Chapter 2 Uses and Conflicts in the Coastal Zone 



To understand the problems confronting the 

 coastal zone, the panel examined the activities 

 relating to this environment. 



Our nearshore waters and coastUnes are sub- 

 jected to often conflicting activities and from 

 them stem physical changes, legal entanglements, 

 and institutional competition, the major contribu- 

 tors to the regions' problems. 



A single action may have relatively little impact 

 on the Nation's shoreline. Over time, however, the 

 result is that the resource base for certain uses is 

 eroded. For example, private ownership and devel- 

 opment has in many places severely reduced public 

 access to beaches. The destruction of estuarine 

 habitats by dredging and filling, acre by acre, 

 ultimately can destroy a large part of U.S. fishing 

 potential. 



The pollution of estuarine and coastal waters 

 by cities and industries, imperceptible at first, can 

 and has reached conditions that destroy the areas' 

 usefulness for fish and wildUfe and recreation. 



Figure 1. Uses of the coastal zone vary greatly. 

 The greatest pressure now comes from housing 

 and recreation. (Federal Water Pollution Con- 

 trol Administration photo) 



The coastal zone is not a single resource, but an 

 agglomeration of resources that includes the dry 

 shore lands, marshes, the submerged lands, the 

 overlying waters, and the plants and animals 

 within. 



Uses of the coastal zone described in the 

 following pages are directly dependent on one or 

 more of these shoreline resources. In addition, the 

 various uses of estuaries are not independent; 

 instead, they are essentially interdependent and 

 thereby constitute multiple-use systems. 



Specific uses are many and varied but have been 

 generally classified as follows: 



—Waste disposal (municipal sewerage, industrial 

 wastes) 



-Shoreline development (industrial, housing, 

 ports, etc.) 



—Exploitation of Uving resources (fisheries, aqua- 

 culture) 



—Recreation (swimming, boating, sport fishing) 



—Water resources (municipal and industrial 

 supplies) 



-Transportation (shipping, waterways, harbors) 



—Wildlife and estuarine preservation 



—Exploitation of non-Uving resources (oU, gas, 

 gravel, etc.) 



The following sections discuss each use in some 

 detail. Presented are many facts and other data 

 concerning man's activities in the coastal zone 

 upon which the panel has based its conclusions. 

 For additional discussion of many of these uses 

 the reader is referred to appropriate reports of 

 other panels. 



1. URBAN AND COMMERCIAL DEVELOP- 

 MENT 



Most major U.S. urban areas are situated on 

 coastlines, bays, or the shores of the Great Lakes. 



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