VI-1 

 INTRODUCTION 



As required by Sec. 5g of the Clean Water Restoration Act of 1966, 

 the National Estuarine Pollution Study, acting on behalf of the 

 Secretary of the Interior 



". . . shall assemble, coordinate, and organize all exist- 

 ing pertinent information on the Nation's estuaries and 

 estuarine zones; carry out a program of investigations and 

 surveys to supplement existing information in representative 

 estuaries and estuarine zones; and identify the problems and 

 areas where further research and study are required ..." 



To fulfill both the spirit and the letter of the Act, the National 

 Estuarine Pollution Study acquired and consolidated all available 

 existing information in the form of the National Estuarine Inventory, 

 an automated framework for organizing the tremendously large mass of 

 data assembled. The Study conducted investigations and inquiries 

 both to acquire and to develop this available information. As a 

 corollary, the data assembly was also useful in defining areas 

 where data and information are not available and are needed. The 

 data gaps, in turn, were used in conjunction with state-of-the-art 

 studies designed to identify necessary research and study. 



Consequently, these two phases of the Study -- assembly of data and 

 definition of research and study needs -- being so closely related, 

 are presented together in this part of the report. The first 



