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Handbook Section 11. Use damages 



Problem : Concrete use damages information is very rare. Although 

 the citizen can easily see and smell the results of pollution in many 

 areas, documentary proof is another matter. Only in cases which have 

 been the subject of an enforcement action of one kind or another, has 

 there been any real effort to prove a damage to use. Even then, it 

 has been much easier to get information on commercial damages than 

 on those recreational or esthetic use. 



Damage to a species not of commercial or sports value is almost 

 impossible to document, although it may be critical to the food chain. 

 Most of the remaining information is subjective estimation, by local 

 residents or political entities, which provide coverage limited by the 

 intensity of local interest in estuary or estuarine zone. Unfortunately, 

 it appears that many of these estimates were chosen for dramatic effect, 

 rather than as an actual indication of damage caused. 



Solution: An effort has been made to eliminate the wild estimate 

 and to enter only actual measurements. Data considered when making 

 such an estimate would include such items as declining w^ater quality, 

 decrease of pollution-sensitive species and increase of pollution-tolerant: 

 species, closed shellfish beds, etc. 



Handbook Section 13. Water quality standards 



Problem: The water quality standards information for the entire 

 coastline is complete, but the various States use different bases for 

 classifying their waters and reserving them for particular uses. The 

 categories of use sometimes do not fit overtly with those shown in the 

 act which set up the water quality standards procedures. Also, the 

 standards frequently refer to an entire water area or to a part of an 

 area with such vagueness that obtaining an idea of actual acreage in- 

 cluded is impossible. 



Solution : The uses which are allowed were often available and have 

 been entered in the inventory. The rest of the problem does not appear 

 amenable to solution at this time. 



It is apparent that while there is a wide variety of information on 

 the estuaries of the United States, there are some very large gaps from 

 a management standpoint. Much water quality, waste discharge, eco- 

 logical, and habitat information is simply not available becuse there 

 has been no consistent program of monitoring or collecting basic data 

 in the estuarine zone. Economic data are available down to the county 

 level for most commercial enterprises, but quantitative information in 

 terms of recreation and aesthetic values is sadly lacking. While the 

 resources available to this study have not permitted a thoroughly ex- 

 haustive compilation of data (with the exception of a few areas), the 

 very large amount of material compiled does show where the signifi- 

 cant gaps in information are. These gaps are such as to severely limit 

 adequate analysis of quantifiable values in estuaries as a national entity 

 except for commercially and economically reported uses. Some solu- 

 tions to this problem will be discussed in chapter 2 of this part. 



