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Water: Estuaries and Coastal Watersheds

State of Our NEP Estuaries

terns on a beach

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Introduction

It is important to keep the public and decision-makers informed about the environmental health and conditions of the estuaries in the National Estuary Program (NEP); they need to know what improvements have been made, and what remains to be done.

EPA provided a snapshot of the overall conditions of NEP estuaries in its 2006 Coastal Condition Report (CCR). The report is based on available monitoring data for the period 1997-2003 collected by Federal agencies, State, Regional and local organizations as part of the National Coastal Condition Assessment.

Individual NEPs have also worked with their many partners to collect, compile and analyze monitoring data to produce a "State of the Bay" report (typically issued every 3-5 years). This monitoring data is collected over a longer time period, and from more sampling stations than the NEP CCR giving a more comprehensive picture of conditions.

These NEP "State of the Bay" reports are critical because they:

To gauge an estuary's health, each NEP develops environmental indicators — "specific, measurable markers that help assess the condition of the environment and how it changes over time" (see Indicator Development for Estuaries, EPA 842-B-08-004 September 2008).

For each environmental indicator, a quantitative or qualitative measure is developed based on the goals and objectives of a CCMP, which in turn reflect the priorities of local stakeholders. These indicators can include water and sediment quality, land use, living resources and habitat among many others.

NEP State of the Bay Reports

National Estuary Program Coastal Condition Report

Factsheet: National Estuary Program Coastal Condition Report - NEP CCR | PDF Version (2 pp, 434K)

Full report: National Estuary Program Coastal Condition Report - NEP CCR, including links to PDF versions of the full report and of individual sections of the report.

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