IV-407 



Columbia River of radioactive wastes from Hanford, Washington; and 

 the effect of agricultural drainage from the Central Valley of 

 California on San Francisco Bay. 



Most of the estuarine zones of Alaska are still unknown quantities 

 from the water quality standpoint (Figure IV. 5. 24). Pollution has 

 made some impact on isolated areas but the degree of damage is not 

 well -documented. In Hawaii the situation is very similar. Except 

 for Pearl Harbor and Kaneohe Bay there is an extreme paucity of data 

 on the estuarine areas. Guam, Samoa, and the Virgin Islands have 

 not yet felt intense development. The potential of these areas is 

 still to be explored. The scope of existing water quality problems 

 as well as extent of water quality change is not known. Puerto 

 Rico has development concentrated in separated coastal areas. 

 San Juan Harbor has been studied rather extensively and is in poor 

 water quality condition (Figure IV. 5. 21). Pollution surveys have 

 also been carried out in the estuaries serving other coastal cities 

 such as Ponce, Mayaguez, Arecibo, Fajardo, and Aguadilla which all 

 have sufficient populations to create estuarine pollution problems. 



The great variety of kinds of pollution and the different ways in 

 which the many components of waste materials interact with the 

 estuarine environment to damage water quality preclude the choice 

 of a single parameter to define the overall extent of water quality 

 degradation. Damage to water quality can be a direct and obvious 

 thing such as paper and solids from a sewage discharge 



