VI-59 

 WATER QUALITY AND SOURCES OF POLLUTION 



In the final analysis, the greatest deficiency in basic information on 

 estuaries is the lack of water quality data, and water quality is one of 

 the basic environmental conditions a management program should protect. 

 The collection of water quality information is particularly susceptible 

 to the kind of partial effort required by the missions of many Federal 

 and State agencies. It is easy to reduce a water sampling program by 

 a station or two or a point or two, until the maximin is reached that 

 the available personnel can do. While this is a necessary approach, 

 for other users it damages the value of the data collected. 



In any system receiving wastes, water quality data are of severely 

 limited value unless coupled with data on the sources of pollution which 

 may affect water quality. 



To evaluate effects of waste discharges on any receiving body of water 

 there are certain basic items of information which must be obtained. 

 This information may be grouped into three general categories. First, 

 there is the nature of the v/aste material itself; second, there is the 

 manner of its movement within the estuarine system; and third, there is 

 the way in which it interacts chemically and biologically with the 

 estuarine environment. 



None of the characteristics of waste discharges are unique to wastes 

 discharged to the coastal environment. What is unique is that small 



