the Chesapeake are examples. There 

 is no reason not to expect that these 

 urban areas will not have the same 

 or similar population increases as 

 was already referenced for the Chesa- 

 peake region. Recently much discus- 

 sion has been given to an apparent 

 trend in declining resources of the 

 Chesapeake estuary. The temporary 

 closure of the shad fishery, poor re- 

 production of the oyster, reduced re- 

 cruitment to the striped bass spawn- 

 ing stocks, and significant declines 

 in submerged aquatic vegetation have 

 caused considerable concern. We are 

 looking for explanations for these 

 occurrences. Several research ef- 

 forts have been directed at the prob- 

 lems associated with changes in the 

 inflowing fresh water. There is no 

 need for any further discussion of 

 these projects since several papers 

 at this symposium will treat these 

 subjects . 



Estuaries have both quantitative 

 and qualitative problems associated 

 with changes in freshwater inflow. 

 Even estuaries with little or no 

 urbanization in their watersheds have 

 freshwater inflow problems, resulting 

 primarily from natural events such as 

 tropical storm Agnes in 1972 and Hur- 

 ricane Allen earlier this year which 

 carried large amounts of sediments to 

 Chesapeake Bay. In estuaries that 

 are highly urbanized, man's influence 

 has exacerbated these problems. Let's 

 now examine these problems a little 

 more closely. Quantitatively, one of 

 the first problems that we are con- 

 fronted with is the restrictions to 

 freshwater inflow. Restrictions can 

 generally occur as a result of dams 

 and weirs which are located primar- 

 ily to provide water storage for 

 municipal uses, electric power gen- 

 eration, recreational uses, or agri- 

 cultural purposes such as irrigation. 

 Problems associated with these uses 

 simply are a reduction of the amount 

 of fresh water flowing into an estu- 



ary. A current example of one of the 

 potential problems that exists in 

 Maryland is the relicensing of the 

 Conowingo Dam. The Conowingo is up 

 for its fiftieth relicensing. As a 

 part of this relicensing effort, a 

 study is underway to determine what 

 the minimum continuous discarge from 

 the Conowingo Dam should be so that 

 a condition can be placed on the 

 license to ensure an adequate sup- 

 ply-in particular for spawning fish 

 such as shad and striped bass--of wa- 

 ter below the dam. Another quantita- 

 tive problem is the consumptive use 

 of water for municipal and industrial 

 purposes. Under normal conditions, 

 these withdrawals are, perhaps, not 

 as significant in the Chesapeake or 

 on the east coast as they are in some 

 areas of California. Major concerns, 

 however, are created when freshwater 

 inflow is reduced as a result of 

 drought conditions. To address this 

 situation, Maryland, Virginia, and 

 the District of Columbia have entered 

 into an allocation agreement. Let 

 me read to you an excerpt from the 

 draft plan: "Maryland is recognized 

 as owning the Potomac River bottom to 

 the low water line on the Virginia 

 side of the river. Although Maryland 

 ceded to the Congress of the United 

 States a district of ten miles square 

 to be used for the seat of the Feder- 

 al Government, the transfer of owner- 

 ship and a later consent given to 

 appropriation of surface waters for 

 supply to the city of Washington 

 did not relinguish Maryland's sov- 

 ereignty over the waters. Instead 

 the Federal entity is considered by 

 Maryland as a lower riparian user. 

 Maryland's authority over the Potomac 

 withdrawals under riparian permit 

 system is not to allow it to deprive 

 the District of Columbia or any other 

 riparian users reasonable use of riv- 

 er waters. Maryland, therefore, is 

 to ensure that an adequate supply of 

 water is available to the competing 

 interests within the framework of 



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