281 



(2) The construction of Santee-Cooper complex in South Car- 

 olina resulted in the diversion of the combined flows of the San- 

 tee and Cooper Rivers into Charleston Harbor. This flow regu- 

 lation created a complex sedimentation problem and changed the 

 vertical salinity in Charleston Harbor. 



Upstrecmi loater quality 



Among the more significant considerations in the quality of any 

 estuarine environment is the quality of the inflowing stream. If the 

 fresh water inflow is polluted, the impact may be felt throughout the 

 entire system. A good example of this phenomenon is the St. Johns 

 River in Florida. The St. Johns carries large quantities of municipal 

 and industrial wastes into the tidal area (IV-5-10) . 



The poor quality is further degraded by additional w^aste discharges 

 from the urbanized area near the estuary mouth. The total impact is 

 a grossly polluted estuarine system which also 'affects the portions of 

 the coastal beaches around the mouth. 



Wastes from watercraft 



Commercial and recreational boating on estuarine waters is the most 

 visible and picturesque water use. These watercraft, however, con- 

 stitute a continual threat to the quality of the estuarine environment. 

 An ocean liner with 1,000 passengers is a small floating city and ac- 

 cordingly has wastes that must be discharged. A sailboat represents 

 only one of the millions of pleasure craft in this country and when 

 large numbers of the craft are congregated in a small area, a significant 

 waste source is created. 



The pollutants discharged include sewage, oils, chemicals, and other 

 wastes, not infrequently involving accidental spills of valuable and/ 

 or dangerous cargoes. The uncertainty of discharges as to number, 

 time, place, and frequency adds to the hazard and control problem. Re- 

 cent activities by both Federal and State Government agencies to com- 

 bat pollution from vessels should rectify this situation by requiring 

 waste treatment devices (IV-5-11). 



Section 5. Conclusion 



The complex nature of pollution in the estuarine zone prevents 

 the separation of sources of pollution, kinds of pollution, and types of 

 environmental damage into neat compartments of cause and effect. All 

 human activities in the estuarine zone can damage the environment, 

 and most of them do. 



Wherever people live, work, and play in the estuarine zone their 

 social and economic activities place stresses on the biophysical environ- 

 ment. These stresses frequently result in degradation of that 

 environment, perhaps not immediately or even in a few years, but 

 nonetheless certain in its devastating final impact. 



Environmental degradation is not a necessary feature of man's asso- 

 ciation with the estuarine zone. The examples discussed in chapter 2 

 of the results of community effort as in San Diego Bay, and of indus- 

 trial responsibility as in the management of Avery Island, show that 

 pollution and socioeconomic activity need not be synonomous. The 

 massive planning effort just completed in San Francisco Bay shows 



