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Savannah River, little concerted effort has been expended in 

 documenting quality changes. The rapid growth of the Miami area is 

 focusing attention on the estuarine waters of southern Florida. 

 The water quality of estuaries of the U.S. Gulf coast is well-defined 

 by field investigation only in several critical problem areas. 

 Tampa Bay, the Mississippi Delta to a lesser extent, the Houston 

 Ship Channel, and parts of Laguna Madre in Texas, have been 

 investigated from the water quality standpoint. 



The geomorphology of the Pacific coast is different from that of the 

 Atlantic and Gulf (Figure IV. 5. 21). The coast, for the most part, 

 is composed of steep rocky bluffs with little or no beach. The 

 estuaries are natural watercourses cut through bluffs and are 

 generally enclosed to some degree by an oceanward sandbar. 

 Because of this rugged coast line, intense urbanization has occured 

 only near the major estuarine systems that form natural harbors. 

 This unique settlement pattern has been reflected in the concentr- 

 ation of estuarine water quality work along the Pacific coast. 

 Systems such as San Diego Bay, San Pedro Bay, Santa Monica Bay, 

 Monterey Bay, San Francisco Bay, and Puget Sound have been studied 

 rather intensely, to either define localized problems, or to reflect 

 long term degradation. Examples are the studies of San Diego Bay 

 that led to the construction of a metro-sewage system with disposal 

 through a deep ocean outfall; investigations of pulp and paper 

 industrial pollution of Puget Sound; studies of the effects on the 



