597 



of the Patuxent Kiver, could be documented and a biological relation- 

 ship established. 



The major geographic and ecological areas of the United States 

 should be monitored in a manner that is coordinated with research 

 interests. Monitoring capability for future enforcement should be 

 standardized and developed as a function of the research upon which 

 enforcement needs will be based. 



We have just begun to scratch the surface in the area of enforcing 

 water quality standards by monitoring the aquatic system itself. Sub- 

 stantial research needs to be carried out in both the instrumentation 

 and in the methodology of using instrumentation so that we can 

 achieve a capability of enforcing Avater quality standards. 



ANALYTICAL METHODS 



Measurement and interpretation of water quality in the marine en- 

 vironment is a complex problem and is quite different from that en- 

 countered in the fresh water environment. Background values of 

 organic and inorganic constituents are for the most part much higher 

 than those encountered in fresh water. In addition, they are constantly 

 changing with respect to depth, location, and time. Estuarine analyti- 

 cal methods 'frequently are more difficult technically because of the 

 interferences encountered in analyzing specific constituents. Even after 

 values are determined, the interpretation of these values frequently 

 is difficult. Some wastes that remain dispersed or dissolved in frean 

 Avater are encountered in ocean waters because of precipitation or by 

 wave foaming. Marine waters at times have a high concentration of 

 plankton and other forms which contribute to high natural organic 

 carbon content; measures of BOD. COD, or total organic carbon as 

 indicators of pollution are extmerely difficult to interpret under these 

 conditions. Research on analytical methods to resolve these and other 

 problems should receive a high priority. The emphasis of such research 

 should not be limited merely to chemical considerations but should 

 incorporate the elements of significance and interpretation. Encour- 

 agement and opportunity should be provided for the development of 

 new sampling and measurement methods for marine pollutants rang- 

 ing from oil, pesticides, herbicides, and radioactive materials to or- 

 dinary sewage. Increase as well as decrease in concentration of these 

 materials can be rapid. The emphasis, therefore, should be on the de- 

 velopment of rapid simple methods inexpensive enough for practical 

 use. 



Methodology is required for describing the estuarine ecosystem. It 

 hase been pointed out that there is a need for conducting studies on an 

 ecosystem basis. Even today, comprehensive ecological studies of estu- 

 aries are uncommon, and most of those are of limited scope. In order 

 to enhance our progress it is necessary to greatly improve biological 

 data collection systems. Techniques must be developed which will de- 

 velop more significant knowledge with simpler, faster, and more reli- 

 able sampling and analytical techniques. Aerial reconnnaissance of 

 vegetation, distribution and abundance and in situ measurements of 

 chlorophyll (a measure of standing crop) using a continuous recording . 

 fluormeter are examples o'f promising possibilities. 



