IV-502 



ability to monitor water quality constantly and consistently. While 

 the details of water quality monitoring are based on needs within 

 individual estuarine systems, it is necessary that management unit 

 boundaries be chosen so that the managing authority can measure both 

 the quality and quantity of water entering and leaving the management 

 unit. This 1s essential both to give warning of any incoming water 

 quality degradation and to safeguard other estuarine environments by 

 warning of any outgoing water quality degradation. 



The size of the estuarine management unit is in itself a highly important 

 factor in the technical management of estuarine systems. In a very 

 small management unit it may be Impossible to accommodate more than 

 one use, thus making futile efforts to resolve use conflicts and achieve 

 multiple use. For example, the maintenance of a commercial oyster 

 fishery in the midst of a dredged navigation channel might offer the 

 same problems in achieving multiple use as would the maintenance of 

 a commercial chicken ranch in the middle of Kennedy International 

 Airport. Conversely, in very large, highly developed, management units 

 it becomes difficult to deal with individual problems in sufficient 

 detail to control use conflicts effectively. 



The boundaries of viable estuarine management units are generally 

 governed by social, economic, and political factors rather than the 

 sizes of the estuarine systems they include. Thus, the capability of 

 technical management to resolve use conflicts in some management units 



