V-169 



Such legislation could establish an open space and estuarine 

 preservation policy to control the alteration of estuaries and 

 prohibit any pollution. Further grants of State-owned tidelands 

 could be halted, and the State could definitely establish claim 

 to all such lands unless it could be shown that colonial or 

 territorial titles or special legislation had given this land to 

 a private owner. The legislation could also designate essential 

 areas to be preserved, or repurchased if necessary, and give the 

 agency full planning and zoning power. Dredging or filling would 

 not be permitted unless it was in accord with the estuarine use 

 plan, with burden of proof on the filler or dredger that such 

 alteration would not pollute or destroy the area. 



With reference to geographic jurisdiction, it would be desirable 

 to establish a regional agency to cover the entire estuarine prob- 

 lem area, because the individual municipalities or even counties may 

 be too small. Whichever form such an areawide agency may take-- 

 independent special district, interaaency cooperative committee, or 

 multijurisdictional planning unit— this governmental mechanism should 

 have management responsibility as well as study and research auth- 

 ority. This would include regulatory power over dredging and fill- 

 ing, zoning and land-water use authority, and perhaps even the ability 

 to raise revenue from licenses and to study management techniques. 



The regional estuarine agency should utilize the full array of 

 management and planning tools described earlier, including especially 



