studies with EPA, HUD, and other agencies will develop alternatives for 

 State and local authorities to minimize environmental efTects in Puget Sound 

 and in the Great Lakes. 



Regional Studies 



Where coastal ecology defines areas of study that cross political boundaries 

 and require investigations of regional scope, the associated research projects 

 are necessarily cooperative ones. Such regional programs have the objective 

 of developing a marine data base which defines problems of navigation, 

 water supply, waste disposal, fisheries, recreation, construction, and other 

 marine activities in a way that is useful to environmental managers. 



A study of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries is seeking to define the 

 future impact of increasing population, industry, competing uses, and other 

 factors; and to develop short- and long-range management plans. This in- 

 vestigation of America's largest estuary is being led by the Corps of Engineers 

 in close cooperation with the Bay studies of the Chesapeake Research Consor- 

 tium (Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maryland, the Smithso- 

 nian Institution, and the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences), NOAA, 

 USGS, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the 

 Research Applied to National Needs (RANN) program of NSF. 



Initial planning for this study was completed during 1971 and an inter- 

 agency task force began compiling a comprehensive list of all Bay research 

 undertaken, underway, and planned. A physical model of the Chesapeake 

 Bay, and associated mathematical models, will b^^ central features of this 

 study. 



Another program, the Marine Ecosystem Analysis (MESA) established 

 within NOAA in 1971, will integrate and extend the agency's ability to de- 

 scribe, understand, and monitor the physical, chemical, and biological proc- 

 esses of marine environments; provide information and expertise required 

 for effective management of marine areas and of their resources; and analyze 

 the impact of natural or manmade alterations on marine ecosystems. 



Regional projects are the major emphasis of MESA. Four coastal areas 

 are being considered, either because the marine environment has already 

 been seriously damaged or because it is threatened by projected use. In each 

 area, NOAA will carry out the program with assistance from other Fed- 

 eral agencies, the States, universities, and industry. 



MESA will also coordinate interdisciplinary studies to assess the potential 

 impact of proposed major environmental alterations, such as offshore port 

 terminals and marine mining operations, and the impact of such natural 

 phenomena as droughts, hurricanes, and fish disease epidemics. The New 

 York Bight Regional Project will get underway in Fiscal Year 1973 as will 

 development of detailed plans for Puget Sound, Delaware Bay, and south- 

 eastern Florida. 



Many problems and concerns of the San Francisco Bay Region differ 

 markedly from those of the regions described above. Streams entering the 

 Bay contain large volumes of sediments, minerals, and pollutants from a 

 variety of activities, including mining. Intensive land-sea investigations of 

 the Bay Region were initiated during late 1969 in a cooperative program 



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