Table XI.— Federal marine science activities in estuaries 



President's 



budget, 



fiscal year 1968 



(thousands) 



Department of the Interior 24,900 



Department of Defense , 3, 500 



Department of Health, Education, and Welfare 1,400 



National Science Foundation 700 



Atomic Energy Commission 200 



Department of Commerce 25 



Smithsonian Institution 25 



Total 30, 750 



A Major Initiative: Understanding a Large Estuary 



Recent legislation authorized construction of a scale model of the 

 Chesapeake Bay by the Army Corps of Engineers. This three-di- 

 mensional model of a scale of 1 :2,0(X) is intended to provide a focus for 

 long-range, interdisciplinary studies of the complex phenomena which 

 influence the Chesapeake Bay area. 



In focusing attention on the use of a pilot model by one agency, the 

 Council expects other Government agencies and State and private 

 institutions to participate in a multidisciplinary study of related prob- 

 lems. Information being developed by the Federal Water Pollution 

 Control Administration will be of special value. 



For generations, the Chesapeake Bay estuary has been put to a 

 number of diverse and often conflicting uses. It is used as a source 

 of food : estuarine fish and shellfish. The Chesapeake Bay estuary 

 is also used for recreation — swimming, boating, and sport fishing. 

 It receives municipal and industrial wastes. This latter use, along 

 with the dredging of navigable channels and harbors and other en- 

 gineering projects, may drastically change the marine environment. 



In view of the large and complex nature of the bay, the model will 

 be useful in enhancing our ability to develop a theoretical framework 

 for empirical measurements made in the past. Also, the model will 

 allow us to improve and extend our understanding of the physical 

 characteristics of the bay, the ecology of the environment, and the 

 interactions of man's activities on marine organisms. Of particular 

 interest will be understanding of the capacity of the Potomac estuary 

 and subestuaries to absorb pollutants by using such a model at costs 

 which should be relatively low compared to that of large-scale field 

 tests. 



Insights gained during these studies will be of educational value in 

 considering comparable interacting forces which influence the waters 

 of other bays and estuaries in the United States and the Great Lakes. 



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