Summary of Findings: National Estuary Program Coastal Condition Report - NEP CCR

Summary of the Findings from the Executive Summary

With this NEP CCR, the collaborating agencies and the individual NEPs strive to provide a benchmark of estuarine condition that paints a comprehensive picture of the nation´s NEP estuaries. The report indices are based on the large amount of NCA monitoring data collected from 1997 through 2003 on the condition of the nation´s NEP estuaries. NCA rating scores for estu­arine condition are based on a 5-point system, where a score of less than 2.0 is rated poor; 2.0 to less than 2.3 is rated fair to poor; 2.3 to 3.7 is rated fair; greater than 3.7 to 4.0 is rated good to fair; and greater than 4.0 is rated good.

The major findings of this report are as follows:

• An assessment of the ecological monitoring data shows that the overall condition of the nation´s NEP estuaries is generally fair (2.7), but that regionally, the Puerto Rico (1.5) and Northeast Coast (1.5) regions are rated poor, the Gulf Coast (2.75) and West Coast (2.5) regions are rated fair, and the Southeast Coast region is rated good to fair (4.0) for overall condition (Table ES-2). The overall condition ratings for the nation´s NEP estuaries are based on four primary indices of estuarine condition-a water quality index, sedi­ment quality index, benthic index, and fish tissue contaminants index.

Table ES-2. Regional and National Raring Scores^a for Indices of Estuarine Condition
and Overall Condition for the Nation's NEP Estuaries

Index	Northeast Coast	Southeast Coast	Gulf Coastb	West Coast	Puerto Ricoc	United Statesd
Water Quality Index	3	5	3	3	3	3.6
Sediment Quality Index	1	4	2	1	1	2.1
Benthic Index	1	3	2	5	1	2.7
Fish Tissue Contaminants Index	1	4	4	1	1	2.6
Overall Condition	1.5	4.0	2.75	2.5	1.5	2.7

a Rating scores are based on a 5-point system, where a score of less than 2.0 is rated poor; 2.0 to less than 2.3 is rated fair to poor; 2.3 to 3.7 is rated fair; greater than 3.7 to 4.0 is rated good to fair; and greater than 4.0 is rated good.
b This rating score does not include the impact of the hypoxic zone in offshore Gulf Coast waters.
c This rating score includes only San Juan Bay Estuary, Puerto Rico.
d The U.S. score is based on an areally weighted mean of the regional index scores.

• The water quality index for the nation´s collective NEP estuaries is rated fair (3.6), with the North­east Coast (3.0), Gulf Coast (3.0), West Coast (3.0), and Puerto Rico (3.0) regions rated fair and the Southeast Coast region (5.0) rated good for this index. Water quality data, including data on the five component indicators (DIN, DIP, chloro­phyll a, water clarity, and dissolved oxygen), were available for all NEP estuaries of the United States.

• The sediment quality index for the nation´s collective NEP estuaries is rated fair to poor (2.1), with the Northeast Coast (1.0), West Coast (1.0), and Puerto Rico (1.0) regions rated poor; the Gulf Coast region (2.0) rated fair to poor; and the Southeast Coast region (4.0) rated good to fair for this index. Sediment quality index ratings were based on three component indicators: sediment toxicity, sediment contaminants, and sediment TOC. For some NEPs, two of the three compo­nent indicators for assessing sediment quality were not monitored, and the sediment quality index was based solely on the measurement of one component indicator. Typically, sediment TOC was more consistently monitored among sites than sediment toxicity or sediment contaminant concentrations. The NCA did not evaluate the Peconic Estuary for sediment quality, and only sediment TOC data were available for the four NEP estuaries located in Florida (Indian River Lagoon, Charlotte Harbor, Sarasota Bay, and Tampa Bay).

• The benthic index for the nation´s collective NEP estuaries is rated fair (2.7), with the Northeast Coast (1.0) and Puerto Rico (1.0) regions rated poor, the Gulf Coast region (2.0) rated fair to poor, the Southeast Coast region (3.0) rated fair, and the West Coast region (5.0) rated good for this index. Benthic indices were developed for the NEP estuaries of the Northeast Coast, Southeast Coast, and Gulf Coast regions, and benthic community diversity was used as a surrogate indi­cator of biological condition for the West Coast and Puerto Rico regions. No assessment was possible using the benthic community diversity indicator for three West Coast estuaries (Lower Columbia River Estuary, Morro Bay, and Santa Monica Bay).

• The fish tissue contaminants index for the nation´s collective NEP estuaries is rated fair (2.6), with the Northeast Coast (1.0), West Coast (1.0), and Puerto Rico (1.0) regions rated poor, and the Southeast Coast (4.0) and Gulf Coast (4.0) regions rated good to fair for this index. NCA data for the fish tissue contaminants index were not available for several of the NEP estuaries, including Casco Bay, the Indian River Lagoon, Charlotte Harbor, Sarasota Bay, and Tampa Bay.

Table ES-3. Percent of NEP Estuarine Areas in Poor Condition by the Index and Region

Index	Northeast Coast	Southeast Coast	Gulf Coastb	West Coast	Puerto Ricoc	United Statesd
Water Quality Index	9	4	13	4	8	8
Sediment Quality Index	21	6	15	17	33	15
Benthic Index	26	15	20	4	65	17
Fish Tissue Contaminants Index	38	10	12	32	40	23
Overall Condition	46	23	46	36	100	37




• Nationally, 37% of the NEP estuarine area is in poor overall condition (Table ES-3, Figure ES-2). Regionally, roughly 100% of Puerto Rico´s NEP estuary (San Juan Bay Estuary) is in poor overall condition, and 46% of the Northeast Coast, 46% of the Gulf Coast, 36% of the West Coast, and 23% of the Southeast Coast NEP estuaries are in poor overall condition.

Figure ES-2. Overall condition data for U.S. NEP estuaries (U.S. EPA/NCA)