Appendix A: The NEI Program 



National Estuarine Inventory 



The goal of the National Estuarine 

 Inventory (NEI) is to develop a com- 

 prehensive framework for evaluating 

 the health and status of the Nation's 

 estuaries, and to bring estuaries into 

 focus as a national resource base. 

 The principal spatial unit for which all 

 data are organized is the estuarine 

 drainage area, or EDA, defined as that 

 land and water component of an entire 

 watershed that most directly affects an 

 estuary (NOAA, 1985). EDA bound- 

 aries coincide, where possible, with 

 U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 

 Hydrologic Cataloging Units within 

 which the head of tide of an estuary 

 falls. These data are being used to 

 make comparisons, rankings, statisti- 

 cal correlations, and other analyses 

 related to resource use, environmental 

 quality, and economic values among 

 estuaries. 



The cornerstone of the NEI is the 

 National Estuarine Inventory Data 

 Atlas, Volume 1: Physical and 

 Hydrologic Characteristics (NOAA, 

 1 985). This atlas identifies 92 of the 

 most important estuaries of the 

 conterminous U.S. and presents 

 information through maps and tables. 

 These estuaries represent approxi- 

 mately 90 percent of the estuarine 

 water surface area and 90 percent of 

 the freshwater inflow to marine waters 

 of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf of 

 Mexico coasts. 



Volume 2, Land Use Characteristics, 

 presents area estimates for seven 

 categories and 24 subcategories of 

 land use, as well as population 



estimates for 1970 and 1980 (NOAA, 

 1987). Land use estimates come from 

 the USGS Land Use and Land Cover 

 Program and are compiled for three 

 spatial units: (1) estuarine drainage 

 area; (2) USGS hydrologic cataloging 

 unit; and (3) counties intersecting 

 EDAs. Population estimates are 

 compiled for EDAs only. 



Volume 3, Coastal Wetlands -New 

 England Region (NOAA, 1 989) 

 presents wetlands acreage estimates 

 for 12 wetland types in 16 EDAs and 

 42 counties from Maine to Connecti- 

 cut. The data are a subset of those 

 presented in this report. Computer- 

 generated color maps of selected 

 EDAs are also presented. 



Volume 4, Public Recreation Facilities 

 in Coastal Areas (NOAA, 1988), 

 presents data for Federal, State, and 

 local recreation facilities in 327 

 counties bordering tidally influenced 

 water and 25 estuary groups. A total 

 of 1 ,589 public agencies that owned 

 and/or managed outdoor recreation 

 sites and facilities in coastal areas 

 provided data for the inventory. 



Other NOAA projects contributing data 

 and information to the NEI include the 

 Estuarine Living Marine Resources 

 program, the quality of shellfish- 

 growing waters and related projects, 

 the National Coastal Pollutant Dis- 

 charge Inventory, and the Outdoor 

 Resource Economics program. The 

 NEI represents the most consistent 

 and comprehensive set of data 

 describing the Nation's estuarine 

 resource base. 



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