988).                                    Nation's estuaries stem from natural and
                                                                                 human-induced pollution produced both
                                Privately provided outdoor recreation            within and upstream of EDAs. Both can
                                opportunities also are increasingly im-          affect dramatically the biological pro-
                                portant to the public. Private enter-            ductivity of estuarine waters, as well as
                                prises offer a wide variety of outdoor           reduce the appeal of these environ-
                                recreation choices and promote eco-              ments for living and recreating. Beach

                                10








                                                                                              Estuaries of the United States

                                 closures, fish consumption advisories,             cent of all point source discharges into
                                 and evidence of toxic substances in                EDAs in the region. Both the Mississippi
                                 sediments and fish tissue are all indica-          River and Mississippi Sound estuaries
                                 tions of pollution-related declines in the         contain over 100 power plants. The
                                 quality of estuarine and coastal waters            Middle Atlantic region contains 89 facili-
                                 (NOAA, 1989a).                                     ties, the second largest number of power
                                                                                    plants among regions.
                                 Industrial facilities and municipal
                                 wastewater treatment plants (MWTPs)                Agriculturally applied nutrients andpes-
                                 are the major point                                                          ticides may also
                                 sources of pollu-         Several estuarine areas (EDAs) contain             have an impact on
                                 tion discharging          significant concentrations of industrial and       the productivity
                                 directly into the         municipal point sources:                           and health of the
                                 Nation's estuar-                                                             Nation's estuaries.
                                 ies. Over 9,000           Galveston Baycontains 747 industrial point         Nutrients are es-
                                 EPA-permitted             sources, the largest concentration in any          sential for the pro-
                                 point sources are         EDA nationwide. It also contains 566               ductivity of an es-
                                                           MWTPs, or 45 percent of all those located
                                 located within the        in the Gulf of Mexico region.                      tuary.    However,
                                 EDAs of the 102                                                              an     overabun-
                                 estuaries in the          Almost two-thirds (63 percent) of all indus-       dance of nitrogen
                                 inventory; 17per-         trial facilities and 61 percent of all MWTPs       and phosphorus
                                 cent of these are         in the Middle Atlantic are located in the          en ering a system
                                                           Hudson River/Raritan Bay or Chesapeake
                                 considered "ma-           Bay EDAs.                                          fromsourcessuch
                                 jor" point sources.                                                          as agricultural
                                 Estuaries in the          Puget Sound contains one-quarter of the            runoff and waste-
                                 Gulf of Mexico re-        industrial and municipal point sources in          water treatment
                                 gion contain the          the Pacific region.                                plants can cause
                                 greatest number           AlbemarlelPamlico Sounds contains one              nutrient enrich-
                                 of point sources          quarter of the industrial facilities in the        ment problems.
                                 among the re-             South Atlantic region, 40 percent of all           For example, low-
                                 gions, 41 percent         MWTPs in the region are located in the St.         ered oxygen lev-
                                 of the national to-       Johns River estuary.                               els and decreased
                                 tal. The Middle          111@@@                                              light penetration
                                 Atlantic region contains the second most,          caused by algal blooms degrade the
                                 approximately 31 percent of all point              environmental quality of an estuary. A
                                 source dischargers located in estuaries.           number of coastal areas, including
                                 This concentration of dischargers has a            Chesapeake Bay, New York Bight, and
                                 direct impact upon water quality, shell-           the Louisiana coast, have experienced
                                 fishing, recreation, and estuarine qual-           eutrophication and/or hypoxia in recent
                                 ity in general.                                    years.

                                 Power plants, as sources of pollution,             Fertilizers applied to agricultural lands
                                 are of concern mostly in the Gulf of               contribute to nutrient loadings in estuar-
                                 Mexico, where 436 facilities are located.          ies and coastal rivers. The highest
                                 This represents approximately 12 per-              regional application of nitrogen and

                                                                                                                              11








                               Estuaries of the United States

                               phosphorus fertilizers in coastal areas        mary information on selected character-
                               occurs in the Gulf Coast. Over 800,000         istics by estuary and region. Maps de-
                               tons of fertilizers were applied in 1982.      picting all counties intersecting estua-
                               The South Atlanticwasthe second high-          rine drainage areas are contained in
                               est, with over 160,000 tons of fertilizer      Appendix C.
                               applied. The North Atlantic was the
                               lowest, with only 5,000 tons of fertilizer
                               applied in 1982 (NOAA, 1990e).

                               Pesticides can enter an estuary from
                               runoff, atmospheric deposition, or
                               groundwater discharge. The amount of
                               pesticides that run off from agricultural
                               land with precipitation ranges from one
                               to five percent, While not enough is
                               known to state that pesticides are a
                               major cause of degradation in the
                               Nation's estuaries, they may be a factor
                               in individual estuarine systems. Agri-
                               cultural pesticide use decreased slightly
                               in the U.S. during the 1980s (NOAA,
                               1990e).

                               Large quantities of pesticides are ap-
                               plied to agricultural lands in the drain-
                               age basins of several estuaries in the
                               Middle Atlantic and South Atlantic re-
                               gions. The Chesapeake Bay EIDA, for
                               example, led the Nation's EIDAs with
                               approximately 5.3 million pounds ap-
                               plied in 1982, followed by Albemarle/
                               Pamlico sounds (4.1 million pounds)
                               and Winyah Bay (3.2 million pounds). In
                               the Gulf of Mexico, large quantities of
                               pesticides are applied in the estuarine
                               drainage area of both Upper and Lower
                               Laguna Madre (1.9 million pounds) (Pait
                               et al., 1989).





                               The sections thatfollow present addi-
                               tional information on the estuaries in
                               each region. Appendix B presents sum-

                               12









                                                                                   Estuaries of the United States


                             Near infra-red LANDSA T image of Galveston Bay showing a coastal portion of its estua-
                             rine drainage area.



                                                                                          fd






                                                                    ij








                                  Iz"   P.%



                                                                                           Z"
                                                                                          ;Tv














                                                              K.
                                                                                         @@, V


                             Courtesy of NASA














                                                                                                                13









                          Estuaries of the North Atlantic

                          Figure 2. Population Density in North Atlantic EDAS, 1980











                                                                        Maine













                                                                                       2
                                                                            5
                                  New                                          4
                                  Hampshire                    7

                                                                      6




                                                     9









                                                                            Persons per Square Mile
                                                                            a   500 or Greater
                                 Massachusetts           ston  12           0   100 to 499
                                                                            F-1 50 to 99
                                                        3                       10to49






                         14                                                                            All









                                                                                                          North Atlantic
                              The North Atlantic region extends               smallest among regions. Cape Cod Bay
                              from the U.S.-Canada borderin Maine             has the largest water surface area (548
                              to the tip of Cape Cod in Massachu-             square miles) followed by Massachu-
                              setts. The 13 estuaries and one sub-            setts and Penobscot bays, 364 and 361
                              estuary shown in Figure 2 account               square miles, respectively.
                              for more than 23,000 square miles of
                              estuarine drainage along the North              Hydrologic Characteristics. The
                              Atlantic coast.                                 strong tides and basin geometry in these
                                                              -               estuaries result in tidally-dominated cir-
                                      North Atlantic Estuaries                culation patterns. Tides in the North
                                                                              Atlantic region are semidiurnal and range
                                  1   Passamaquoddy Bay                       from about 19 feet in northern Maine to
                                  2   Englishman Bay                          about nine feet at Cape Cod. Estuarine
                                  3   Narraguagus Bay                         water volumes range from about two
                                  4   Blue Hill Bay                           billion cubic feet in the Merrimack River
                                  5   Penobscot Bay                           to one trillion cubic feet in Cape Cod
                                  6   Muscongus Bay                           Bay, and are about average when
                                  7   Sheepscot Bay                           compared to other regions. However,
                                  8   Casco Bay                               North Atlantic estuaries are generally
                                  9   Saco Bay                                deeperthan those found in other regions.
                                10    Great Bay                               Figures 3a and 3b show estuarine drain-
                                11    Merrimack River                         age and water surface areas in the North
                                12    Massachusetts Bay                       Atlantic.
                                12a   Boston Bay
                                13    Cape Cod Bay                            Precipitation averages 40-46 inches per
                                                                              year across this region. Sheepscot Bay
                              Physical Features. Estuaries in this            and Penobscot Bay have, by far, the
                              region were formed by glaciers that re-         greatest freshwater inflows in the re-
                              moved soil cover, leaving rocky shore-          gion, approximately 17,600 and 16,100
                              lines and steep-sided river channels.           cubic feet per second, respectively.
                              Estuarine drainage areas (EDAs) in the          However, their inflows are lower than
                              region     range from about 300                 the mean for all U.S. estuaries (about
                              (Muscongus Bay) to about 6,200 square           20,000 cubic feet per second). The
                              miles (Sheepscot Bay). EDAs in the              timing of peak freshwater inflow to estu-
                              region are smaller on average than in           aries is a function of spring melting, with
                              other regions, except for the Pacific.          high-flow periods occurring from March
                              EDAs account for about two-thirds of            through May. Low-flow periods occur
                              total drainage into estuaries in the re-        from July through September. During
                              gion, suggesting that activities occur-         low-flow periods, low precipitation and
                              ring within EDAs may impact estuaries           high evaporation rates result in increased
                              the most. Sheepscot Bay has both the            salinities within estuaries. North Atlan-
                              largest fluvial drainage area (over 10,000      tic estuaries account for about one-sixth
                              square miles) and EDA. Total water              of the freshwater discharge to coastal
                              surface area of the estuaries in the re-        waters along the Atlantic Coast.
                              gion (about 2,000 square miles) is the


                                                                                                                       15









                                                North Atlantic
                                                Figure 3. Selected Characteristics, North Atlantic Estuaries

                                                          a. Estuarine Drainage Area                                         b. Estuarine Water Surface Area

                                                                                                       ME                                                                     ME


                                                       2                                                                    2


                                                       3                                                                    3

                                                       4                                                                    4


                                                       6                                                                    5


                                                       6                                                                    6


                                                       7                                                                    7
                                                Lu                                                                   Lu
                                                                                                                            8

                                                       9                                                                    9


                                                       10                                                                   10
                                                                                                       MA                                                                     MA
                                                       11                                                                   11


                                                       2                                                                    12


                                                       13                                                                   13
                                                                 1       2        3       4       5       6                 0        ;00     ;00      ;00      ;00      !6 - 600
                                                               Area (thousand square miles)                                              Area (square miles)


                                                         c. Total Wetlands                                                  d. Urban and Agricultural Land Use
                                                       1                                                                    1                                                 ME

                                                       2                                               ME                   2

                                                       3                                                                    3


                                                       4                                                                    4

                                                       5


                                                       6                                                                    6


                                                       7
                                                                                                                            7
                                                W      a                                                         ui         8
                                                                                                       NH                                                                     NH
                                                       9                                                                    9

                                                       10                                                                   10
                                                                                                       MA                                                                     MA
                                                       I                                                                    'I


                                                       12                                                                   12


                                                       13                                                                   13
                                                         17                                                                 r


































                                                         0        50        100      150       200       260                        10       @G       3'0      4'0
                                                                     Area (square miles)                                                 Percentage of EDA
                                                                                                                            E Urban              [3 Agricultural

                                                Notes: Sub-estuaries are not shown separately. All values are in Appendix B.

                                                16









                                                                                                                North Atlantic

                                 Wetlands. The amount of coastal wet-              least densely populated in the Nation.
                                 lands in the region, about 1,200 square           Population increase for the region as a
                                 miles, is small comparedto other regions          whole was about four percent between
                                 (NOAA, 1989b). This is due to the                 1970 and 1980. However, Cape Cod
                                 rugged relief, rocky shorelines, and              Bay was one of the fastest growing
                                 steep-sided river channels of the region,         EDAs in the Nation, with a 57 percent
                                 and incomplete data for the inland por-           population increase. Population in the
                                 tions of most EDAs. Passamaquoddy                 31 counties in this region is projected to
                                 Bay contains the most wetlands in the             grow by 16 percent over the next 20
                                 region, about 240 square miles. Wet-              years, making it the second slowest
                                 lands in the North Atlantic are primarily         growing coastal region in the U.S.
                                 forested and scrub-shrub, with lesser             (Culliton et al., 1990) Appendix C iden-
                                 amounts of salt and fresh marsh, and              tifies counties falling entirely or partially
                                 tidal flats present. Figure 3c shows the          in EDAs in the North Atlantic region.
                                 wetland area in each EDA.
                                                                                   Pollution Sources. Despite the pres-
                                 Land Use. Three of the largest popu-              ence of several large cities, the North
                                 lation centers in the region (Boston, MA;         Atlantic has fewer point sources of pol-
                                 Manchester, NH; and Portland, ME) are             lution (less than 400) than any other
                                 located in EDAs. However, urban land              region (NOAA, 1990e). There are almost
                                 use makes up only about seven percent             twice as many industrial sources as
                                 of estuarine drainage areas in the re-            municipal wastewater treatment plants.
                                 gion. Urban land is dominant only in the          The greatest number of point sources,
                                 Boston Bay sub-estuary. Agricultural              69 or about one-fifth of the region's total,
                                 lands also account for about seven per-           are found in Boston Bay. The ratio of
                                 cent of land use in the region's EDAs.            industrial to municipal point sources is
                                 The remaining majority of land in the             about four to one in Boston Bay. In-
                                 EDAs is forested. Figure 3d shows the             dustrial sources include chemical
                                 percentage of land that is urban and              manufacturing, metal fabrication, and
                                 agricultural in each EDA.                         machinery and transportation equipment
                                                                                   production. Great Bay has almost as
                                 Population. The North Atlantic is the             many point sources (59) as Boston Bay,
                                 third most densely populated coastal              although most are small facilities. Point
                                 region in the U.S. Figure 2 shows the             sources in Great Bay are evenly divided
                                 population density in each of the EDAs            between industrial and municipal facili-
                                 in the North Atlantic. Population de-             ties.
                                 creased in the Boston Bay estuarine
                                 drainage area by about five percent               The application and runoff of pesticides
                                 between 1970 and 1980. Even so, it is             may be a concern in many estuarine
                                 still seven times more densely populated          drainage areas. In 1982, over one-
                                 than any other EDA in the region, and is          quarter million pounds of commonly used
                                 one of the most densely populated in the          pesticides were applied to agricultural
                                 Nation. Passamaquoddy and English-                lands in the North Atlantic region (Pait et
                                 man bays are the least densely popu-              al., 1989). The intensity (average an-
                                 lated EDAs in the region and among the            nual application per square mile of

                                                                                                                             17









                                 North Atlantic


                                 A salt marsh within a North Atlantic estuary. Many species of plants and animals depend on
                                 estuarine ecosystems.





                                 a


















                                 Courtesy of NOAA
                                 cropland) of pesticide application was           inputs of either phosphorus or nitrogen)
                                 approximately 276 pounds. This          rela-    in Passamaquoddy, Englishman,
                                 tively low volume reflects the                   Narraguagus, Muscongus, and Casco
                                 region's limited agricultural activity. The      bays.
                                 distribution of pesticides was: herbi-
                                 cides (57 percent), insecticides (13 per-        Fishery Resources. The estuaries and
                                 cent), and fungicides (30 percent). Ap-          bays of this region support an array of
                                 plication was highest in the Cape Cod            commercially and ecologically impor-
                                 EDA (1,227 pounds per square mile).              tant fish and invertebrates. Over 300
                                                                                  million pounds of seafood, with an esti-
                                 In 1982, the application of fertilizer to        mated ex-vessel value of over 250 mil-
                                 agricultural lands in the region's estua-        lion dollars, were landed at ports in the
                                 rine drainage areas was the lowest               region in 1989 (NOAA, 1990f). The
                                 among the five regions. Approximately            American lobster and the sea scallop
                                 3,000 tons of phosphorus and 9,000               are currently the top commercial species
                                 tons of nitrogen fertilizers were applied.       in the region, providing more than 60
                                 Sheepscot, Saco, and Penobscot bays              million pounds of seafood valued at more
                                 received the highest applications. Ex-           than 193 million dollars in 1989. Atlantic
                                 cluding nutrients from upstream fluvial          cod was the most commercially impor-
                                 sources, fertilizer runoff from agricul-         tant fish in 1989, with nearly 74 million
                                 tural land is a significant nutrient source      pounds valued at 45 million dollars
                                 (i.e., greater than 25 percent of the total      (NOAA, 1990f).

                                 18









                                                                                                             North Atlantic

                                Estuarine-dependent species of eco-              in the region is approximately 500 square
                                nomic importance include the soft clam           miles. Most of these sites are concen-
                                and summer flounder, whose combined              trated in Massachusetts, as is most of
                                landings totaled 17 million dollars in           the recreation land.
                                1989 (NOAA, 1990f). Ecologically im-
                                portant species include sand lance and           Slightly more public recreation areas
                                spiny dogfish. Several species which             are set aside for hunting than for conser-
                                contribute to the significant Georges            vation in this region. Most sites (88
                                Bank fishery rely on North Atlantic es-          percent) are managed by local govern-
                                tuaries for nursery areas (winter floun-         ments; however, most of the land is
                                der and red hake) and seasonal forag-            under Federal control (40 percent), with
                                ing (bluefish and spiny dogfish).                state and local governments each con-
                                                                                 trolling 30 percent (NOAA, 1988).
                                Approved shellfish growing areas in
                                North Atlantic estuarine waters exceed           Privately-owned outdoor recreation sites
                                1,000 square miles, or about 83 percent          follow the same general distribution pat-
                                of the total area classified by state            tern as public sites. The North Atlantic
                                shellfish sanitation officials in the region     contains fewer sites in all recreation
                                (Leonard et al., 1989). Penobscot Bay            categories than the other regions (NOAA,
                                has the greatest amount of approved              1990d). This is the result of many fac-
                                and total shellfish waters in the region.        tors including population levels, climate,
                                The North Atlantic ranksfourth in amount         and the physiography of the region.
                                of classified waters and second in per-
                                centage of waters approved forshellfish
                                harvest among regions. The remaining
                                17 percent of growing waters are re-             As of mid-1 990, Casco Bay, Massachu-
                                stricted from harvesting all or part of the      setts Bay, Cape Cod Bay, and Boston
                                year. Harvest restrictions are due to            Bay were included in EPA's National
                                identified declines in water quality asso-       Estuary Program.
                                ciated with: (1) municipal wastewater
                                treatment plants and combined sewer              More detailed information on each estu-
                                systems, (2) increasing coastal popula-          ary can be found in Appendix B. Maps
                                tions resulting in increasing shoreline          showing the counties in each EDA are in
                                development and boating activities, and          Appendix C.
                                (3) increased monitoring and aware-
                                ness of nonpoint pollution.

                                Recreation. The supply of public out-
                                door recreational resources in North
                                Atlantic estuarine drainage areas is the
                                lowest among coastal regions. There
                                are more than 2,600 public outdoor rec-
                                reation sites in the North Atlantic, of
                                which almost 400 are adjacent to es-
                                tuarine waters. The total area of all sites


                                                                                                                           19









                              Estuaries of the Middle Atlantic

                             Figure 4. Population Density in Middle Atlantic EDAs, 1980















                                                                       New York


                                                                                              assachusett


                                                                                            n




                                                                                                        Rhode
                                                            Pennsylvania                                Island

                                                                      Philadelphi        New York

                                                                Baltimo
                                                     Washington, D.C.                    New Jersey
                                                                                    7
                                          Maryland                    12    12     8

                                                                      2a    2-9
                                                                 12         7 V      Delaware
                                                                            12h   10
                                                    Virginia  \ 12d*"-
                                                                12e                   Persons per Square Mile
                                                                                          1500 or Greater


                                                                                          600 to 1499
                                                                                     E] 300 to 599

                                                                                          5 to 299












                             20









                                                                                                     Middle Atlantic

                              The Middle Atlantic region extends             Chesapeake Bay. EDAs account for
                              from Buzzards Bay in Massachusetts             almost 40 percent of total drainage
                              through Chesapeake Bay in Virginia.            (estuarine plus fluvial) into estuaries in
                              The 12 estuaries and nine sub-estu-            the region. At almost 70,000 square
                              aries shown in Figure 4 account for            miles, Chesapeake Bay has the largest
                              more than 48,000 square miles of               total drainage area in the region. The
                              estuarine drainage along the Middle            total water surface area of Middle Atlan-
                              Atlantic coast.                                tic estuaries (over 7,000 square miles)
                                                                             is exceeded only by the Gulf of Mexico
                                     Middle Atlantic Estuaries               region. Chesapeake Bay's water surface
                                                                             area (3,830 square miles) is almost
                                  1  Buzzards Bay                            three times that of Long Island Sound
                                  2  Narragansett Bay                        (1,281 square miles), the region's sec-
                                  3  Gardiners Bay                           ond largest estuary in water surface
                                  4  Long Island Sound                       area. Figures 5a and 5b show estuarine
                                  4a Connecticut River                       drainage and water surface areas in the
                                  5  Great South Bay                         Middle Atlantic.
                                  6  Hudson River/Raritan Bay
                                  7  Barnegat Say                            Hydrologic Characteristics. Tides in
                                  8  New Jersey Inland Bays                  the Middle Atlantic are semidiurnal and
                                  9  Delaware Bay                            rangefrom about seven feet in Delaware
                                10   Delaware Inland Bays                    Bay to one to two feet in tributaries of
                                11   Chincoteague Bay                        Chesapeake Bay. Average depths of
                                12   Chesapeake Bay                          estuaries in the Middle Atlantic rank
                                12a  Patuxent River                          third among regions and vary signifi-
                                12b  Potomac River                           cantly, from four feet in the Delaware
                                12c  Rappahannock River                      Inland Bays to 62 feet in Long Island
                                12d  York River                              Sound. Estuarine water volumes in the
                                12e  James River                             region range from about four billion cu-
                                1 2f Chester River                           bic feet in the Delaware Inland Bays to
                                12g  Choptank River                          more than 2.5 trillion cubic feet in
                                12h  Tang ier/Pocomoke Sounds                Chesapeake Bay. The Middle Atlantic
                                                                             has the second largest estuarine vol-
                              Physical Features.           Middle At-        ume of all regions.
                              lantic estuaries are geomorphologically
                              different from those in the North Atlantic     Middle Atlantic estuaries account for 44
                              region. Rising sea level, resulting from       percent of the total freshwater discharge
                              melting glaciers, drowned the mouths of        to coastal waters along the Atlantic
                              ancient rivers extending across the            Coast.    Long-term precipitation, ap-
                              continental shelf. The resulting coastal       proximately 40-48 inches per year, in-
                              plain estuaries generally are restricted       creases slightly from north to south. The
                              to temperate latitudes. Estuarine drain-       timing of peak freshwater inflow to estu-
                              age areas (EDAs) range from about 300          aries is primarily a function of spring
                              square miles in the Delaware Inland            snow melt. Low freshwater inflows oc-
                              Bays to nearly 22,000 square miles in          cur from July through September and

                                                                                                                     21








                                                Middle Atlantic

                                                Figure 5. Selected Characteristics, Middle Atlantic Estuaries

                                                         a. Estuarine Drainage Area                                                   b. Estuarine Water Surface Area
                                                                                                            MA                                                                         MA


                                                                                                            RI                                                                         RI
                                                      2                                                                           2

                                                      3                                                     NY                    3                                                    NY

                                                                                                     NY-CT                                                                       NY-CT
                                                      4                                                                           4

                                                      5                                                     NY                                                                         NY


                                                      6                                                                           a

                                                                                                            NJ                                                                         NJ
                                                      7                                                                           7
                                              LU                                                                           IJj

                                                                                                                                  a

                                                                                                  PA-DE-NJ                        9                                            PA-DE-NJ

                                                      to                                                    DE                        (32)                                             DE

                                                                                                     MD-VA                                                                       MD-VA


                                                      12                                                                        12
                                                                                                      -4
                                                                   5         10        is        20         25                      0     @W    IODD 160 ;000' 2500 3000         3500 400D
                                                             Area (thousand square miles)                                                       Area (square miles)


                                                         c. Total Wetlands                                                           d. Urban and Agricultural Land Use
                                                      1                                                     MA                    1                                                    MA


                                                      2                                                     RI                    2                                                    Rl


                                                      3                                                     NY                    3                                                    NY


                                                      4                                              NY-CT                                                                       NY-CT


                                                      5                                                     NY                    5


                                                      6

                                                      7                                                     NJ                    7                                                    NJ
                                              (A                                                                           (A
                                             ILU                                                                          LU
                                                            D
                                                                                                                                                                   PA-D   Wil
                                                      10    D                                               DE                  10                                                     DE

                                                      11                                             MD-VA                                                                       MD-VA
                                                                                                      (1557)

                                                                                                                                  2
                                                      12 16
                                                                                                      (1    7


                                                              '0'0 ' @O      300    400    500      600     1700                    0          20            40           60           so
                                                                    Area (square miles)                                                          Percentage of EDA
                                                                                                                                    Q Urban                   Agricuftural

                                              Notes: Sub-estuaries are not shown separately. All values are in Appendix B. N/D - no data.

                                                22









                                                                                                     Middle Atlantic

                               result in higher salinities in estuarine      drainage areas in the region as a whole.
                               waters during this period. Chesapeake         This is even the case in the Hudson
                               Bay has the greatest freshwater inflow        River/Raritan Bay estuary where forest
                               (85,800 cubic feet per second) and ac-        and agricultural lands accountfor nearly
                               counts for almost half of all freshwater      three-quarters of land use. Similar land
                               entering estuaries in the region. The         use patterns are found in other Middle
                               Delaware Inland and Chincoteague              Atlantic estuaries containing large met-
                               bays have the lowest inflows. Freshwa-        ropolitan areas, such as Narragansett
                               ter inflow significantly affects estuarine    and Delaware bays and the Potomac
                               circulation throughout the region, com-       River. These are large EDAs extending
                               bining with tides to create relatively        inland well beyond the limits of urban
                               complex circulation patterns, compared        growth. Nevertheless, estuaries in the
                               to other regions where either tides or        Middle Atlantic contain the greatest per-
                               freshwater inflow predominate.                centage of urban land among regions.
                                                                             While agricultural land use is modest in
                               Wetlands. Despite the urbanized na-           the region as a whole, it occupies over
                               ture of the Middle Atlantic, it contains      30 percent of the estuarine drainage
                               more than 3,500 square miles of wet-          areas of Delaware, Chincoteague, and
                               lands (Reyer et al., 1990a) and ranks         Chesapeake bays, and the Delaware
                               third behind the Gulf of Mexico and           Inland Bays.
                               South Atlantic regions in total wetland
                               area in EDAs (NOAA, 1990a). Figure 5c         Population. The Middle Atlantic is the
                               shows the amount of wetlands in each          most densely populated coastal region
                               EDA in the region. The Chesapeake             in the U.S. This is shown by the large
                               Bay estuarine drainage area alone             populations and amount of urban land
                               contains more than 1,500 square miles         in estuarine drainage areas. Figure 4
                               of wetlands. The second largest amount        shows the population density in each of
                               of wetlands is in Delaware Bay (641           the EDAs. Population density is highest
                               square miles). Forested wetlands are          in Great South Bay, followed by Hudson
                               the most common, accounting for nearly        River/Raritan Bay, Delaware Bay, Nar-
                               58 percent of the region's wetlands,          ragansett Bay, and Long Island Sound.
                               followed by salt marsh (28 percent).
                                                                             Although population growth for the re-
                               Land Use. The Middle Atlantic had a           gion was relatively low between 1970
                               population of almost 33 million in 1980,      and 1980, afew areas, such as Barnegat
                               concentrated in an urban corridor ex-         Bay, and the York and Rappahannock
                               tending from Providence, RI to Norfolk,       rivers, had significant growth (47, 40,
                               VA. The major population centers in the       and 27 percent, respectively). Popula-
                               region are New York, Philadelphia, Bal-       tion decreased by about five percent in
                               timore, and Washington, DC. Despite           the Hudson River/Raritan Bay and
                               the size of these metropolitan areas,         Chincoteague Bay EDAs, and by about
                               urban land isthe leading land use in only     one percent in Long Island Sound and
                               one EDA, Great South Bay, NY (Figure          Delaware Bay. The 155 counties with
                               5d). Urban land use ranks behind forest       land area in EDAs are projected to grow
                               and agricultural land uses in estuarine       by almost 10 percent over the next 20

                                                                                                                     23








                                Middle Atlantic


                                Sunset over a Middle Atlantic estuary. Wetland areas in this region support a wide variety
                                of plants and animals, and provide food and cover for many migratory species of birds.









































                                                                                                            - - - - - - - - - -
                                                         Ilk          '

                                                                      W


                                Courtesy of Art Weber, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service










                                24








                                                                                                            Middle Atlantic

                                 years, making it the slowest growing              100,000 tons of nitrogen fertilizers were
                                 coastal region in the U.S. (Culliton et al.,      applied. Chesapeake Bay and Dela-
                                 1990). Appendix C identifies counties             ware Bay had the highest applications.
                                 failing entirely or partially in EDAs in the      Both contain a high percentage of agri-
                                 Middle Atlantic region.                           cultural lands. Excluding nutrients from
                                                                                   upstream fluvial sources, fertilizer run-
                                 Pollution Sources. The region's large             off from agricultural land is a significant
                                 population centers have created a pro-            nutrient source (i.e., greater than 25
                                 liferation of major point sources of pol-         percent of the total inputs of either phos-
                                 lution. Over 2,700 point sources are              phorus or nitrogen) in Chincoteague Bay.
                                 contained in estuarine drainage areas,
                                 second only to the Gulf of Mexico region          Fishery Resources. About 1. 1 billion
                                 (NOAA, 1990e). Most of these sources              pounds of seafood with an approximate
                                 are industrial facilities (almost 1,800).         ex-vessel value of 500 million dollars
                                 Municipal wastewater treatment plants             were landed in the region in 1989. Al-
                                 (over 900) make up most of the re-                though the sea scallop was the leading
                                 mainder. Hudson River/Raritan Bay                 commercial species in the region, the
                                 and Chesapeake Bay contain more point             estuarine-dependent blue crab was the
                                 sources than any other EDA in the Na-             second-most valuable, worth more than
                                 tion, with the exception of Galveston             41 million dollars. Approximately halt of
                                 Bay in Texas.                                     the Nation's total blue crab catch was
                                                                                   taken from the region, the majority from
                                 In 1982, almost nine million pounds of            Chesapeake Bay (NOAA, 1990f).
                                 commonly used pesticideswere applied
                                 to agricultural lands in the region (Pait E)t     Middle Atlantic coastal plain estuaries
                                 al., 1989). The distribution of pesticides        are characteristically shallow and sub-
                                 was: herbicides (76 percent), insecti-            ject to strong tidal circulation (NOAA,
                                 cides (16 percent), and fungicides (seven         1985), creating ideal conditions for bio-
                                 percent). The intensity of application            logical productivity. Seasonal condi-
                                 was relatively high in 1982, with ap-             tions can dramatically change the diver-
                                 proximately 1, 148 pounds of pesticides           sity and species compositions of these
                                 applied per square mile of cropland.              estuaries (White, 1989). Middle Atlantic
                                 Gardiners Bay (1,636 pounds per square            estuaries provide year-round habitat for
                                 mile) and Great South Bay (1,468 pounds           such species as white perch and bay
                                 per square mile) received the highest             anchovy, and attract foraging marine
                                 application rates in the region. The              predators like bluefish and Atlantic
                                 intensity of application in the Chesa-            croaker. They also serve as nursery
                                 peake Bay EDA was 1,118 pounds per                areas for earlier life stages of marine
                                 square mile.                                      species such as Atlantic menhaden, and
                                                                                   anadromous fishes such as American
                                 In 1982, the    application of fertilizer to      shad and striped bass. Hence, Middle
                                 agricultural lands in the region's estua-         Atlantic estuaries are directly linked to
                                 rine drainage areas was the third high-           many offshore fisheries.
                                 est among the five regions. Approxi-
                                 mately 28,000 tons of phosphorus and

                                                                                                                              25








                              Middle Atlantic

                              Classified shellfish growing waters in        Privately-owned outdoor recreation sites
                              the region exceed 7,300 square miles,         are also numerous. Almost 42 percent
                              with about 6,300 square miles approved        of the Nation's coastal marinas and more
                              for harvest. This is the largest amount       than one-quarter of the charter boats
                              and the highest percentage (85 percent)       and coastal golf courses are located in
                              of growing waters approved for harvest        the region. Intense development has
                              among regions (Leonard et al., 1989).         placed growing pressure on available
                              Chesapeake Bay contains more than             land near urban populations. High land
                              half of the approved shellfish-growing        values and lack of open space make
                              waters in the region and about one-           privately-owned outdoor recreation sites
                              quarter of the waters in the contiguous       attractive to many users in the region
                              U.S. Long Island Sound contains the           (NOAA, 1990d).
                              second largest amount of approved
                              waters (over 1,100 square miles), about
                              one-fifth of the region's total. Hudson
                              River/Raritan Bay has no approved             As of    mid-1990, Buzzards Bay,
                              shellfish-growing waters. In recentyears,     Narragansett Bay, Long Island Sound,
                              reductions in harvestable shellfish re-       New York/New Jersey Harbor (part of
                              sources have occurred throughout the          the Hudson River/Raritan Bay estuary),
                              region due to disease, overharvesting,        Delaware Bay, and Delaware Inland
                              predation, and pollution.                     Bays were included in EPA's National
                                                                            Estuary Program.
                              Recreation. The concentration of
                              population in the region has created a        More detailed information on each estu-
                              high demand for recreational opportuni-       ary can be found in Appendix B. Maps
                              ties in its estuarine areas. Of the more      showing the counties in each EDA are in
                              than 10,000 public outdoor recreation         Appendix C.
                              sites in the region, over 1, 100 are adja-
                              cent to tidal waters, with the majority in
                              the Long Island Sound and Hudson
                              River/Raritan Bay EDAs (NOAA, 1988).
                              The Middle Atlantic has more public
                              outdoor recreation sites than any other
                              region, encompassing approximately
                              2,800 square miles.

                              Most sites (91 percent) are managed by
                              local governments; however, most of
                              the land is under state control (61 per-
                              cent), with Federal and local govern-
                              ments controlling the remainder equally
                              (NOAA, 1988). More than half of the
                              lands are set aside for hunting; less than
                              one-quarter are set aside for conserva-
                              tion, preservation, or scenic value.

                              26








                                                                                                  Middle Atlantic


                              Emergent wetlands provide critical habitat for many aquatic organisms.



















                                                       IT






















                              Courtesy of NOAA










                                                                                                                 27









                                 Estuaries of the South Atlantic

                                Figure 6. Population Density in South Atlantic EDAs, 1980










                                                                                 North Carolina




                                                                                                        4
                                                                           South
                                                                           Carolina


                                                                                           6

                                                          Georgia               10 9         Charleston
                                                                              11

                                                                                     Savannah
                                                                           1   12

                                                                        14



                                                                         15
                                                                                 Jacksonville



                                                                                                Persons per Square Mile

                                                                                                      300 or Greater


                                                                                                      100 to 299
                                                                                         17
                                                                         Florl                        40 to 99
                                                                                                0 0 to 39



                                                                                          Miami















                               28









                                                                                                              South Atlantic

                                 The South Atlantic region extends                Estuarine drainage areas (EDAs) in the
                                 from North Carolina to southern                  region range from about 500 square
                                 Florida. The 18 estuaries and two                miles in New River to almost 11,600
                                 sub-estuaries shown in Figure 6 ac-              square miles in Albemarle/Pamlico
                                 count for almost 56,000 square miles             Sounds. Although both Winyah Bay
                                 of estuarine drainage along the South            (9,500 square miles) and St. Marys River/
                                 Atlantic coast.                                  Cumberland Sound (7,000 square miles)
                                                                 -                have large EIDAs, each has a relatively
                                        South Atlantic Estuaries                  small water surface area. New River
                                    1   Albemarle/Pamlico Sounds                  (470 square miles), Bogue Sound (680
                                    1 a Pamlico/Pungo Rivers                      square miles), and North/South Santee
                                    lb  Neuse River                               Rivers (680 square miles) have the
                                    2   Bogue Sound                               smallest EIDAs in the region. New River
                                    3   New River                                 and Bogue Sound are bar-built estuar-
                                    4   Cape Fear River                           ies without fluvial drainage areas since
                                    5   Winyah Bay                                they are surrounded by areas draining
                                    6   North/South Santee Rivers                 into Albemarle/Pamlico Sounds and
                                    7   Charleston Harbor                         Cape Fear River estuaries. In addition,
                                    8   St. Helena Sound                          the head of tide in each is relatively
                                    9   Broad River                               close to the open ocean. Figures 7a and
                                  10    Savannah River                            7b show estuarine drainage and water
                                  11    Ossabaw Sound                             surface areas in the South Atlantic.
                                  12    St. Catherines/Sapelo Sounds
                                  13    Altamaha River                            Over 4,400 square miles of estuarine
                                  14    St. Andrew/St. Simons Sounds              water surface area make this the third
                                  15    St. Marys River/Cumberland                largest among regions. The region's
                                        Sound                                     largest estuary, Albemarle/Pamlico
                                  16    St. Johns River                           Sounds, contains over 2,900 square
                                  17    Indian River                              miles of water surface area, second
                                  18    Biscayne Bay                              nationwide only to Chesapeake Bay.
                                                                                  This vast estuary stretches from the
                                 Physical Features.       Estuaries in the        North Carolina/Virginia border south to
                                 South Atlantic region are characterized          Cape Lookout, and includes the Chowan,
                                 by two general shoreline formations. The         Neuse, Pamlico, and Pungo rivers. In-
                                 first is a low-lying, marshy shoreline with      dian River and Biscayne Bay are physi-
                                 adendritic pattern of tributaries flowing to     cally similar to Albemarle/Pamlico
                                 the sea and is most prevalent along the          Sounds and have the second and third
                                 South Carolina and Georgia coasts. The           largest estuarine water surface areas in
                                 second is represented by lagoons                 the region, respectively.
                                 bounded by extensive barrier island sys-
                                 tems and is found in North Carolina and          Hydrologic Characteristics. Tides
                                 central Florida. An exception to this is the     throughout the region are semidiurnal
                                 St. Johns River, a large river with limited      and range from about 2.5 feet in North
                                 accesstothesea, but tidally influenced a         Carolina, to about seven feet in Geor-
                                 considerable distance upstream.                  gia, to two feet in Florida. The flat

                                                                                                                           29








                                             South Atlantic

                                             Figure 7. Selected Chatacteristics, South Atlantic Estuaries

                                                       a. Estuarine Drainage Area                                             b. Estuarine Water Surface Area
                                                                                                                                                                              Iff
                                                   2                                                  NC                2                                                     (2949)
                                                                                                                        3                                                     NC

                                                   4                                                                    4


                                                                                                                                                                              SC
                                                                                                      SC


                                                                                                                        7



                                                   9                                                               cc   9

                                                   10                                                 GA                10                                                    GA
                                                                                                                   Lu
                                             Lu    1

                                                   12                                                                   12

                                                   13                                                                   13

                                                   14                                                                   14

                                                                                                                        15
                                                                                                      FL                Is                                                    FL
                                                   16

                                                   17

                                                   la                                                                   Is
                                                     0       '2                       'a      is        12                   0      ;0     100     ;50    @00     250      300    30M

                                                           Area (thousand square miles)                                                  Area (square miles)


                                                      c. Total Wetlands                                                   d. Urban and Agricultural Land Use
                                                   1
                                                                                                                        1
                                                   2                                                  NC                2!                                                    NC

                                                                                                                        3

                                                                                                                        4


                                                                                                      SC                                                                      SC
                                                                                                                        s

                                                                                                                        7

                                                   a                                                                    a

                                                   9                                                            M
                                                                                                                10
                                             (4)   10                                                 GA        40      10                                                    GA
                                             Lu                                                                 Uj


                                                   12                                                                   ,2
                                                   13                                                                   13

                                                   14                                                                   14

                                                   is NID                                                               is
                                                   is                                                 FIL               is                                                    FIL

                                                   17                                                                   17

                                                   Is                                                                   is
                                                                                                        i0co
                                                                              ;000         ;500                            0
                                                     0            Soo                                                                   20            40
                                                                  Area (square miles)                                                    Percentage of EDA

                                                                                                                          M Urban               [3@ Agricultural

                                             Notes: Sub-estuaries are not shown separately. All values are in Appendix B. N/D - no data.


                                             30









                                                                                                          South Atlantic

                               coastal plain, small tidal range, and bar-      tuaries contain the largest amounts of
                               rier islands combine to minimize tidal          wetlands in the region (Figure 7c). For-
                               influence on estuarine circulation in this      ested wetlands account for three-quar-
                               region. Consequently, circulation is less       ters of all wetlands. Two well-known
                               dynamic than in the river- or tide-domi-        and extensive areas, the Great Dismal
                               nated estuaries of other regions and is         Swamp (Virginia and North Carolina)
                               more dependent on the influence of              and the Okefenokee Swamp (Georgia
                               wind.                                           and Florida), are examples of the for-
                                                                               ested wetlands of the South Atlantic.
                               Water volumes of South Atlantic estuar-         Another prominent feature is the sea
                               ies range from about 2.1 billion cubic          islands complex of South Carolina and
                               feet in the North and South Santee riv-         Georgia, a vast area of intricate estua-
                               ersto 1.1 trillion cubic feet in Albemarle/     rine channels and marshlands at the
                               Pamlico Sounds. Because of their shal-          mouths of estuaries extending from St.
                               low to moderate depths, water volumes           Helena Sound to St. Andrew/St. Simons
                               for South Atlantic estuaries are among          Sounds. The wetlands of Biscayne Bay
                               the lowest in the Nation. Albemarle/            are part of the huge Everglades com-
                               Pamlico Sounds, for example, average            plex of southern Florida.
                               only 13 feet in depth. The estuary with
                               the highest average depth is the Broad          Land Use. Forested lands are the
                               River (24 feet).                                dominant land use in 13 estuaries, ac-
                                                                               counting for about one-third of all land in
                               South Atlantic    estuaries account for         EDAs. The region's forests constitute a
                               about 40 percent of the freshwater in-          significant percentage of the Nation's
                               flow to estuaries along the East Coast,         commercial forest lands (NOAA, 1987).
                               The rivers flowing into Albemarle/Pam-          Extensive forested lands are found in
                               lico Sounds discharge about 46,000              the St. Johns River, St. Andrew/St. Si-
                               cubic feet per second, the highest in the       mons Sounds, and Albemarle/Pamlico
                               region. The highest freshwater inflows          Sounds estuaries. Agriculture also is a
                               in the region occurfrom Januarythrough          major land use, accounting for 22 per-
                               May, except in southern Florida where           cent of all EDA lands (Figure 7d). In
                               peak flows occur from June through              Albemarle/Pamlico Sounds, about 59
                               September due to summer storms.                 percent of the EDA land area is in agri-
                               Average precipitation is about 48 inches        culture. Winyah Bay, Ossabaw Sound,
                               per year in the northern portion of the         Broad River, and Indian Rivereach have
                               region, drops slightly in the central por-      over 30 percent of their EDA classified
                               tion, then increases to about 56 to 64          as agricultural land.
                               inches per year in southern Florida.
                                                                               Although urban lands comprise only four
                               Wetlands. Wetlands cover over 9,000             percent of the region's EDAs, Florida
                               square miles of the region's EDAs, the          has a heavily developed coastal corri-
                               second highest among regions (NOAA,             dor extending north from Miami on
                               1 990a).     The Albemarle/Pamlico              Biscayne Bay to Jacksonville at the
                               Sounds, St. Johns River, Winyah Bay,            mouth of the St. Johns River. Unlike
                               and St. Andrew/St. Simons Sounds es-            most of the urban areas of the North and


                                                                                                                        31









                               South Atlantic

                               Middle Atlantic regions that have devel-      include: Charleston, SC; Savannah,
                               oped outward from the core of cities,         GA; and Jacksonville and Miami, FIL.
                               urban areas of east Florida have spread       Appendix C identifies counties falling
                               along the narrow coastal strip in a series    entirely or partially in EDAs in the South
                               of suburban, second home, and resort          Atlantic region.
                               developments. Urban areas account for
                               21 and 17 percent of EDA land in the          Pollution Sources. The South Atlantic
                               Biscayne Bay and Indian River estuar-         ranks third among regions in the num-
                               ies of South Florida, respectively.           ber of municipal wastewater treatment
                                                                             plants (MWTPs). About three-quarters
                               Population. The South Atlantic is the         of the industrial facilities in the region
                               least densely populated coastal region        are located in EDAs north of Florida
                               in the U.S. St. Mary's River/Cumberland       (NOAA, 1990e). However, because of
                               Sound (nine persons per square mile)          Florida's much higher population den-
                               and the North and South Santee Rivers         sity, its EDAs contain more than half of
                               (22 persons per square mile) are the          all MWTPs. Florida's most densely
                               least densely populated estuaries in the      populated estuaries, St. Johns River,
                               region.                                       Biscayne Bay, and Indian River, contain
                                                                             most of the large (over one million gal-
                               The most densely populated South At-          lons perday of discharge) MWTPs in the
                               lantic estuaries are in Florida. Biscayne     region.
                               Bay, the most heavily populated estu-
                               ary, includes the southern portions of        In 1982, over 11 million pounds of com-
                               the Miami metropolitan area. Although         monly used pesticides were applied to
                               the population density for Biscayne Bay       agricultural lands in EDAs in the region,
                               (1,030 persons per square mile) is the        the second highest amount of the five
                               highest in the South Atlantic, it is only     coastal regions. The distribution of pes-
                               the tenth highest among the Nation's          ticides was: herbicides (67 percent),
                               estuaries. Indian River has the second        insecticides (20 percent), and fungicides
                               highest population density (327 persons       (seven percent). The South Atlantic
                               per square mile) in the region, largely       region had the highest intensity of appli-
                               because of resort/retirement communi-         cation (over 1, 170 pounds per square
                               ties.                                         mile of cropland) among regions in 1982.
                                                                             Albemarle/Pamlico Sounds (1,682
                               The region is growing rapidly, especially     pounds per square mile) and New River
                               in Florida's Broward and Dade counties        (1,540 pounds per square mile) were
                               (Biscayne Bay EDA). The populations           the EDAs with the highest per square
                               in these two counties are projected to        mile application intensity in the region
                               increase by436,000 and 366,000 people         (Pait et al., 1989).
                               respectively over the next two decades -
                               Population in the 126 counties in the         In 1982, the application of fertilizer to
                               region is projected to increase by more       agricultural lands in the region's estua-
                               than about 24 percent between 1988            rine drainage areas was the second
                               and 2010 (Culliton et al., 1990). The         highest among regions. Approximately
                               major population centers of the region        30,000 tons of phosphorus and 132,000

                               32









                                                                                                          South Atlantic

                               Fort Pierce Harbor, Florida is part of the Indian River estuary. Coastal development has a
                               direct impact on estuarine environments.





                                                                                                             MW@Wy"'Mffi
























                                                                                                                      IIt-1












                               Courtesy of NOAA


                               tons of nitrogen fertilizers were applied.      inputs of either phosphorus or nitrogen)
                               Albemarle/Pamlico Sounds and St.                in Albemarle/Pamlico Sounds, Bogue
                               Johns River received the highest appli-         River, New River, Broad River, and In-
                               cations. The former contains a high             than River (NOAA, 1990e).
                               percentage of agricultural lands. Ex-
                               cluding nutrients from upstream fluvial         Fishery Resources. About 250 million
                               sources, fertilizer runoff from agricul-        pounds of seafood with an approximate
                               tural land is a significant nutrient source     ex-vessel value of 169 million dollars
                               (i.e. greater than 25 percent of the total      were landed at South Atlantic ports in

                                                                                                                      33









                               South Atlantic

                               1989 (NOAA, 1990f). Over half of this           largest estuary, Albemarle/Pamlico
                               harvest was comprised of estuarine-             Sounds, contains 3,088 square miles of
                               dependent species, including Atlantic           classified shellfishing waters. These
                               menhaden, Atlantic croaker, blue crab,          Sounds are a commercially important
                               and penaeid shrimp. Although the com-           source of clams and oysters, account-
                               mercial harvest is relatively small com-        ing for about 1.2 million pounds in 1988.
                               pared to other regions, South Atlantic          St. Helena Sound (389,000 pounds) and
                               estuaries are nevertheless important to         St. Catherines/Sapelo Sounds (39,000
                               many species.                                   pounds) are also majorsources of shell-
                                                                               fish in South Atlantic estuaries.
                               The region also supports important es-
                               tuarine-dependent recreational fisher-          Recreation. There are almost 2,700
                               ies. Some species comprising South              public outdoor recreation sites account-
                               Atlantic recreational fisheries are impor-      ing for about 5,200 square miles of land
                               tant commercial species in other re-            in the region's EDAs. Over 60 percent of
                               gions. For example, red drum histori-           these lands are managed for hunting,
                               cally has been commercially harvested           while about 32 percent are set aside for
                               in the Gulf of Mexico, whereas it has           conservation, preservation, and scenic
                               been primarily a recreational species           value. Most sites (90 percent) are man-
                               along the Carolina coasts (Manooch,             aged by local governments; however,
                               1984). Although a region's relative im-         most of the land is under either Federal
                               portance is often measured by commer-           (53 percent) or state (45 percent) con-
                               cial catch and value, many ecologically         trol. Almost 900 of the public outdoor
                               important species support these fisher-         recreation sites provide access to wa-
                               ies. For example, the South Atlantic            ter. Of these, 61 percent are adjacent to
                               region and its associated low-lying, den-       estuarine waters, and 36 percent provide
                               dritic, marshy shoreline and bar-built          access to open waters of the Atlantic
                               estuaries provide essential habitat to          Ocean. Florida has about two-thirds of
                               killifish and anchovies. These species          all sites and more than half of all recre-
                               are important links in the estuarine food       ational lands in the region (NOAA, 1988).
                               chain (Stickney, 1984).
                                                                               As with the public sites, the largest con-
                               The South Atlantic accounts for about           centration of private sites (70 percent of
                               one-fifth of all classified shellfish-grow-     the region's total) is in Florida (NOAA,
                               ing waters in all regions. Of the 4,044         1990d). The South Atlantic region has
                               square miles of classified waters, al-          fewer marinas than the Middle Atlantic
                               most 75 percent are approved for har-           and Gulf of Mexico regions. The profile
                               vest (Leonard et al., 1989). Agricultural       of privately-owned sites in the South
                               runoff, septic systems, and recreational        Atlantic is similar to that in the Gulf of
                               activities (e.g., boating) are the primary      Mexico region, in part because of similar
                               factors affecting the quality of shellfish      physiography and climate.
                               waters in the region. Shellfish landings
                               in the South Atlantic, although small
                               compared to other regions, have in-
                               creased in recent years. The region's

                               34









                                                                                                 South Atlantic

                             The barrier islands that form the Outer Banks of North Carolina separate AlbemarlelPamlico
                             Sounds, the region's largest estuary, from the Atlantic Ocean.

























                             Courtesy of Timothy Goodspeed, NOAA






                             As of mid-1990, Albemarle- Pam I ico
                             Sounds and Indian River Lagoon (part
                             of the Indian River estuary) were in-
                             cluded in EPA's National Estuary Pro-
                             gram.

                             More detailed information on each estu-
                             ary can be found in Appendix B. Maps
                             showing the counties in each EDA are in
                             Appendix C.








                                                                                                             35




















                                                                                                                                                     M


                                                                                                                                               CD    c
                                                                                                                                               00

                                                                                                                                                     CD

                                                                                                                                                     0

                                                                                       Mississippi                                                   M
                                                                                                     Alabama                                         (;)
                                                                                                                                               CD
                                                                                                                     Georgia                         C
                                            exas                          Louisiana
                                                                                                                                                     0


                                                                                                        13 12
                                                        Houston        23                                            9                               (D
                                                                                   21                                      8                         x
                                                                                                                 10                                  F
                                                                                      20                                                             0
                                                           26                                     New
                                                                                                  Orleans            Tampa    Florida
                                                       28  2
                                                                                                                St.
                                                                                                                Petersburg                     rn
                                                   -30a
                                                     30                                                                    6


                                                     31
                                                                              Persons per Square Mile                          4
                                                                                                                                   3           ca
                                                                                    400 or Greater                                    2        Q)
                                                                             Ell
                                                                                                                                      1
                                                                                    100 to 399


                                                                                    50 to 99


                                                                                    0 to 49









                                                                                                       Gulf of Mexico

                               The Gulf of Mexico region extends              Physical Features. Like the South At-
                               from the southern tip of Florida west          lantic and much of the Middle Atlantic,
                               to the TexaslMexico border. The 31             the Gulf of Mexico is part of a vast
                               estuaries and four sub-estuaries               coastal plain of sedimentary deposits.
                               shown account for more than 96, 000            Major features include the Mississippi
                               square miles of estuarine drainage             and Atchafalaya deltas, where large
                               along the Gulf of Mexico coast.                amounts of land-derived sediments have
                                                                              been deposited in shallow coastal wa-
                                      Gulf of Mexico Estuaries                ters. These deltaic environments form a
                                   1  Florida Bay                             complex, interconnected web of estua-
                                   2  South Ten Thousand Islands              rine channels and extensive coastal
                                   3  North Ten Thousand Islands              wetlands that are important habitat for
                                   4  Rookery Bay                             many recreational and commercial fish-
                                   5  Charlotte Harbor                        eries. In other areas, sediment trans-
                                   5a Caloosahatchee River                    ported and deposited by oceanic cur-
                                   6  Sarasota Bay                            rents formed offshore bars enclosing
                                   7  Tampa Bay                               shallow, and sometimes extensive,
                                   8  Suwannee River                          bodies of water. Such bar-built estuar-
                                   9  Apalachee Bay                           ies are common along the Texas shore-
                                10    Apalachicola Bay                        line.
                                11    St. Andrew Bay                          Over 96,000 square miles of estuarine
                                12    Choctawhatchee Bay                      drainage area (EDA) make this the larg-
                                13    Pensacola Bay                           est of all regions. EIDAs range from
                                14    Perdido Bay                             about 200 square miles (Rookery Bay)
                                15    Mobile Bay                              to more than 12,000 square miles (Mis-
                                16    Mississippi Sound                       sissippi Sound). More than one-third
                                16a   Lake Borgne                             have EIDAs coinciding with their fluvial
                                16b   Lake Pontchartrain                      drainage areas. The notable excep-
                                17    Breton/Chandeleur Sounds                tions are the Mississippi and Atchafalaya
                                18    Mississippi River                       rivers, whose fluvial drainage areas ex-
                                19    Barataria Bay                           tend far into the Nation's hinterland and
                                20    Terrebonne/Timbalier Bays               drain more than half of the contiguous
                                21    Atchafalaya/Verrn i I ion Bays          U.S. Consequently, they receive enor-
                                22    Calcasieu Lake                          mous amounts of runoff from outside
                                23    Sabine Lake                             their EIDAs. Figures 9a and 9b show
                                24    Galveston Bay                           estuarine drainage and water surface
                                25    Brazos River                            areas in the Gulf of Mexico.
                                26    Matagorda Bay
                                27    San Antonio Bay                         With about 11,700 square miles of water
                                28    Aransas Bay                             surface area, the Gulf is first among
                                29    Corpus Christi Bay                      regions in total water surface area, and
                                30    Upper Laguna Madre                      contains two (Breton/Chandeleur and
                                30a   Baffin Bay                              Mississippi Sounds) of the top five estu-
                                31    Lower Laguna Madre                      aries with water surface areas greater
                                                                              than 1,000 square miles.

                                                                                                                      37









                                       Gulf of Mexico

                                      Figure 9. Selected Characteristics, Gulf of Mexico Estuaries

                                                 a. Estuarine Drainage Area                               b. Estuarine Water Surface Area

                                                                                            FL                                                       FL

                                                                                                        3
                                                 4                                                      4
                                                 5


                                                                                                        7


                                                                                                        10
                                                                                                        11
                                                 12                                                     12
                                                 13                                                     13
                                                 14                                         AL          14                                           AL
                                                                                                        15
                                                                                                        16                                      MS-LA
                                                 17                                         LA   (A     I                                            LA
                                      Lu         is                                             L"      is
                                                 19                                                     19
                                                 20                                                     20
                                                 21                                                     21
                                                 22                                                     22
                                                 23                                         TX          2                                            TX
                                                 24
                                                 25                                                     25
                                                 25                                                     26
                                                 27                                                     27
                                                 29                                                     26
                                                 209                                                    29
                                                 30                                                     30
                                                 31                                                     31
                                                                                                                     . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
                                                                              10    12      14                                             2000      2500
                                                 0    2     4     6                                       0       @10     1000     1500
                                                   Area (thousand square miles)                                     Area (square miles)

                                                 c. Total Wetlands                                        d. Urban and Agricultural Land Use
                                                                                                        I                                            FL
                                                 2                                                      2
                                                 3                                                      3
                                                 4                                                      4
                                                 5                                                      5
                                                 6WD                                                    6
                                                 7                                                      7
                                                 a=                                                     a
                                                 9                                                      9
                                                 '0                                                     10
                                                 1,                                                     11
                                                 12                                                     12
                                                 is                                                     13
                                                 14                                         AL          14                                           AL
                                                 15                                                     15
                                                 is                          -        MS"               16
                                                 '7                                         LA          17                                           LA
                                                 1
                                                 a
                                                 :
                                                 I
                                                 2NO                                            Lu      20
                                                 21                                                     21
                                                 22                                                     2M2
                                                 23                                         11          23                                           TX
                                                 U
                                                 25                                                     25
                                                 2H6                                                    26
                                                 27                                                     27
                                                 28                                                     2WO
                                                 29                                                     29
                                                 30                                                     30
                                                                                            FL
                                                 J@@A
                                                                                            L



                                                                                            LA







                                                                                                           (2)









































                                                 31                                                     31

                                                 0  sw    1OW 1SW 2= MO 3OW 3SOO                          0       20      40       60      so        100
                                                        Area (square miles)                                         Percentage of EDA

                                                                                                         E Urban            0 Agricultural
                                     Notes: Sub-estuaries are not shown separately. All values are in Appendix B. N/D-nodata.

                                     38








                                                                                                      Gulf of Mexico

                               Hydrologic Characteristics. Tidal              three-quarters of the freshwater inflow
                               cycles vary within the region. A semi-         into the region's estuaries. Long-term
                               diurnal tide predominates from the             precipitation, approximately 48 inches
                               Florida Keys to Apalachicola Bay and           per year in western Florida, increases to
                               from the Mississippi Delta area west           56 inches per year in coastal Alabama,
                               through Texas. A diurnal tide exists           Mississippi, and Louisiana, then de-
                               between these two areas. Tidal range is        creases dramatically westward through
                               small throughout the region, with a            Texas to about 24 inches per year in
                               maximum of 3.5 feet in Florida and a           Laguna Madre. Periods of high fresh-
                               minimum of one foot in Louisiana and           water inflow vary with precipitation pat-
                               Texas.    Hurricanes have a dramatic           terns in the region. Central and south-
                               effect on Gulf estuaries due to accom-         ern Florida receive their heaviest pre-
                               panying storm surges and increased             cipitation from June through October.
                               freshwater inflow from intense precipi-        Freshwater inflow into Texas estuaries
                               tation. Hurricane season extends from          is particularly variable by season.
                               June through October; the probability of
                               one hurricane per year making landfall         Wetlands. The greatest amount of
                               ranges from 20 percent in Florida to five      coastal wetlands of any region is found
                               percent in Texas (NOAA, 1985).                 in the Gulf of Mexico, more than 16,600
                                                                              square miles. Wetlands are most heavily
                               Gulf estuaries generally are the most          concentrated in the Mississippi Delta
                               shallow among the regions. They also           region and southwestern Florida (Figure
                               have less volume on average than most          9c). Forested wetlands and f resh marsh
                               other U.S. estuaries, despite their large      are important along the Gulf coast of
                               water surface areas. Mississippi Sound,        Florida; forested wetlands dominate from
                               for example, has the largest water vol-        the Florida Panhandle to Mississippi
                               ume in the Gulf (568 billion cubic feet);      Sound. Salt marsh dominates in the
                               however, at least nine estuaries in other      western Gulf, from Mississippi Sound
                               regions are larger. The combination of         westward (Reyer et al., 1988).
                               shallow depths and large surface areas
                               with minimal tidal range, geomorphology,       Wetlands provide important habitat in
                               and sediment deposition has generated          the life cycle of shrimp and menhaden,
                               abundant wetlands throughout most Gulf         the two most important commercial
                               estuaries.                                     fishery resources in the Gulf, especially
                                                                              in the area around the Mississippi Delta.
                               The Gulf of Mexico region's vast drain-        However, an estimated 50 square miles
                               age system creates tremendous fresh-           of these wetlands have been lost per
                               water inflow into estuaries. About half of     year between the mid-1950s and late
                               all the water discharged to estuaries in       1970s (Day and Craig, 1981). This has
                               the NEI is found in this region. The           resulted from a rise in sea level, land
                               Mississippi River (464,400 cubic feet          subsidence, and human alterations such
                               per second) and Atchafalaya/Verm i lion        as channelization of estuaries, canal
                               Bays (223,800 cubic feet per second)           dredging through wetlands to accom-
                               dominate the inflow of water into the          modate oil and gas production, and im-
                               Gulf of Mexico, accounting for almost          poundments.

                                                                                                                     39








                               Gulf of Mexico

                               Land Use. Early settlement of the re-          ton, and Tampa. Sarasota Bay has the
                               gion was associated with ports such as         highest population density in the region
                               New Orleans, situated on the Mississippi       (923 persons per square mile), followed
                               River, that provided access to the inte-       by Galveston Bay (665 persons per
                               riorof the continent. Thedenseswamps           square mile) and Tampa Bay (476 per-
                               and marshes of much of the region              sons per square mile).
                               restricted coastal settlement. However,
                               draining the wetlands uncovered an             Population in the 159     counties in the
                               immensely fertile soil that helped expand      region is expected to grow by almost 26
                               agricultural activity, particularly in the     percent over the next 20 years, higher
                               Mississippi Delta region and areas near        than any other coastal region (Culliton
                               the Florida Everglades. The subtropical        et al., 1990). Appendix C identifies
                               climate and significant rainfall have led      counties falling entirely or partially in
                               to the growth of dense forests, most           EDAs in the Gulf of Mexico region.
                               prevalent from northern Florida to the
                               Mississippi River. Forested lands are          Pollution Sources. The Gulf of Mexico
                               an important land use in this region.          region has more point sources of pollu-
                               Pulpwood for making paper is the major         tion (over 3,700) than any other region in
                               forest product.                                the Nation (NOAA, 1990e). This is a
                                                                              region with concentrations of industrial
                               Agricultural activity accounts for 31 per-     activity associated with oil and gas
                               cent of the land use in the Gulf of Mexico     production and development. Over half
                               (Figure 9d). The region east of Sabine         of the point sources are industrial facili-
                               Lake is one of the Nation's major pro-         ties, with many based on the petro-
                               ducers of sugarcane, rice, vegetables,         chemical industry. Municipal wastewa-
                               and fruits. Florida is the Nation's leading    ter treatment plants are also numerous
                               grower of citrus fruits. West of Sabine        and are located throughout the region.
                               Lake, rainfall rapidly diminishes and          Galveston Bay has the greatest con-
                               agriculture becomes irrigation-based           centration of point sources, followed by
                               with vegetables, fruit, and cotton as the      Mississippi Sound.
                               dominant crops.
                                                                              In 1982, approximately 11.7 million
                               Population. The Gulf of Mexico is the          pounds of commonly used pesticides
                               second fastest growing coastal region in       were applied to agricultural lands in the
                               the Nation. Between 1970 and 1980,             Gulf of Mexico region, most among re-
                               the population grew by more than 30            gions. The distribution of pesticides was:
                               percent. In spite of this growth, only five    herbicides (70 percent), insecticides (19
                               percent of the region is considered ur-        percent), and fungicides (eight percent).
                               ban. Petroleum and natural gas activity,       In 1982, the average application of pes-
                               agricultural activities, and tourism are       ticides was 366 pounds persquare mile.
                               important components of the regional           Apalachicola Bay had the highest inten-
                               economy. Figure 8 shows population             sity of application in the region (1,041
                               density in EDAs in the Gulf of Mexico          pounds per square mile), followed by
                               region. Major urban areas surround             Apalachee Bay (1,023 pounds per
                               port cities such as New Orleans, Hous-         square mile) (Pait et al., 1989).

                               40









                                                                                                          Gulf of Mexico

                                 In 1982, the application of fertilizer to      Fishery Resources. The coast along
                                 agricultural lands in the region's EDAs        the Gulf of Mexico is one of the most
                                 was the highest among regions. Ap-             productive fishery areas in the world.
                                 proximately 62,000 tons of phosphorus          The region produced almost 1.8 billion
                                 and 758,000 tons of nitrogen fertilizers       pounds of seafood in 1989 with an esti-
                                 were applied. Galveston Bay, Matagorda         mated ex-vessel value of 648 million
                                 Bay, and Lower Laguna Madre received           dollars, making it the leading seafood
                                 the highest applications. All contain a        producer among regions (NOAA, 1990f).
                                 high percentage of agricultural land.          Over three-quarters of this harvest com-
                                 Excluding nutrients from upstream flu-         prised species dependent on estuarine
                                 vial sources, fertilizer runoff from agri-     waters and coastal wetlands. For ex-
                                 cultural land is a significant nutrient        ample, it has been demonstrated on a
                                 source (i.e., greater than 25 percent of       Gulf-wide basis that inshore shrimp
                                 the total inputs of either phosphorus or       yields are related directly to the area of
                                 nitrogen) in South Ten Thousand Islands,       available estuarine intertidal vegetation
                                 North Ten Thousand Islands, Charlotte          (Turner, 1977). Although the harvest of
                                 Harbor, Suwannee River, Lower Laguna           brown, white, and pink shrimp is second
                                 Madre, Apalachee, Choctawhatchee,              to Gulf menhaden in terms of volume, it
                                 Pensacola, Perdido, Matagorda, San             accounts for more than half of the value
                                 Antonio, Aransas, and Corpus Christi           of landings in the region. Gulf estuaries
                                 bays (NOAA, 1990e).                            support abundant populations of eco-


                                 The Gulf of Mexico region leads the Nation with approximately 17,000square miles of coastal
                                 wetlands.













                                                                            4i


                                                                   &
                                                                   W







                                 0. ... ........ .. .... ....

                                 Courtesy of Dorothy Leonard, NOAA

                                                                                                                         41









                               Guff of Mexico

                               logically important species such as bay          set aside for conservation, preserva-
                               anchovy and sheepshead minnow.                   tion, or scenic value. Most sites (92
                               Dominant estuarine-dependent demer-              percent) are managed by local agree-
                               sal species in the region include spot           ments; however, most of the land is
                               and croaker (Stickney, 1984). Spot,              under either Federal (53 percent) or
                               croaker, and many other species use              state (44 percent) control (NOAA, 1988).
                               Gulf estuaries primarily as nursery ar-
                               eas for larval and juvenile life stages          Private outdoor recreation sites are also
                               (Williams et al., 1990).                         numerous in the region, second only to
                                                                                the Middle Atlantic region in total num-
                               The Gulf of Mexico region contains the           bers (NOAA, 1990d). The region con-
                               most classified shellfish-growing waters         tains almost one-third of the Nation's
                               (almost 9,000 square miles) of all the           private charter boats and private camp-
                               regions. About 3,800 square miles of             grounds. Almost one-quarter of the
                               these are approved for harvesting.               Nation's marinas are found in the re-
                               However, more than half (about 55 per-           gion. Because tourism is a growing
                               cent) of all classified waters in the region     industry in the Gulf, private outdoor
                               have regulatory limitations on harvest           recreation sites are likely to remain im-
                               (Broutman and Leonard, 1988).                    portant, and the number of sites may
                                                                                increase in the future.
                               Almost 15 million pounds of oyster meats
                               were harvested in Gulf waters in 1989
                               (NOAA, 1990f). Commercial harvest
                               occurs throughout the region, from               As of mid-1990, Sarasota Bay, Tampa
                               Charlotte Harbor to Laguna Madre, and            Bay, Galveston Bay, and the Barataria/
                               is especially significant in Apalachicola        Terrebonne Estuarine Complex were
                               Bay and Breton/Chandeleur Sounds.                included in EPA's National Estuary Pro-
                               Most harvest limitations are on a condi-         gram.
                               tional basis, depending on freshwater
                               inflowfrom highlyvariable rainfall events.       More detailed information on each estu-
                               Most of the region's productive reefs are        ary can be found in Appendix B. Maps
                               in these conditional areas.                      showing the counties in each EDA are in
                                                                                Appendix C.
                               Recreation. The supply of public out-
                               door recreational resources in estuarine
                               areas is third highest among regions.
                               There are more than 3,700 public out-
                               door recreation sites in the region, of
                               which 564 are adjacent to estuarine
                               waters. The total area of all sites is
                               almost 8,700 square miles. The major-
                               ity of these sites and most of the area are
                               located in the Mississippi Delta region.
                               Over half of the recreation area is man-
                               aged for hunting and over one-third is

                               42










                                                                                                       Gulf of Mexico


                               Wading birds, such as the egret, feed in the shallow waters of many Gulf estuaries.






                                                                                                                 4Z7F,,-











                               Courtesy of NOAA




























                                                                                                                     43










                                               Estuaries of the Pacific

                                             Figure 10. Population Density in Pacific EDAS, 1980



                                                                                  28b      Seattle
                                                                            28
                                                                     27          28              Washington
                                                                      26

                                                                                           Portland
                                                                       2       25
                                                                22


                                                               21
                                                               20
                                                                      1
                                                                      18                        Oregon



                                                                         5




                                                                      14
                                                              13                                                                  Persons per Square Mile
                                                                       12                                                                 2500 or Greater
                                                                                                                                          500 to 2499


                                                                                                                                          50 to 499
                                                                                                                                 0
                                                                                                                                          0 to 49


                                                                 San
                                                                 Francisco
                                                                                                  California








                                                                                             7


                                                                                                 Lo ngeles               4
                                                                                                                     5b
                                                                                                                 It,     3
                                                                                                             San Diego



                                             44































                                                                                                                 Pacific

                                The Pacific region extends from Ti-           Physical Features. The size and distri-
                                juana Estuary to Puget Sound. The             bution of estuaries along the Pacific
                                28 estuaries and six sub-estuaries            Coast are directly related to the region's
                                shown in Figure 10 account for ab             geomorphology. The Pacific Coast is
                                most 38,000 square miles of estua-            characterized by uniformly uplifted, re-
                                rine drainage along the Pacific coast.        sistant rock, except for coastal flats and
                                                                              islands along parts of the Washington
                                           Pacific Estuaries                  coast. Coasta@ -mountain formations
                                                                              have restricted the area of low-lying
                                    1 Tijuana Estuary                         coastal plainsand rivers that flow toward
                                    2 San Diego Bay                           the sea. This has resulted in narrow,
                                    3 Mission Bay                             deep, and steep-sided estuaries. The
                                    4 Newport Bay                             large estuaries of San Francisco Bay
                                    5 San Pedro Bay                           and Puget Sound formed when sections
                                    5a Alamitos Bay                           of the continent containing former river
                                    5b Anaheim Bay                            valleys sank below sea level due to
                                    6 Santa Monica Bay                        active mountain building. In Puget
                                    7 Morro Bay                               Sound, additional deepening and elon-
                                    8 Monterey Bay                            gation occurred due to glacial activity.
                                    8a Elkhorn Slough
                                    9 San Francisco Bay                       Estuarine drainage areas (EDAs) in the
                                    9a Central San Francisco/                 region range from 14 square miles in
                                      San Pablo/Suisun Bays                   Netarts Bay to about 8,000 square miles
                                 10   Drakes Estero                           in Puget Sound (Figure 11 a). Nineteen
                                 11   Tomales Bay                             of the 28 estuaries in the region have
                                 12   Eel River                               EDAs coinciding with their fluvial drain-
                                 13   Humboldt Bay                            age areas. The fluvial drainage areas
                                 14   Klamath River                           for Puget Sound, Columbia River, and
                                 15   Rogue River                             San Francisco Bay extend great dis-
                                 16   CoosBay                                 tances inland. These three estuaries
                                 17   Umpqua River                            account for about 53 percent of the
                                 18   Siuslaw River                           estuarine drainage along the Pacific
                                 19   Alsea River                             coast.
                                 20   Yaquina Bay
                                 21   Siletz Bay                              Because of the geomorphology of the
                                 22   Netarts Bay                             region, estuaries along the Pacific Coast
                                 23   Tillamook Bay                           generally have small water surface ar-
                                 24   Nehalem River                           eas. Half of the region's estuaries have
                                 25   Columbia River                          water surface areas less than or equal to
                                 26   Willapa Bay                             five square miles (Figure 11 b). Although
                                 27   Grays Harbor                            Puget Sound contains over one-third of
                                 28   Puget Sound                             the estuarine water surface area in the
                                 28a  Hood Canal                              region, it contains only one-quarter the
                                 28b  Skagit Bay                              water surface area of Chesapeake Bay.


                                                                                                                      45
































                                                      Pacific

                                                      Figure 11. Selected Characteristics, Pacific Estuaries
                                                                 1     a. Estuarine Drainage Area                                                    b. Estuarine Water Surface Area
                                                                 2                                                         CA                          A3)                                                    CA
                                                                                                                                                2

                                                                 4
                                                                 3



                                                                                                                                                a
                                                                 9     1                                                                        9
                                                                 10                                                                             10
                                                                 11                                                                             11
                                                                 12                                                                             12
                                                                 Is                                                                             Is
                                                                 14                                                                             14
                                                                                                                           OR                   15                                                            OR
                                                                 is                                                                             16
                                                                 1?                                                                             7
                                                                 Ia
                                                                 1:                                                                             1:
                                                                 20                                                                             20
                                                                 21                                                                             21
                                                                 22                                                                             22
                                                                 23
                                                                 24                                                                             24
                                                                 as                                                                             25
                                                                 26                                                        WA                   26                                                            WA
                                                                 27                                                                             27                                                            (931)
                                                                 20                                                                             28   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I                  now
                                                                       0   1     2       3                                                           0   50    100 150 200 250 300 350 400 430 1000

                                                                         Area (thousand square miles)                                                              Area (square miles)

                                                                       c. Total Wetlands                                                             d.  Urban and Agricultural Land Use
                                                                 I     No                                                  CA                   I                                                             CA

                                                                       NJO
                                                                 4     N/D
                                                                                                                                                4
                                                                                                                                                5


                                                                 7     N/D                                                                      7
                                                                 a                                                       (909)
                                                                 9
                                                                 1:                                                                             10
                                                                 11                                                                             11
                                                                 12                                                                             2
                                                                 13                                                                             13
                                                                 14                                                                             14
                                                                                                                           OR                                                                                 OR

                                                                 17                                                                             17
                                                                 18    WD                                                                       is
                                                                 19    N/D                                                                      is
                                                                 20    NID                                                                      20
                                                                 21    NID                                                                      21
                                                                 22    NIO                                                                      22
                                                                 23    NID                                                                      23
                                                                 24    1N/D                                                                     24
                                                                 25    -                                                                        25
                                                                 26               1                                        WA                   26                                                            WA
                                                                 27                                                                             27
                                                                       J
                                                                       N'D
                                                                       NID


                                                                       2
                                                                       NID













                                                                 20                                                                             28
                                                                                1100         2;0                        4,0r,                             1.0     2.0     31)     ;0      5.0     60          7.0 so
                                                                                 Area (square miles)                                                               Percentage of EDA
                                                                                                                                                     9 Urban                    E3 Agricultural

                                                      Notes: Sub-estuaries are not shown separately. All values are in Appendix B. N/D-nodata.

                                                      46








                                                                                                                       Pacific

                                  Hydrologic Characteristics. Tides                The large freshwater inflows into the
                                  throughout the region are semidiurnal            estuaries in the northern portion of the
                                  and range from about seven feet in               region are a function of the size of their
                                  Washington to less than four feet in             drainage areas and the climate of the
                                  Southern California. Circulation in large        Pacific Northwest. Freshwater inflows
                                  estuaries such as San Francisco Bay              are highest in estuaries north of San
                                  and Puget Sound tends to be dominated            Francisco Bay, with peak inflows occur-
                                  by tides, while circulation patterns in the      ring from December through April.
                                  smaller estuaries are directly effected          Runoff and freshwater inflow into South-
                                  by freshwater inflow. For example, es-           ern California estuaries are intermittent
                                  tuaries such as Eel River and Humboldt           from May through October when the
                                  Bay are influenced heavily by river dis-         flow of some coastal streams disap-
                                  charge. During high-flow periods, these          pears. Long-term precipitation is highly
                                  estuaries are composed almost entirely           variable within the region, ranging from
                                  of freshwater. During low-flow periods,          over 100 inches per year in northern
                                  discharge is not sufficient to maintain a        Washington, to less than 16 inches in
                                  good connection with the ocean, and              Southern California.
                                  long-shore processes tend to cut off the
                                  entrances to these estuaries.                    Wetlands. The estuarine drainage ar-
                                                                                   eas of the Pacific contain the least coastal
                                  Because of the unique geomorphology              wetlands (1,792 square miles) among
                                  of the Pacific region, characterized by          regions (Reyer et al., 1 990b). San Fran-
                                  deep submarine canyons (depths to                cisco Bay contains over half of all wet-
                                  3,000 feet) in Southern California bays          lands in this region (909 square miles)
                                  and shallow coastal estuaries in Or-             (Figure 11 c), even though it is estimated
                                  egon, the average depth and volume of            to have lost almost 95 percent of its
                                  the bays and estuaries vary consider-            wetlands since the time of settlement
                                  ably. Santa Monica Bay, Monterey Bay,            (Josselyn, 1983). Wetlands in San
                                  and Puget Sound are among the deepest            Francisco Bay include extensive tidal
                                  in the Nation, whereas Oregon estuar-            flats and salt ponds along the southern
                                  ies are among the most shallow.                  shores of the Bay, tidal flats and salt
                                                                                   marshes in San Pablo and Suisun bays,
                                  Although most estuaries along the Pa-            and vast areas of rice fields where the
                                  cific coast are relatively small, freshwa-       San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers
                                  ter inflow to them can be quite large. For       empty into Suisun Bay. California has
                                  example, the average daily freshwater            lost approximately 90 percent of its wet-
                                  discharge of the Columbia River is over          lands since being settled (Gosselink and
                                  270,000 cubic feet per second, the sec-          Baumann, 1980).
                                  ond highest in the Nation behind the
                                  Mississippi River. Puget Sound, San              Puget Sound contains the second larg-
                                  Francisco Bay, and the Klamath River             est amount of wetlands (387 square
                                  estuaries also receive some of the               miles), almost halt of which are tidal
                                  highest freshwater inflows in the Nation.        flats. The Columbia River EDA, third
                                                                                   with 158 square miles, is comprised
                                                                                   mostly of forested wetlands and

                                                                                                                            47








                              Pacific

                              marshlands. Wetland loss in Pacific             tuaries in the Nation: San Pedro and
                              estuaries historically can be attributed        Santa Monica bays.         The estuarine
                              to human activities such as agriculture,        drainage areas of both these estuaries
                              urbanization, and diking (Gosselink and         are within the Los Angeles metropolitan
                              Baumann, 1980). Because of diking by            area (Figure 10). Although its drainage
                              settlers and recent human pressures,            area is small, the population of San
                              11 major deltas surveyed in Puget Sound         Pedro Bay (over six million in 1980) is
                              lost about 30 square miles of wetlands          greater than the total population of ei-
                              from the late 1800s to 1980 (Bartleson          ther the North or South Atlantic regions.
                              et al., 1980).                                  San Francisco Bay, another densely
                                                                              populated estuary, includes the cities of
                              Land Use. Although California is the            San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento,
                              most populous state in the U.S., urban          and San Jose. Population densities
                              land dominates only two relatively small        decrease dramatically in Northern Cali-
                              drainage areas: San Pedro and Santa             fornia, Oregon, and Washington, and
                              Monica bays. Other land uses, espe-             are among the lowest in the Nation.
                              cially forest land, dominate the region's
                              estuaries due to the large inland extent        The population in the 62 counties with
                              of their drainage areas. Forest land, for       land in EDAs in California, Oregon, and
                              example, is the major land use in estu-         Washington is expected to increase by
                              aries north of San Francisco Bay. The           about 22 percent over the next two de-
                              cool, moist climate of the Pacific North-       cades (Culliton et al., 1990). Appendix
                              west has encouraged the growth of the           C identifies counties falling entirely or
                              most productive forest land in the Nation       partially in EIDAs in the region.
                              (NOAA, 1987). Puget Sound and Co-
                              lumbia River, the two largest EDAs,             Pollution Sources. There are almost
                              each have more than three-quarters of           1,000 point sources of pollution in EIDAs
                              their land in this category.       In San       in the Pacific region, the second fewest
                              Francisco Bay, however, agricultural            among regions (NOAA, 1990e). Almost
                              land dominates due to the inclusion of a        70 percent of these sources are indus-
                              large portion of the Central Valley along       trial facilities. Three-quarters of these
                              the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers.          industrial sources are concentrated in
                              Newport Bay also has a relatively large         Puget Sound, Columbia River, San
                              percentage of agricultural land use. The        Francisco Bay, and San Pedro Bay.
                              Pacific has the second highest percent-         The largest industrial dischargers are
                              age of urban land (112 percent) and the         concentrated in Columbia River and
                              fourth highest percentage of agricultural       Puget Sound. Three of the region's five
                              land (11 percent) among the regions.            largest facilities are pulp and paper mills
                              Figure 11d shows the distribution of            located along the Columbia River. These
                              urban and agricultural land in the region       mills discharge at least 30 million gallons
                                                                              per day of process wastewater. Mu-
                              Population. The region contains about           nicipal wastewater treatment plants, in-
                              one-quarter of the Nation's population          cluding the region's largest, are con-
                              residing in estuarine drainage areas, as        centrated in San Pedro, Santa Monica,
                              well as the most densely populated es-          and San Francisco bays, Columbia

                              48








                                                                                                                  Pacific

                               River, and Puget Sound estuarine                pendent species, over half of the dollar
                               drainage areas. Puget Sound has the             value was associated with this catch.
                               most point sources, followed by Co-             This was primarily due to the high price
                               lumbia River.                                   per pound of the anadromous Pacific
                                                                               salmon.
                               In 1982,1.5 million pounds of commonly
                               used pesticides were applied to agricul-        The estuaries and bays of the Pacific
                               tural lands in the EIDAs in the region.         region support a wide diversity of fishes
                               The distribution of pesticides was: her-        and invertebrates, including over 400
                               bicides (69 percent), insecticides (26          species of adult and juvenile fishes
                               percent), and fungicides (5 percent).           (NOAA, 1990f). The northern portion of
                               The Pacific region had a pesticide appli-       the region provides stream and lake
                               cation of about 250 pounds per square           spawning habitats for many species,
                               mile of cropland in 1982, making it the         including salmon. The small but highly
                               region with the lowest average intensity        saline estuaries in the southern portion
                               of application. San Pedro Bay (612              of the region support populations of eco-
                               pounds per square mile) and San Fran-           logically important fishes, such as smelts
                               cisco Bay (346 pounds per square mile)          and anchovies. The region's large ma-
                               were the EIDAs with the highest applica-        rine bays are home to many species,
                               tion intensity in the region (Pait et al.,      including abundant populations of white
                               1989).                                          croaker and kelp bass (Monaco et al.,
                                                                               1990).
                               In 1982, the application of fertilizers to
                               agricultural lands in estuarine drainage        The Pacific contains the least amount of
                               areas was the fourth highest among the          shellfish-growing waters (about 455
                               five regions. Approximately 19,000 tons         square miles), two percent of the total
                               of phosphorus and 128,000 tons of ni-           for all regions. More than 70 percent of
                               trogen fertilizers were applied.        San     these growing waters are in harvest-
                               Francisco Bay, Monterey Bay, and Puget          limited status. Shellfish-growing water
                               Sound received the highest applications.        quality is affected most by industrial
                               San Francisco Bay also contains a high          discharges, followed by urban runoff,
                               percentage of agricultural lands. Ex-           sewage treatment plants, and agricul-
                               cluding nutrients from upstream fluvial         ture. Over 80 percent of the region's
                               sources, fertilizer runoff from agricul-        approved waters are in Washington.
                               tural land is a significant nutrient source     Washington's clam and oyster industry
                               (i.e., greater than 25 percent of the total     leads the region and is concentrated in
                               inputs of either phosphorus or nitrogen)        southern Puget Sound and Willapa Bay.
                               only in Monterey Bay.                           Oregon's clam and oyster industry is
                                                                               centered in Tillamook, Yaquina, and
                               Fishery Resources. About 750 million            Coos bays. Commercial shellfish har-
                               pounds of seafood with an approximate           vest in California is based on aquacul-
                               ex-vessel value of 337 million dollars          ture and occurs in only five estuaries
                               were landed atthe region's ports in 1989        (Leonard and Slaughter, 1990).
                               (NOAA, 1990f). Although only one-fifth
                               of this harvest was from estuarine-de-


                                                                                                                        49








                              Pacific

                              Recreation. There are over 6,500 pub-        More detailed information on each estu-
                              lic outdoor recreation sites accounting      ary can be found in Appendix B. Maps
                              for almost 14,500 square miles in Pa-        showing the counties in each EDA are in
                              cific EDAs. Total public outdoor recre-      Appendix C.
                              ation land in Pacific EDAs is the largest
                              among regions. About 43 percent of
                              public recreation land is managed for
                              hunting, while almost 37 percent has
                              been set aside for conservation, pres-
                              ervation, or scenic value. Most sites (88
                              percent) are managed by local govern-
                              ments; however, most of the land is
                              under either Federal (83 percent) or
                              state (12 percent) control (NOAA, 1988).
                              Of the 1,769 sites providing -access to
                              water, almost half were adjacenttowater
                              under tidal influence. The greatest con-
                              centration of sites is in San Francisco
                              Bay, followed by San Pedro and Santa
                              Monica bays, and Puget Sound. Large
                              tracts of recreation land are found in
                              Oregon and Washington EDAs.

                              Private outdoor recreation sites in the
                              region exceed only the North Atlantic in
                              number. However, the Pacific region
                              does contains over one-quarter of the
                              private campgrounds in all regions
                              (NOAA, 1988). The large area of land
                              under public ownership and the region's
                              physical characteristics may accountfor
                              the relatively small number of private
                              recreation sites. California has the most
                              privately-owned outdoor recreation sites
                              in the region.



                              As of mid-1990, Puget Sound, San
                              Francisco Bay, and Santa Monica Bay
                              were included in EPA's National Estu-
                              ary Program.




                              50









                                                                                                          Pacific


                             Puget Sound, an estuary formed by tectonic and glacial processes, is typical of the
                             mountainous terrain of north pacific coast estuaries.

                                                                                    -VAIWa
                                                                             " @10












                             Courtesy of J. J. McDonough 111, NOAA
                                                                                 -owl'



















                                                                                                               51















        IR   C)
        01 ID CD
                                   Susceptibility to Retaining     0
       Cb C'x-@]
        CDZ- -5M
         W:z-                     Particulate-Attached Pollutants
          (a (nW
         '-<.Q)                                                  N)
       C6 1< z               Low            Medium  High
         2)  (D
           CD
       (D W-                                                     CD
       P- (D
             (D
       'a Cb
             Q)
       (D (0 _0
                   r
                                                                 (j)
                   0                     . ... ...
       0_ :Z'W0CD
         Sb (D                     A

           Da
           (D
                 U)
             Sb
                             00
                               __:.............
          Z3
        a' cL
       ID :3 1, WCD
             D
                cn
                0
        iz-: -zr Cal LT
                CD =. cD
       ::t CD CDZ
        -a Z    C-
                                                 O'@
        0CT) C)
                                      I>
                 E;3
                                                                 CD
                E                               ..... .....
                                              13

       Cb j-D, CD
       'TJ 2)-  z) LI).II I:@
                                      C3
             a'
                                             W9
         a
       -(a -a C)
         Cb Zr
                     >0000 (r
                                         1. 0
                                            0
                        U)K ZCD
         (D CD       0  0  0

       rz Cb zr
       C') Z3 (b   =;-0                                   :.... .. .... .
                              . . .........            . .......
          (D               >
                        >
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        Cb C) (b      CDW
       CD X                          . . . ...... . . ....
       -(a
       n) Cb


         zr
         Cb
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                                                                                                             Susceptibility
                                Susceptibility of Estuaries to                  Based on this index, estuaries in the
                                Pollutant Effects                               North and Middle Atlantic regions ex-
                                                                                hibit the highest sensitivities to both
                                One measure of an estuary's suscepti-           dissolved and particulate-attached pol-
                                bility to pollution is its ability to flush and/ lutants. In the North Atlantic, this is
                                or dilute pollutants. Pollutants may en-        primarily due to the relatively sluggish
                                ter an estuary either in dissolved form or      nature of its tidally-flushed estuaries.
                                attached to suspended particles in wa-          Freshwater inflows play a minor role in
                                ter, such as silt or clay. In general, the      estuarine circulation in this region.
                                lower an estuary's flushing rate to the         Muscongus and Narraguagus bays are
                                open ocean and the smaller its volume           examples of tidally-flushed estuaries in
                                for diluting pollutants, the greater is its     the region. By contrast, the high sensi-
                                susceptibility to retain dissolved pollut-      tivities of many Middle Atlantic estuaries
                                ants.                                           are due to limited flushing caused pri-
                                                                                marily by narrow inlets that restrict ex-
                                Some portion of the pollutants adsorbed         change with the open ocean. These
                                onto suspended particles entering an            narrow inlets are a feature of lagoonal
                                estuary settle and become incorporated          bar-built estuaries, such as Chin-
                                into its bottom sediments. These sedi-          coteague and Barnegat bays.
                                ments and their attached pollutants ac-
                                cumulate according to the rate at which         Lower sensitivities are generally exhib-
                                water travels through an estuary. The           ited by estuaries throughout the South
                                greater the water residence time, the           Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, except in
                                greater the retention of these particles        the lagoonal bar-built estuaries of Texas,
                                and the higher the potential for them to        e.g., Corpus Christi Bay, Laguna Madre,
                                affect bottom-dwelling organisms and            and San Antonio Bay. In the estuaries
                                habitats.                                       with low sensitivities, freshwater inflow
                                                                                to volume ratios are high. Consequently,
                                NOAA has developed a relative classi-           freshwater inflow significantly affects
                                fication index to approximate the ability       circulation and flushing in these systems.
                                of an estuary to retain dissolved and
                                particulate-attached pollutants. The in-        Pollution-retention sensitivity varies
                                dex is based on the "basic" physical and        greatly in the Pacific region because of
                                hydrologic characteristics of each estu-        the many types of estuaries (river domi-
                                ary (NOAA, 1985). Figure 12 presents            nated, coastal bays, and fjords) found in
                                a relative rating scale of high, medium,        theregion. For example, Columbia River,
                                or low. The ratings represent ten-fold          a river-dominated system, has a low
                                incremental changes in the susceptibil-         sensitivity while San Pedro Bay, a coastal
                                ity of an estuary to retain either dissolved    bay, has a high sensitivity rating.
                                or sediment-attached pollutants. A high
                                rating on either axis indicates an estuary      The index has been used with estimates
                                having relatively high sensitivity to a         of nitrogen and phosphorus loadings
                                reduction or increase in pollutant input.       from NOAA's National Coastal Pollutant
                                                                                Discharge Inventory to identify estuar-
                                                                                iesthat maybe most sensitive to changes

                                                                                                                       53







                                 Summary

                                 in nutrient inputs (NOAA and EPA 1 989a,         and up-to-date information about the
                                 1989b, 1989c). Used in this way, the             Nation's estuaries for use as a basis for
                                 index helps provide a basis for deter-           setting national policy and program pri-
                                 mining which estuaries may be experi-            orities.
                                 encing nutrient enrichment problems,
                                 and an indication of the extent to which         The information in this report and other
                                 reductions in nutrient inputs may affect         efforts by NOAA are beginning to pro-
                                 an estuary. The index will be evaluated          vide this valuable service. With this
                                 further in the coming year as part of a          information, we have a factual basis for
                                 nationwide survey of nutrient enrich-            comparing estuaries, placing them in a
                                 ment in estuaries, sponsored jointly by          regional or national context, assessing
                                 NOAA and EPA.                                    their condition, and approaching man-
                                                                                  agement of the Nation's estuaries on a
                                                                                  comprehensive rather than a case-by-
                                 Summary                                          case basis.

                                 This report shows that the Nation's estu-
                                 aries are an important "national resource
                                 base," especially in terms of fish and
                                 shellfish, habitat and wildlife, and recre-
                                 ational values. It also shows that estu-
                                 aries have been asked to meet many
                                 societal demands, directly or indirectly.
                                 Throughout our history, by developing
                                 shorelines, draining wetlands, dredging
                                 channels, and dumping pollutants, we
                                 have taken far more from our estuaries
                                 than we have given back. Like humans,
                                 some estuaries can respond to these
                                 demands; others cannot withstand the
                                 stress without developing symptoms of
                                 poor health. Each estuary is unique,
                                 described by its own set of vital statistics
                                 that define its natural processes and the
                                 level and impact of human uses.

                                 If, as a Nation, we expect to sustain the
                                 health of this important resource, ac-
                                 tions are needed for responsible stew-
                                 ardship, including continued monitoring
                                 and periodic examinations, planning
                                 preventative actions, and taking reme-
                                 dial or restorative actions where pos-
                                 sible. An important and fundamental
                                 step is to develop andmaintain accurate

                                 54









                                                                                                          References

                               References                                   S.P. Parker, pp. 139-144. New York,
                                                                            NY: McGraw-Hill Book Co. 579 pp.

                              Bartleson, G.C., M.J. Chrzastowski, and       Frayer, W.E., T.J. Monohan, D.C.
                              A.K. Helgerson.       1980. Historical        Bowden, and F.A. Graybill. 1983. Sta-
                              changes in shoreline and wetland at           tus and trends of wetlands and
                              eleven major deltas in the Puget Sound        deepwater habitats in the coterminous
                              region, Washington. Hydrologic Inves-         United States, 1950s to 1970s. Colo-
                              tigations Atlas, U.S. Geological Survey.      rado State University, Department of
                              11 maps.                                      Forest and Wood Sciences. Ft. Collins,
                                                                            CO. 32 pp.
                              Bell, F.W. 1989. Application of wetland
                              valuation theory to Florida fisheries.        Gosselink, J.G. and R.H. Baumann.
                              Tallahassee, FL: Florida Sea Grant            1980. Wetland inventories: Wetland
                              College. 118 pp.                              loss along the United States coast. Z
                                                                            Geomorph. N.F. Suppl. Bd. 34:173-
                              Broutman, M.A. and D.L. Leonard. 1988.        187.
                              National estuarine inventory: The quality
                              of shellfish growing waters in the Gulf of    Josselyn, M.N. 1983. The ecology of
                              Mexico. Rockville, MID: National Oce-         San Francisco Bay tidal marshes: A
                              anic and Atmospheric Administration,          community profile. U.S. Fish and Wild-
                              Strategic Assessment Branch. 43 pp.           life Service, U.S. Department of the In-
                                                                            terior Report FWS/OBS-83/23. Slidell,
                              Culliton, T.J., M.A. Warren, T.R.             LA: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 102
                              Goodspeed, D.G. Remer, C.M.                   PP.
                              Blackwell, and J.J. McDonough 111. 1990.
                              50 years ofpopulation change along the        Leonard, D. L., M.A. Broutman, and K. E.
                              Nation's coasts. Coastal trends series,       Harkness. 1989. National estuarine
                              Report No. 2. Rockville, MID: National        inventory: The quality of shellfish
                              Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra-           growing waters on the east coast of the
                              tion, Strategic Assessment Branch. 41         United States. Rockville, MID: National
                              pp-                                           Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra-
                                                                            tion, Strategic Assessment Branch. 54
                              Day, J.W. Jr. and N.J. Craig. 1981.           PP.
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                              Baton Rouge, LA, October 5-7, 1981.           Atmospheric Administration, Strategic
                                                                            Assessment Branch. 51 pp.
                              Dyer, K.R. 1977. Estuarine Oceanog-
                              raphy. In: McGraw-Hillencyclopediaof          Manooch C. S. 1984. Fisherman's guide:
                              ocean and atmospheric sciences, ed.           fishes of the southeastern United States.

                                                                                                                 55








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                                Raleigh, NC: North Carolina State Mu-           Coastal Pollutant Discharge Inventory
                                seum of Natural History. 362 pp.                Program. Rockville, MID: Strategic As-
                                                                                sessment Branch, Ocean Assessments
                                Monaco, M.E., R.L. Emmett, D.M. Nelson,         Division.
                                and S.A. Hinton. 1990. Distribution and
                                abundance of fishes and invertebrates in        National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-
                                West Coast estuaries. Volume 1: Data            ministration (NOAA). 1990f, Fisheries
                                summaries. ELM R Rept. No. 4. Rockville,        of the United States, 1989. Current
                                MID: National Oceanic and Atmospheric           fisheries statistics no. 8900. National
                                Administration, Strategic Assessment            Marine Fisheries Service. Silver Spring,
                                Branch. 240 pp.                                 MID: U.S. Government Printing Office.
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                                National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-
                                ministration (NOAA). 1990a. Coastal             National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-
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                                non-profit conservation lands data base         13 pp.
                                (unpublished). National Coastal Recre-
                                ation Inventory Project. Rockville, MD:         National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-
                                Strategic Assessment Branch, Ocean              ministration (NOAA). 1989b. National
                                Assessments Division.                           estuarine inventory: Data atlas, volume
                                                                                3: Coastal wetlands-New England re-
                                National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-            gion. Rockville, MID: Strategic Assess-
                                ministration (NOAA). 1990c. 1990 Na-            ment Branch, Ocean Assessments Di-
                                tional shellfish register of classified es-     vision. 20 pp.
                                tuarine waters data base (unpublished).
                                Rockville, MD: Strategic Assessment             National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-
                                Branch, Ocean Assessments Division.             ministration (NOAA). 1988. National
                                                                                estuarine inventory: Data atlas, volume
                                National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-            4: Public recreation facilities in coastal
                                ministration (NOAA). 1990d. Private             areas. Rockville, MD: Strategic As-
                                commercial recreation     data base (un-        sessment Branch, Ocean Assessments
                                published). National     Coastal Recre-         Division. 156 pp.
                                ation Inventory Project. Rockville, MID:
                                Strategic Assessment Branch, Ocean              National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-
                                Assessments Division.                           ministration (NOAA). 1987. National
                                                                                estuarine inventory: Data atlas, volume
                                National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-            2: Land use characteristics. Rockville,
                                ministration (NOAA). 1990e. National            MD: Strategic Assessment Branch,
                                coastal pollutant discharge inventory           Ocean Assessments Division. 40 pp.
                                data base (unpublished). National

                                56








                                                                                                         References

                              National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-         Agricultural pesticide use in estuarine
                              ministration (NOAA). 1985. National          drainage areas: A preliminary summary
                              estuarine inventory: Data atlas, volume      for selected pesticides. Rockville, MD:
                              /: Physical and hydrologic characteris-      National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-
                              tics. Rockville, IVID: Strategic Assess-     ministration, Strategic Assessment
                              ment Branch, Ocean Assessments Di-           Branch. 134 pp.
                              vision. 103 pp.
                                                                           Pritchard, D.W. 1967. What is an estu-
                              National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-         ary?: Physical viewpoint. In: Estuaries,
                              ministration (NOAA) and U.S. Environ-        ed. G.H. Lauff. AAAS Publication 83.
                              mental Protection Agency (EPA). 1989a.       Washington, DC: American Associa-
                              Susceptibility of East Coast estuaries to    tion for the Advancement of Science.
                              nutrient discharges: AlbemarlelPam-          pp. 3-5.
                              lico Sound to Biscayne Bay. Rockville,
                              MD: Strategic Assessment Branch,             Reyer, A.J., D.W. Field, J.E. Cassells,
                              Ocean Assessments Division. 32 pp.           C.E. Alexander, and C.L. Holland. 1988.
                                                                           National coastal wetlands inventory: The
                              National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-         distribution and areal extent of coastal
                              ministration (NOAA) and U.S. Environ-        wetlands in estuaries of the Gulf of
                              mental Protection Agency (EPA). 1989b.       Mexico. Rockville, IVID: National Oce-
                              Susceptibility of East Coast estuaries to    anic and Atmospheric Administration,
                              nutrient discharges: Passamaquoddy           Strategic Assessment Branch. 18 pp.
                              Bay to Chesapeake Bay. Rockville, MD:
                              Strategic Assessment Branch, Ocean           Reyer, A.J., B.D. Shearer, P.V.
                              Assessments Division. 38 pp.                 Genovese, D.W. Field, J.E. Cassells,
                                                                           C.E. Alexander, and C.L. Holland.
                              National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-         1990a. National coastal wetlands in-
                              ministration (NOAA) and U.S. Environ-        ventory: The distribution and areal ex-
                              mental Protection Agency (EPA). 1989c.       tent of coastal wetlands in estuaries of
                              Susceptibilityandstatus of Gulf of Mexico    the Mid-Atlantic region. Rockville, MD:
                              estuaries to nutrient discharges.            National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-
                              Rockville, MD: Strategic Assessment          ministration, Strategic Assessment
                              Branch, Ocean Assessments Division.          Branch. 22 pp.
                              36 pp.
                                                                           Reyer, A.J., B.D. Shearer, P.V.
                              Outdoor Recreation Resources Review          Genovese, D.W. Field, J.E. Cassells,
                              Commission. 1962. Shoreline recre-           C.E. Alexander, and C.L. Holland.
                              ation resources of the United States.        1990b. National coastal wetlands in-
                              Study Report No. 4. Washington, DC:          ventory: The distribution and areal ex-
                              Outdoor Recreation Resources Review          tent of coastal wetlands in estuaries of
                              Commission.                                  the West Coast region. Rockville, IVID:
                                                                           National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-
                              Pait, A.S., D.R.G. Farrow, J.A. Lowe,        ministration, Strategic Assessment
                              and P.A. Pacheco. 1989. The national         Branch. 23 pp.
                              coastal pollutant discharge inventory:

                                                                                                                57








                             References

                             Stickney, R.F. 1984. Estuarine ecology
                             of the southeastern United States and
                             Gulf of Mexico. College Station, TX:
                             Texas A&M University Press. 31 Opp.

                             Tiner, R.W. Jr. 1987. Mid-Atlantic wet-
                             lands: A disappearing national treasure.
                             Cooperative Publication: U.S. Fish and
                             Wildlife Service and Environmental
                             Protection Agency. Newton Corner, MA:
                             U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National
                             Wetland Inventory Project. 28 pp.

                             Turner, R. E. 1977. Intertidal vegetation
                             and commercial yields of penaeid
                             shrimp. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana
                             State University. pp. 411-416.

                             U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). 1990.
                             WatStore database (unpublished).
                             Reston, VA: Water Resources Division.

                             White, C.P. 1989. Chesapeake Bay:
                             Nature of the estuary, a field guide.
                             Centreville, MD: Tidewater Publishers.
                             212 pp.

                             Williams, C.D., D.M. Nelson, L.C.
                             Clements, M.E. Monaco, S.L. Stone,
                             L.R. Settle, C. lancu, and E.A. Irlandi.
                             1990. Distribution and abundance of
                             fishes and invertebrates in eastern Gulf
                             of Mexico estuaries. ELIVIR Report. No.
                             6. Rockville, MD: National Oceanic and
                             Atmospheric Administration, Strategic
                             Assessment Branch. 105 pp.











                             58







                                                                                             Appendix A: Estuarine and Fluvial Drainage Area Comparisons






                                                        Columbia River:                                                                       Apalachee Bay:
                                                        Small Estuarine Drainage Area                                                         Large Estuarine Drainage Area
                                                        Large Fluvial Drainage Area                                                           Small Fluvial Drainage Area

                                                                              British Columbia                   Fluvial
                                                                                                                D,a'n.g
                                                                                                                  Are.                                                                Georgia

                                                                                                                                                                  Fluvisl
                                                                                                                                                                 Dra"'.9
                                                                                                                                                                   Area
                                                                                     Washington
                                                                                                                 Montana

                                                           Estuarine
                                                            fstu"in:                                Idah.
                                                            1,aira,e                 Oregon
                                                              Area
                                                                                                                     Wyoming                                        Estuarine
                                                                                                                                                                    Drainag
                                                                                                                                                                        'Are.


                                                                                           Nevada           Utah
                                                                                                                                                                                                       Florida

                                                                                 California







                                                                                                                                              Chesapeake Bay:
                                                        Saco Bay:                                                                             Large Estuarine Drainage Area
                                                        No Fluvial Drainage Area                                                              Large Fluvial Drainage Area




                                                                                                                                                                                                       Drainage
                                                                                                                                                                                                       Area
                                                                                                                                                                                         New York

                                                                                                   Maine




                                                                                                                                                                                  Pennsylvania


                                                                                                                                                                        District of Columbia
                                                                                                          3o                                                                             Maryland
                                                                                                                                                                                                       Delaware

                                                                                                                                                         West Virginia
                                                                      New
                                                                                                                                                                                                               Estuarine
                                                                   Hampshire                    Estuarine                                                                                                      Drainage
                                                                                               D.Inag                                                                                                          Area
                                                                                                 Area
                                                                                                                                                                        Virginia
                                                                                                                                                                             Me @..d
                                                                                                          -o
                                                                                                                                                                                                       .clawa  'e
                                                                kE                                                                                                                                             E@'uar",
                                                                                               D stu'""                                                                                                        Darn.g
                                                                                                  'a,,agc                                                                                                      Aea
                                                                                                 Area










                                                                                                                                                                                                                     59


















           Q)                                                                                     PHYSICAL and HYDROLOGIC FEATURES                             NATURAL RESOURCES                             ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES
                                                                                           "t",                                                                         /Classified Shellfish                                                                    Susceptibility     (b
                                                                                                                                                                                     W
                                                                                                                                                                                     ,at                             Land Use
                                                                                                       Z",                                                                           (sq @ns                         cl Use          Point Sources b              to
                                                                                                                                                                                     c
                                                                                                                                                                                                                     f EDA)            of Pollution              Pollution
                                                                                                                                     zk
                                                                                                                                                                                                 Af
                  Map NOAA                                                                                                                                 q,                                                                                                    @or
                                              ESTUARY
                  ID#- code                                                                                                                                                                              Z-10        I                                                              Zr
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    2)
                                     NORTH ATLANTIC                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 ib,
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Cl)
                     1  N010         Passamaquoddy Bay                                 32         32      157,             72        612       315         238        52             62    11:           1           4                       5        M:         W
                     2  N020         Englishman Bay                                    9          9         76             38        16        80          178        88             93    12            2           4         9             4        M          H
                     3  N030         Narraguagus Bay                                   4          4         7G             32        9         63          89         87             89    17            1           6         2             1        H          H
                     4  N040         Blue Hill Bay                                     8          8       115              75        13        241         90         ill            117   28            4           1         15            8        H          H
                     5  N050         Penobscot Bay                                     32         94,     361              72   161            725         153        309            362@  58       :@4              6         29            16,      M          H
                     16 N060         Muscongus Bay                                     3          3         72             43        6         65          14         66             72    67            4           9         1             7        H          H
                     7  N070         Sheepscot Bay                                     62         101     103              41   176            118         49         :56            @99   66            3,          10        8             12       L          M
                     8  N080         Casco Bay c                                       12         12      164              42        21        191         61         144            168 172        14               10        40            10       M          H                  Sb
                     9  N090         Saco Say                                          18         18        17             32   :,   36        15          78         15             20    71            4           4                                w          M                  "N.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    CID
                  10    N100         Great Bay                                         10         10        15             11        20            5       80         6              20  243        10               11        29            30       H          L
                  11    N110         Merrimack River                                   23         50           6           12        84            2       96         0              4,  423        @13              7         29            7                   L
                  12    N120         Massachusetts Bay c                               12         12      364              77        29        786         N/D        7              40 2,228       45               3         56            16       M          H
                  12a N120a            Boston Bay                                      7          7.        69             26        18        150         69         @O             24 2,789       53,              2         55            14       H          M
                  13    N130         Cape Cod Bay c                                    8          8       548              77        18    1,178           72         72             77  392        24               1         4             4        M          H
                                     Total                                             233        361   2,068              48   651        3,804     1,198      1,013        1,223       211,            7           7         238      129


                                     MIDDLE ATLANTfC
                     1  M010         Buzzards Bay c                                    6          6       228              .34       12        215         75         184                780:       .13              6         7             5        H          H
                     2  M020         Narragansett Bay c                                13         18      165              30        32        139         155        110            165 1,065      26               9         113           24       M          H
                     3  M030         Gardiners Bay                                     4          4       197              20@       7     .   Ill         22         194            198 . 227      26
                                                                                                                                                                                                                     17        5             3        H          H
                     4  M040         Long Island Soundc                                72         172    1,281             62   300        2,192           315  1,122        1,342     1,008        25               14        226           87       L          H
                     4a    M040a       Clonnecli.cur.River                                        1         20             13   210                7       57         6              8   744        2,5              13        13            5        H          A@
                     5  M050         Great South Bay                                   8          8       151              9         7         37          70         118            160 2,583      69               7         49            23       H          H
                     6  M060         Hudson River/Raritan Bay c                        85         165     298              21   267            '172        269        0              257 1,471      24               25,       582                    M          'M1
                     7  M070         Barnegat Bay                                      14         14      102              5         23        13          384        98             130 343        14               9         24            28       H          M
                     8  M080         New Jersey Inland Bays                            7          7       110              9         11        26          N/D        28             64  415        12               5         18                     H          M
                     9  , M090       , Delaware Bay c                                  48         135     768              21   198            448,        641        549            623,1,082      24               42        181      153           M          M






















              10 M100         Delaware Inland Bays'                    3        3        32          4        3          4   NID       19         30     126         10     46           9          7      H         M
              11 M110         Chincoteague Say                         3        3        137         6        4       23       58      154       156       46        7      32           21         16     H         H
              12 M120         Chesapeake Bay                       220          693  3,830           24       858  2,510   1,557     3,715     4,043     404         13     33           540    275        L         M
              1 2a  M120a       Patuxent River                         9        9        47          19       9       25     AVE)      NID       NID     446         16     20           6          12     H         M
              12b   M120b       Potomac River                          31       146      494         19       159     266    NID       395       407     942         26     24           59         58     H         M
              12c   M120c       Rappahannock River                     12       27       145         16       29      66     NID       111       117       75        4      29           46         12     H         M
              12d   M 120d      York River                             26       26       74          16       25      32     NID       51         60       56        4      25           9          22     H         M
              120   M120e       James River                            44       102      236         14       125     90     N10       71        @?38    399         12     24           126        63     H         M
              12f   M120f       Chester River                          5        5        57          14       5       22     NID       NID       NID       76        3      40           13         11     H         H
              12g   M120g       Choplank River                         9        9        110         13       10      40     NID       NID       NID       84        5      52           24         13     H         H
              12h   M120h       TangierlPocomoke Sounds                26       26       459         13       29      160    NID       NID       NID       78        7      26           47         22     H         H
                              Total                                483     1,228     7,299           20  1,722     5,890   3,546    6,291      7,367     822         19     27      1,775       924


                              SOUTH ATLANTIC
                  Isolo       Albemarle/Pamlico Sounds c           116          296  2,949           13       460  1,081   1,768    2,524      3,088     182         9      59           103        84     M         M
                  la S010a      PamlicolPungo Rivers                   21       43       166         9        46      44     NID       82        177       72        4      39           21         4      H         M
                  Ib S010b      Neuse River                            22       56       173         12       62      55     Af/D      117       177     110         5      29           20         19     H         M
                  2S020       Bogue Sound                              7        7        102         5        13      13     149       66        118       70        8      12           24         11     H         M
                  3S030       New River                                5        5        32          6        a          5     39         0       36     219         11     14           19         29     H         M
                  4S040       Cape Fear River                          43       91       38          11       101     12     234          0       42       64        3      25           45         22     M         L
                  5S050       Winyah Bay                               95       181      30          11       204        9   923          1       30       72        3      34           31         30     M         L
                  6S060       N. Santee/S. Santee Rivers               7        153        9         8        27         2   310          0       38       21        1      12           4          69     M         L               Q-
                  7S070       Charleston Harbor                        12       158      37          18       161     19     299          4       10     206         8      11           42         0      H         L
                  8S080       St. Helena Sound                         15       48       85          13       46      31     672       80         81       34        2      22           3          14     M         M
                  9S090       Broad River                              10       10       100         24       9       67     330       ill       125       96        5      31           6          15     H         H
              10   Sloo       Savannah River                           9        104      33          15       128     14     453          7       27       67        3      22           34         14     M         L
              11   silo       Ossabaw Sound                            15       47       33          14       30      13     402       12         34       77        4      33           4          4      H         M
              12   S120       St. Cathennes/Sapelo Sounds              10       10       75          14       8       30     136       119       178       22        4        1          5          4      H         H
              13   S130       Altamaha River                           15       142      15          10       149        4   178          0          4     30        1      18           0          0      M         L
              14   S140       St. Andrew/St. Simons Sounds             33       40       72          14       25      29     902       68        127       49        2      21           12         4      H         M
              15   S150       St. Marys River/Cumberland Scl           70       70       26          20       82      15     N/D       N/D       N/D         9       <1       1          9          8      H         L
              16   S160       St. Johns River e                        65       94       258         12       78      86   1,638       N/D       N/D     212         8      18           69     304        M         M
              17   S170       Indian River c,e                         12       12       280         7        14      51     161       34        106     327         17     30           14         54     H         H
              18   S180       Biscayne Bay                             15       15       269         8        32      58     589       N)D       N/D    1,030        21     24           is     103        M         M
                              Total                                554     1,483     4,443           12  1,575     1,539   9,183 3,026         4,044     104         4      22           442    769

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      cu
              Abbreviations:  sq. mi., square miles; ft., feet; avg., average,  cfs, cubic feet per second;   cu. ft., cubic feet; EDA, estuarine drainage area; MWTP,      municipal wastewater treatment plant;
                              con., concentration; H, high; M, medium; L, low; N/D, no data.






















                                                                                                                       PHYSICAL and HYDROLOGIC FEATURES                                       NATURAL RESOURCES                                      ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES
                                                                                                                              -et,                                                                         Classified Shel/Itish                                                                             Susceptibility               (b
                                                                                                                              10                                                                                        Waters                           Land Use                        P.                         to
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         (% of EDA)                                                 ution                 CIL
                                                                                                                                                                                                                        sq.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Poll
                                                                                                                                                                         @Q,
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  q,
                                                                                                                                                                                                                        .5-6                                                             z
                          Map NOAA                     ESTUARY                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        aor
                          ID# Code


                                           GULF OF MEXICO
                                           Flo                                                                                :538                                                                                                                                         0,            3
                          1  G010              , rida Say                                                              11                         8        N/D::@::      1,110       N/D,:        N/D                                      14            30
                          2  G020          South Ten Thousand Islands f,i                               13             13       77                7        N/D           14       3,383           43                    70    29                2                 9        0             0
                          3  G030:         North Ten Thousand Islands Y -                               9              21:@   19Z                 6        N/D           31                                                                     9        22-               :0            3
                          4  G040          Rookery       Bay                                            2              2        14                5        N/D                    2  N/D          N/D           N/D           31                2                 8        0             1
                          5, G050          Charlotte Harlbor.@:                                         50,                                                                          975,,        86:
                                                                                                                       .::50  :311                @8       48            73:                                    176           105,              5        36                56            22         M               M
                          5a G050a             Caloosahatchee River                                     14             14       26                5        19                     3  NID              0                 5     127               4        29                10            6          H               L
                          6  G060          Sarasota Ba : c                                              3              3.       44,               6        _@:.4                  8  N/D          N11)          N/D:          923.         28            :26.              6             11         H
                                                                         y
                          7  G070          Tampa Bay c                                                  26             26     346                 13       24            123         394              9                 88    476          17            40                69            29         H               H
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         3          M
                          8: G680          Suwartrfee River                                             :19.:,         102      42@               5.,      112                    6, 358          :10                   26:   24::,             1@       33                3                                        L
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          CD
                          9  G090          Apialachee Bay                                               37             46     159                 10       53            45       1,087               0                 33    64                3        17                21            5          M               M                     (7)
                          :10, G100        Apalachicola Bay                                             30             205:   214,                         291           @@54        924,             1         175,          15                2                 7        3,            4:
                          11 G110          St. Andrew Bay'                                              11             11       94                12       45            31          392              0         100           65                5                 3        12            7          M               M
                          12, G120         Choclawhatchee Bay                                           23,            1154   129-                14       85            51          438          .@O           :97           42                4,       24.               3@@           8          M-              IM
                          13 G130          Pensacola Bay                                                35             70     143                 13       116           51          382              0         147           72                5                          6             6                          M
                          14 G140:         Perdido Say                                                  12             12       50                7        :22           10       1  266                                0,    121               7        26                .:6           12::       H::             M,
                          15 G150          Mobile Bay                                                   49             446    409                 10       793           113      1,023               0         407           85                3        12                101           41         L               L
                          1@ 6160,         Mississippi SoundQ                                           121            269    1,B50               1,1      436           @5613    1,670.          413,       1,857:           125               6        23                197                      M-              M
                          16a G 160a           Lake Borgne                                              79             148    282                 9        251           74          NID          293           391           134               9        26                1             119        H               L
                          16b :G160b           Lake Pontchartrain                                       55             55,    :710                1 1:@@ :: 107,         :220        NID                        710           122               7                                        116        H               M
                          17 G170          Breton/Chandeleur Sounds                  h                  25             25     2,086               8        103           420         532       1,534         1,592            384               3                 1        1             9          M               H
                                                                         h,i
                          18, G1 80,       Mississippi River                                            19.  11,317           :@ 600 .            26   4,644             386         251              0                 0,.   326:              4        19                11            16:        L               L
                          19 G190          Barataria Bay                 C'h                            22             22     646                 5        55            90          897          158           199           203               6        17                1             21         H               M
                          :2oWoo           Te  nreborine/Timbali         Ier IBa IyIs                   16-"::: :      15-    680                 ::13::   46:'          110      :::,%l::        465           583           :67:::                              3:                     3                          M
                          21 G210          Atchafalaya/Verm i lion Bays'                                72   1,006            703                 7    2,238             137         721          20            718           76                3        34                7             71         L               L
                          22 G220          Calcasieu Lake                                               11             43                                  63            26       .  191          39                    8@    117               6        38                1             8          H               M
                          23 G230          Sabine Lake                                                  48             209      94                8        172           21          615              0                 0     92                5        14                164           56         M               L
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           16            50
                          24 IG240         I Galveston Bay,c,'                               1          45             245    540                 6        152           92       1  374              0         547     1     665                                 1.       747           5661       M               :M
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       4,                @and
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  of






















                 25 G250       Brazos River'                             28    468           2        8          74        @1         31      0         2         57      5       71          40        49     H           L
                 26 G260       Matagorda Bay                             59    503       422          7          53        78     134         0     375           26      2       58       113          46     M           M
                 27 G270       San Antonio Say                           5     109       205          4          41        25     105         0     238           10      3       16          17        2      H           M
                 28 G280       Aransas Bay                               28        28    208          5          10        31     152         99    212           33      4       34       104          16     H           M
                 29 G290       Corpus Christi Bay                        20    176       192          8          12        42         46  171       225       152         5       47       183          21     H           H
                 30 G300       Upper Laguna Madrei                       55        55    216          3          6         15     704     794       848           84      2       23          50        13                 H
                 30a G300a       Baffin Say                              35        35        92       4          4         11     NID         74     93           27      1       31          is        7      H           M
                 31 G310       Lower Laguna MadreJ                       58        58    366          3          3         26     N/D     N/D       N/D           19      4       42          79        41                 H
                                 Total                                   962  15,621   11,67@1        8    9,701      2,789    16,606    3,842     8,803      122         5       30     2,000    1,293


                               PACIFIC
                 I  P010       Tijuana Estuary k                         17        17        @1       I          <1        <1   N/D       N/D       N/D           37      5       16          0         0                  L
                 2  P020       San Diego Bay 1                           5         8         17       22         1         11         6       0         0     955         21         5        14        3      M           H
                 3  P03o       Mission Say                               1         1         3        8          <1        I    N/D       N/D       N/D     1,154         18         8        1         0                  H
                 4  P040       Newport Bay                               2         2         2        8          <1        <1   N/D       N/D       N/D     1,662         38      33          2         2      H           M
                 5  P050       San Pedro Bay                             17        17        25       39         3         27         7       0         0   3,677         55         3     110          18     H           H
                 5a P050a        Alamitos Bay                            <1        <1        1        13         1         <1   N/D       N/D       NID     2,483         34         3        1         0      H           H
                 5b P050b        Anaheim Say                             I         1         1        16         1         'l   NID       NID       NIO     6,593         90         7        1         1                  H
                 6  P060       Santa Monica Bay c                        5         5     211       314           9    1,844           4       0         0   4,088         60         2        6         4      M           H
                 7  P070       Morro Bay                                 1         1         3        3          <1        <1   N/D           0         0     163         5          8        1         1      H           M
                 8  P080       Monterey Bay                              5         60    209       255           12   1,485           5       0         1     572         21      18          10        8      H           H                Cb
                 8a P080a        Elkhorn Stough                          2         2         1        8          1         <1   NID           0         0     395         15      37          6         2                  L
                 9  P090       San Francisco Bay c                       65    441       452          21      324          261  909           0     125       802         17      40       112          53     M           M
                 9a P090a        Centfal San Franciscol                  46    422       264          21         46        151  A(/D      NID       NID       519         10      46          66        34                 H
                                 San Pablo/Suisun Bays
                 10 P100       Drakes Estero                             <1        <1        4        3          <1        <1   N/D           3         4         68      2       17                    0
                                                                                                                                                                                                                           M
                 11 P110       Tomales Bay                               2         2         11       6          3         2    N/D           0      10           70      4          7        0         0      H           M
                 12 P120       Eel River                                 15        36        2        5          97        <1     20          0         0         14      1          4        8         4      M           L
                 13 P130       Humboldt Bay                              2         2         19       11         7         6      33          0      26       272         7          8        9         7      H           M
                 14 P-140      Klamath River                             is    155           1        23      206          1          2       0         0         3       <1      <1          0         1      M           L
                 15 P150       Rogue River                               9         51        1        5       106          <1   N/D       N/D       N/D           17      2          1        1         1      M           L
                 16 P160       Coos Bay                                  6         6         13       14         29        5      30          5      17           51      3          2        14        3      H           L
                 17 P170       Umpqua River 1                            15        46        10       13         93        4      16          5         9         17      1          4        13        7      M           L
                 18 P180       Siuslaw River                             8         8         4        9          30        1    N/D           0         2         14      1          7        6         5      H           L
                 19 P190       Alsea River                               5         5         3        7          23        <1   N/D           0         0         4       @l         2        1         1      H           L                (A
                 20 P200       Yaquina Bay                               3         3         5        10         10        1    N/D           3         6         46      3          2        12        3      H           L
              Abbreviations:   sq. mi., square miles; ft., feet, avg.,   average;  cis, cubic feet per second@ cu. ft., cubic feet;   EDA, estuarine drainage area;       MWTP, municipal wastewater treatment plant;
                               con., concentration; H, high; M, medium; L, low; N/D, no data.





















          0)
                                                                                                       PHYSICAL and HYDROLOGIC FEATURES                                NATURAL RESOURCES
                                                                                                                                                                                                                       ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Susceptibility
                                                                                                                                                                                  Classified Shellfish                                                            b
                                                                                                                                                                                            W
                                                                                                                                                                                            jata@s                            Land Use                Point Sources           to
                                                                                                                                                                                            (so
                                                                                                                                                                                            C MI)                             (% of EDA)              of Pollution       Pollution                CIL
                                                                                                        q,
                                                                                                                                           4@z

                                                                                                                                                                                                        .0

                 Map NOAA                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     U
                 ID# Code                     ESTUAR                                                                                T
                 21.    PM           Siletz Bay,                                          4            4           2          8         28             <1      N)D             1            2           35       2            2,            1         4           H           L                   W
                 22     P220         Netarts Bay                                          <1           <1          2          5                                                                                                                                                                   @
                                                                                                                                           1           <1      N/D             4            4           16       4            <1            0         1           H           M
                 23:    P230         Tillamook Say                                        6:           6        11            6         39             2       N/D             0            14.         23       2            5,        11            3           H           L
                 24     P240         Nehalem River                                        9            9           2          7         34             <1      N/D             3            3           6     <1              2             2         1           H           L
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  co
                 25     P250         Columbia River                                       56    2,577        284           16       2,725          124         158             0            0           186      9            7       126             68          L           L
                 26     P260         Will apa Bay                                         11           11       92         16           59             42      105             43           47          17       1            3         18            2           IM          M
                 27:    PNO          Grays Harbor                                         14                    58         13,       :135              21      110             0                        5        2,           3         28            7           M           L
                                                                                                                                                                                            94          4
                 28     P280         PugetSoundc"                                         80      123        931           201        511        5,218         387             54           91          345   15              7       218             58          L           H
                 28a P280a             Hood Canal                                         12           12    @146          230
                                                                                                                                        65         936         t4/0            13           13          26       4            1             5         1           H           M
                 28b P280b             Skagit Bay                                         19           62    215           154        366          926         NID             27           37          124      8            8         15            13          H           M
                                     Total ,                   :,    : : @,::                                          .   37                          1  _1,792,
                                                                                               3,624.       2XT                     4,487       9,06                      :121        455               529   .12,            11.     724 .           265
                                     National Total          ----T2,611                       22,317      27,858           23     18,136       23,083     132,325     14,293      21,892                309      9            23    5,179      3,380
                 Abbreviationsi      sq. mi., square miles; ft., feet       ' avg., average; cts, cubic feet per second; cu. ft., cubic feet; EDA, estuarine drainage area;                                   MWTP, municipal wastewater treatment plant;
                                     con., concentration; H, high; M, medium; L, low; N/D, no data.







                                                                    Appendix B: Characteristics of Estuaries

                              Table Notes


                              a. Wetlands data (except Mississippi River) are based on estuary definitions in
                                Volume 1 of the National Estuarine Inventory (NEI) .
                              b. Based on 1982-1987 data, may not represent current conditions.
                              c. Estuary included in the EPA National Estuarine Program. EPA boundaries may
                                not correspond with NOAA boundaries.
                              d. Boston Bay was listed as an estuary in Volume 1 of the NEI. It is now a sub-
                                estuary of Massachusetts Bay.
                              e. Freshwater inflow data are preliminary.
                              f. Listed as Ten Thousand Islands in Volume 1 of the NEI. Data for these estuaries
                                are preliminary.
                              g. Lake Pontchartrain drains into Lake Borgne and is included in the Lake Borgne
                                sub-estuary. Mississippi Sound total does not double-count Lake Pontchartrain.
                              h. Listed as Mississippi Delta in Volume 1 of the NEI.
                              i. The area of this EDA has been revised since Volume 1 of the NEI.
                              j. Listed as Laguna Madre in Volume 1 of the NEI. Baffin Bay, a sub-estuary of
                                Upper Laguna Madre, has not changed.
                              k. Population density and land use data are for the U.S. portion only.
                              1. Listed as Winchester Bay in Volume 1 of the NEI.

























                                                                                                            65







                    Appendix C: North Atlantic











                                                              2




                                                       Maine











                                                    13      10          15

                                                 4
                           New           19                     5
                           Hampshire          9            14

                                                  1      7
                                                    128
                                    20    18     3

                                             16

                                        17


                                  v.   22  24

                                           23

                                      21

                                            26

                                       27
                                              30
                                    31
                                         28


                            Massachusetts   29

                                               25











                    66








                                                                                                             Appendix C: North Atlantic


















                                     North Atlantic Counties*

                                     Maine                                 New Hampshire                         Massachusetts

                                     1   Androscoggin                      17   Belknap                          25    Barnstable
                                     2   Aroostook                         18   Carroll                          26    Essex
                                     3   Cumberland                        19   Coos                             27    Middlesex
                                     4   Franklin                          20   Grafton                          28    Norfolk
                                     5   Hancock                           21   Hillsborough                     29    Plymouth
                                     6   Kennebec                          22   Merrimack                        30    Suffolk
                                     7   Knox                              23   Rockingham                       31    Worcester
                                     8   Lincoln                           24   Strafford
                                     9   Oxford
                                     10  Penobscot
                                     11  Piscataquis
                                     12  Sagadahoc
                                     13  Somerset
                                     14  Waldo
                                     15  Washington
                                     16  York


                                     Tounties completely or partially in EDAs.


























                                                                                                                                         67




























                                                                                                          New York:-
                                                                                                                                                        Massachusetts
                                                                                                                                          36

                                                                                                                                   37      22   JJ
                                                                                                                                          26                                                                                             :41
                                                                                                                                              24                                  6                                                      Cb
                                                                                                                                                           5
                                                                                                                                                                                       7
                                                                                                                                      40     25                  20   21     12    3

                                                                                                                                     30      31          18                 3
                                                                                                                                             41    14                                4
                                                                                                                                 60       5                                       9
                                                                                                                                     57                                    0   11
                                                                     Pennsylvania                                                        43                                       Rhode! Island
                                                                                                                                  55 48
                                                                                                                    67
                                                                                                                             5 1 59  61                                Connecticut
                                                                                                                        62          53
                                                                                                                                       54
                                                                                                                    66                                32
                                                                                                                                                    29
                                                                                                          65                                     27
                                                                                                                 63   4       44      56    34  0
                                                                                                                        49  5
                                                                                                                  69
                                                                                                                      58
                                                                                         Maryla,    6d                           42        New Jersey
                                                                                                                         47
                                                                                                                               4
                                                                                                                   68


                                                                                                                     70
                                                                                                                            Delaware


















                         Middle Atlantic Counties (Northern)*

                         Massachusetts                    Connecticut                        New York                           New Jersey                       Pennsylvania

                         1    Barnstable                  14    Fairfield                    22    Albany                       42    Atlantic                   62    Bucks
                         2    Berkshire                   15    Hartford                     23    Bronx                        43    Bergen                     63    Chester
                         3    Bristol                     16    Litchfield                   24    Columbia                     44    Burlington                 64    Delaware
                         4    Dukes                       17    Middlesex                    25    Dutchess                     45    Camden                     65    Lancaster
                         5    Hampden                     18    New Haven                    26    Greene                       46    Cape May                   66    Montgomery
                         6    Norfolk                     19    New London                   27    Kings                        47    Cumberland                 67    Philadelphia
                         7    Plymouth                    20    Tolland                      28    Nassau                       48    Essex
                         8    Worcester                   21    Windham                      29    New York                     49    Gloucester                 Delaware
                                                                                             30    Orange                       50    Hudson
                         Rhode Island                                                        31    Putnam                       51    Hunterclon                 68 Kent
                                                                                             32    Queens                       52    Mercer                     69 New Castle
                         9    Bristol                                                        33    Rensselaer                   53    Middlesex                  70 Sussex
                         10   Kent                                                           34    Richmond                     54    Monmouth
                         11   Newport                                                        35    Rockland                     55    Morris                                                           CD
                         12   Providence                                                     36    Schenectady                  56    Ocean
                         13   Washington                                                     37    Schoharie                    57    Passaic
                                                                                             38    Suffolk                      58    Salem
                                                                                             39    Sullivan                     59    Somerset
                                                                                             40    Ulster                       60    Sussex
                                                                                             41    Westchester                  61    Union                                                            R,
                                                                                                                                                                                                       C,

                                completely or partially in EDAs.








                                        Appendix C: Middle Atlantic (Southern)


















                                                                                                    Pennsylvania                         New
                                                                                                                                         Jerse,






                                                                                                                     6        10
                                                                         Maryland                       71           67 27 223 7
                                                                                                                     11  21   12
                                                                                                     70              4   2    15
                                                                                                       36            3          5
                                                                                                    76                        18
                                                                                                    75               6                     Delaware
                                                                                                      72             63       9
                                                                                                        56           45  16      19   20
                                                                                                24     49            62 295   0 17
                                                                                                   37                4 61 54
                                                                                                       39            40 4644
                                                                                                 2                                   23
                                                                                                  8 3   57                    51
                                                                                             26                      31415
                                                                                                       25            31 30 38 0    53
                                                                                                 58   55                      80
                                                                                                                     4        7
                                                                                                                              3
                                                                             Virginia                     33         7   42   81 78
                                                                                                                     79
                                                                                                         82 69
                                                                                                                         83   68 84




















                                        70








                                                                                                     Appendix C: Middle Atlantic (Southern)










                                       Middle Atlantic Counties (Southern)*

                                       Pennsylvania                22 District of               44    King and Queen          70   Fai rf ax
                                                                         Columbia               45    King George             71   Falls Church
                                       1   York                                                 46    King William            72   Fredericksburg
                                                                   Virginia                     47    Lancaster               73   Hampton
                                       Maryland                                                 48    Loudoun                 74   Hopewell
                                                                   23    Accomack               49    Louisa                  75   Manassas
                                       2   Anne Arundel            24    Albemarle              50    Mathews                 76   Manassas Park
                                       3   Baltimore               25    Amelia                 51    Middlesex               77   Newport News
                                       4   Calvert                 26    Appomattox             52    New Kent                78   Norfolk
                                       5   Caroline                27    Arlington              53    Northampton             79   Petersburg
                                       6   Carroll                 28    Buckingham             54    Northumberland          80   Poquoson
                                       7   Cecil                   29    Caroline               55    Nottoway                81   Portsmouth
                                       8   Charles                 30    Charles City           56    Orange                  82   Richmond
                                       9   Dorchester              31    Chesterfield           57    Powhatan                83   Suffolk
                                       10  Harford                 32    Cumberland             58    Prince Edward           84   Virginia Beach
                                       11  Howard                  33    Dinwiddie              59    Prince George           85   Williamsburg
                                       12  Kent                    34    Essex                  60    Prince William
                                       13  Montgomery              35    Fairfax                61    Richmond
                                       14  Prince George's         36    Fauquier               62    Spotsylvania
                                       15  Queen Anne's            37    Fluvanna               63    Stafford
                                       16  St. Mary's              38    Gloucester             64    Surry
                                       17  Somerset                39    Goochland              65    Westmoreland
                                       18  Talbot                  40    Hanover                66    York
                                       19  Wicomico                41    Henrico                67    Alexandria
                                       20  Worcester               42    Isle of Wight          68    Chesapeake
                                       21  Baltimore city          43    James City             69    Colonial Heights

                                       Tounties completely or partially in EDAs.
























                                                                                                                                                  71








                                     Appendix C: South Atlantic









                                                                                                                 Virginia


                                                                                                                                   3  2 4
                                                                                                                        22  32 24 20       16 12
                                                                                                                      30 19    7             35
                                                                                              North Carolina
                                                                                                                              29 45 43 17
                                                                                                                      47    38  6
                                                                                                                   26    21          25
                                                                                                               23        28
                                                                                                                              4             34
                                                                                                                           27
                                                                                                     44539     15  41  18
                                                                                                                                        11
                                                                                                          2
                                                                                              South 65 53 68  40   8   36
                                                                                              Carolina 64 56 57 13               33
                                                                                                           7               31
                                                                                                       59     62
                                                                                                     70
                                                                                                     4  71 60
                                                                                              6
                                                                                              48;
                                                              Georgia                         B9 49  51
                                                                                                55          52
                                                                                              856
                                                                                              8      50
                                                                             913              78
                                                                        75                    97     81
                                                                                                77
                                                                         87                   83 74 72991
                                                                                              79 94 76 92
                                                                                              79
                                                                                              82
                                                                                              116
                                                                                              01
                                                                                              108
                                                                                              10
                                                                                              105 122
                                                                            102
                                                                                              00 121
                                                                                              09

                                                                                              113 26

                                                                                              112
                                                                                              124
                                                                                              118
                                                                                                     103
                                                                                              119


                                                                                              Florida 117 23
                                                                                                     114


                                                                                              110    120


                                                                                                     104


                                                                                              115 107









                                     72








                                                                                                                        Appendix C: South Atlantic








                                          South Atlantic Counties*

                                          Virginia                    36    Pender                  Georgia                        Florida
                                                                      37    Perquimans
                                          1  Southampton              38    Pitt                    72    Appling                  100   Alachua
                                          2  Chesapeake               39    Richmond                73    Atkinson                 101   Baker
                                          3  Suffolk                  40    Robeson                 74    Bacon                    102   Bradford
                                          4  Virginia Beach           41    Sampson                 75    Ben Hill                 103   Brevard
                                                                      42    Scotland                76    Brantley                 104   Broward
                                          North Carolina              43    Tyrrell                 77    Bryan                    105   Clay
                                                                      44    Union                   78    Bulloch                  106   Columbia
                                          5  Anson                    45    Washington              79    Camden                   107   Dade
                                          6  Beaufort                 46    Wayne                   80    Charlton                 108   Duval
                                          7  Bertie                   47    Wilson                  81    Chatham                  109   Flagler
                                          8  Bladen                                                 82    Clinch                   110   Hendry
                                          9  Brunswick                South Carolina                83    Coffee                   111   Indian River
                                          10 Camden                                                 84    Effingham                112   Lake
                                          11 Carteret                 48    Allendale               85    Emanuel                  113   Marion
                                          12 Chowan                   49    Bamberg                 86    Glynn                    114   Martin
                                          13 Columbus                 50    Beaufort                87    Irwin                    115   Monroe
                                          14 Craven                   51    Berkeley                88    Jeff Davis               116   Nassau
                                          15 Cumberland               52    Charleston              89    Jenkins                  117   Okeechobee
                                          16 Currituck                53    Chesterfield            90    Liberty                  118   Orange
                                          17 Dare                     54    Clarendon               91    Long                     119   Osceola
                                          18 Duplin                   55    Colleton                92    McIntosh                 120   Palm Beach
                                          19 Edgecombe                56    Darlington              93    Montgomery               121   Putnam
                                          20 Gates                    57    Dillon                  94    Pierce                   122   St. Johns
                                          21 Greene                   58    Dorchester              95    Screven                  123   St. Lucie
                                          22 Halifax                  59    Florence                96    Tattnall                 124   Seminole
                                          23 Harnett                  60    Georgetown              97    Toombs                   125   Union
                                          24 Hertford                 61    Hampton                 98    Ware                     126   Volusia
                                          25 Hyde                     62    Horry                   99    Wayne
                                          26 Johnston                 63    Jasper
                                          27 Jones                    64    Kershaw
                                          28 Lenoir                   65    Lancaster
                                          29 Martin                   66    Lee
                                          30 Nash                     67    Marion
                                          31 New Hanover              68    Marlboro
                                          32 Northampton              69    Orangeburg
                                          33 Onslow                   70    Sumter
                                          34 Pamlico                  71    Williamsburg
                                          35 Pasquotank


                                          Tounties completely or partially in EDAs.










                                                                                                                                                       73
























                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 CD




                                                                                                                                     Mississippi-                                             Alabama,                                                                r     ia
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        :,,G,eo g



                                                                                                                                                                              46               5
                                                                                                                                                                                                 8
                                                                                                                                                                                                                   51
                                                                                     Louisiana                                                                        74               47      56
                                                                                                                              60
                                                                                                                                                                                                      49      5
                                                                                                                       75                         W              7n                                                                                                                                                                                                              Q)
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     54
                                                                                                                                                                           61     5           9  5,                                     gn          42
                                                                                                                                                              72        6                    4        34      30     39                                  43   44   41
                                                                                                                                                        63                                                                               2          11   24    21         2
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            26       38             37         36       5
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             10                             22
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            8              1

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         14                                         25

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Florida


                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              31
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            32               18            33

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           28          15
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              17
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       7
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  35                                        13
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       3

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       23          16    ...........

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               4


                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             6
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    29



















                      Gulf of Mexico Counties (Eastern)*


                         Florida                               20    Jackson                   Georgia                       Alabama                       Mississippi
                                                               21    Jefferson
                         1    Bay                              22    Lafayette                 41    Brooks                  45    Baldwin                 59    Amite
                         2    Calhoun                          23    Lee                       42    Decatur                 46    Choctaw                 60    Franklin
                         3    Charlotte                        24    Leon                      43    Grady                   47    Clarke                  61    George
                         4    Collier                          25    Levy                      44    Thomas                  48    Coffee                  62    Greene
                         5    Columbia                         26    Liberty                                                 49    Conecuh                 63    Hancock
                         6    Dade                             27    Madison                                                 50    Covington               64    Harrison
                         7    De Soto                          28    Manatee                                                 51    Crenshaw                65    Jackson
                         8    Dixie                            29    Monroe                                                  52    Escambia                66    Lamar
                         9    Escambia                         30    Okaloosa                                                53    Geneva                  67    Lincoln
                         10   Franklin                         31    Pasco                                                   54    Houston                 68    Marion
                         11   Gadsden                          32    Pinellas                                                55    Mobile                  69    Pearl River
                         12   Gilchrist                        33    Polk                                                    56    Monroe                  70    Perry
                         13   Glades                           34    Santa Rosa                                              57    Washington              71    Pike
                         14   Gulf                             35    Sarasota                                                58    Wilcox                  72    Stone                          (b
                         15   Hardee                           36    Suwannee                                                                              73    Walthall
                         16   Hendry                           37    Taylor                                                                                74    Wayne
                         17   Highlands                        38    Wakulla                                                                               75    Wilkinson
                         18   Hillsborough                     39    Walton                                                                                                                     C
                         19   Holmes                           40    Washington

                      -counties completely or partially in EDAs.


                                                                                                                                                                                                X




                                                                                                                                                                                                Q)

















                                                                                                                                                                        r3









                                                                                                                                           Mississippi



                                                                                                                       Louisiana
                                                                           Texas                                                                                        E3

                                                                                                                     21
                                                                                                                                        36
                                                                                                              38
                                                                                                                        34    20
                                                                                                     80                          4    7
                                                                                                                    71                  9
                                                                                                              7A       5   1  1. 17  1       31
                                                                                                         75                             8      @3u
                                                                                                 81                               28
                                                                                                      56      67  73              11                         17
                                                                                                 40           46 60        7  JJ              3
                                                                                              47                                                            22
                                                                                                     DI
                                                                                            66
                                                                                         48
                                                                                     63        58                             14    2
                                                                                         53 79    70
                                                                                 69 68 1 7743  44         42                         12- 25-
                                                                            82   49 62   72
                                                                                       65
                                                                                   43
                                                                                 61   64

                                                                               77  57  84
                                                                                        45





















                         Gulf of Mexico Counties (Western)*

                         Louisiana                      17    Orleans                     35 Washington                    50    Fayette                    68   Live Oak
                                                        18    Plaquernines                36 West Baton Rouge              51    Fort Bend                  69   McMullen
                         1   Allen                      19    Point Coupee                37 West Feliciana                52    Galveston                  70   Matagorda
                         2   Ascension                  20    Rapides                                                      53    Goliad                     71   Newton
                         3   Assumption                 21    Sabine                      Texas                            54    Gonzales                   72   Nueces
                         4   Avoyelles                  22    St. Bernard                                                  55    Hardin                     73   Orange
                         5   Beauregard                 23    St. Charles                 38   Angelina                    56    Harris                     74   Refugio
                         6   Calcasieu                  24    St. Helena                  39   Aransas                     57    Hidalgo                    75   San Jacinto
                         7   Cameron                    25    St. James                   40   Austin                      58    Jackson                    76   San Patricio
                         8   East Baton Rouge           26    St. John the Baptist        41   Bee                         59    Jasper                     77   Starr
                         9   East Feliciana             27    St. Landry                  42   Brazoria                    60    Jefferson                  78   Tyler
                         10  Evangeline                 28    St. Martin                  43   Brooks                      61    Jim Hogg                   79   Victoria
                         11  Iberia                     29    St. Mary                    44   Calhoun                     62    Jim Wells                  80   Waller
                         12  lberville                  30    St. Tammany                 45   Cameron                     63    Karnes                     81   Washington
                         13  Jefferson                  31    Tangipahoa                  46   Chambers                    64    Kenedy                     82   Webb
                         14  Laf ayette                 32    Terrebonne                  47   Colorado                    65    Kleberg                    83   Wharton
                         15  Lafourche                  33    Vermilion                   48   De Witt                     66    Lavaca                     84   Willacy
                         16  Livingston                 34    Vernon                      49   Duval                       67    Liberty

                                completely or partially in EDAs.
                                                                                                                                                                                               0







                    Appendix C: Pacific




                                          57
                                       49

                                  45      59
                                  50   2 51     washington
                                       54
                                  48
                                       56

                              55       53
                               61            62
                                       31 47
                                       32 58
                                       42 46
                                       43 40
                                       44
                                       30
                              39       41
                                       29

                                       38      Oregon:


                                       35
                                33


                                34     37 36


                                       22






                                4




                                       7
                                         25

                                         28
                                       249 12
                                       6 23
                                         2 17
                                       16
                                         1
                                       19
                                       21 20   California


                                           8



                                               18


                                                   27  5      14




                                                             15






                    78







                                                                                                                           Appendix C: Pacific













                                      Pacific Counties*

                                      California                             Oregon                                  Washington

                                      1    Alameda                           29    Benton                            45    Clallam
                                      2    Contra Costa                      30    Clackamas                         46    Clark
                                      3    Del Norte                         31    Clatsop                           47    Cowlitz
                                      4    Humboldt                          32    Columbia                          48    Grays Harbor
                                      5    Los Angeles                       33    Coos                              49    Island
                                      6    Marin                             34    Curry                             50    Jefferson
                                      7    Mendocino                         35    Douglas                           51    King
                                      8    Monterey                          36    Jackson                           52    Kitsap
                                      9    Napa                              37    Josephine                         53    Lewis
                                      10   Orange                            38    Lane                              54    Mason
                                      11   Placer                            39    Lincoln                           55    Pacific
                                      12   Sacramento                        40    Multnomah                         56    Pierce
                                      13   San Benito                        41    Polk                              57    Skagit
                                      14   San Bernardino                    42    Tillamook                         58    Skamania
                                      15   San Diego                         43    Washington                        59    Snohomish
                                      16   San Francisco                     44    Yarnhill                          60    Thurston
                                      17   San Joaquin                                                               61    Wahkiakum
                                      18   San Luis Obispo                                                           62    Yakima
                                      19   San Mateo
                                      20   Santa Clara
                                      21   Santa Cruz
                                      22   Siskiyou
                                      23   Solano
                                      24   Sonoma
                                      25   Sutter
                                      26   Trinity
                                      27   Ventura
                                      28   Yolo


                                      Tounties completely or partially in EDAs.

















                                                                                                                                             79






















                   I






















































                                                                                                    Cover Photo:
                                                                            Potomac River, Maryland and Virginia

                                                                                                by Winfield Parks
                                                                         Copyright @ National Geographic Society



































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