625 



tertiary systems; etc. This identification scheme includes all coastal 

 waters of the United States, from the oceans to the limit of tidal 

 effect. Although somewhat arbitrary, it offers a means of identifying 

 areas without a cumbersome latitude and longitude arrangements and 

 permits the addition of ERA's as needed. 



As a further classification and identification of estuarine register 

 areas, a description classification scheme in terms of dominating 

 physical shape and configuration was developed (see table VI.1.1. and 

 ng. 'IV.4.23). Basically, the classifications range from a smooth shore- 

 line to the deep indentation of a fjord. While not quantitative, this 

 system is workable for the estuaries and estuarine zones of the United 

 States. 



Table VI.1.1 — Morphological Classifications 



Type number and description: 

 1.1 — Smooth shoreline without inlets. 

 1.2 — Smooth shoreline with inlets. 

 1.3 — Smooth shoreline with small embayments. 

 2.1 — Indented shoreline without isiands. 

 2.2 — Indented shoreline with islands. 

 3.0 — Marshy shoreline. 

 4.0 — Unrestricted river entrance. 

 5.1 — Embayment with coastal drainage. 

 5.2 — Embayment with upland river flow. 

 6.0— Fjord. 



Section- 3. Collectign of Information 



The sources of information for the list of descriptors were many 

 and varied. They include nearly all agencies of the Department of 

 the Interior, many agencies of other Federal Departments, individual 

 States, and private entities. Table VI.1.2. lists the primary sources 

 of information for each major section of the inventory. Note that 

 the types of information obtained from each source are related directly 

 to its operational missions. 



In most cases, the information was obtained by direct request to 

 the prime source agency. Where a compilation on a regional basis 

 already existed this created no problems, however, in some cases, as 

 with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Sports 

 Fisheries and Wildlife, it was necessary to compile some of the basic 

 statistics. In most cases, the agencies were extremely cooperative in 

 supplying the available information. In two cases, for the States of 

 Alaska and Texas, contracts were negotiated to obtain inventory data 

 from widely scattered State files. Thousands of additional items, 

 however, were obtained from a wide variety of other sources. 



The operational missions of the Federal Water Pollution Control 

 Administration make it the primary Federal data source for infor- 

 mation on water quality related to water pollution waste discharges 

 and water quality standards in interstate waters. The major reposi- 

 tory of interstate water pollution data, then, is the FWPCA regional 

 offices. However, in all intrastate waters the States have primary re- 

 sponsibility for water pollution problems. Thus, they are actually the 

 primary source for the bulk of water quality and waste discharge 

 information and in many cases it was necessary for the regional offices 

 to work through the States for that information. 



To provide information for indepth case studies, a ^roup of estuarine 

 register areas for which data were known to be available were chosen 



