context of increasingly diverse and conflicting uses 

 of the coastal zone, questions of boundaries and 

 ownership are discussed in Section 1 of this 

 chapter. 



Conservation and development are inseparable 

 parts of the same planning and regulatory chal- 

 lenge facing the National, State and local govern- 

 ments in the coastal zone. Consideration must be 

 given to both land uses and water uses in consider- 

 ing coastal zone planning and regulatory tech- 

 niques. 



Land uses produce many coastal zone environ- 

 mental problems: domestic and commercial sew- 

 age, waste disposal, filUng of marshlands or water 

 areas for housing, commercial businesses, and 

 airports, to name a few. 



Land use regulation has developed to a sophisti- 

 cated art, generally administered by local govern- 

 ment. In a few States, such as Hawaii, 

 Connecticut, and Wisconsin, State-wide zoning 

 statutes exist for limited purposes relating to land 

 use and the water envirormient. With increased 

 awareness and consideration of the marine envi- 

 ronment for health, recreational, ecological, aes- 

 thetic, and psychological purposes, the limitations 

 of local goverrunent in providing adequate plan- 

 ning and regulatory practices become increasingly 

 pronounced, and concepts of regional or State- 

 wide government become desirable or necessary. 



Section II of this chapter is devoted to regula- 

 tory authority of States and local governments. 

 It discusses the Umitations on regulation, regula- 

 tory efforts used in the past, and regulatory 

 proposals to meet a variety of new needs. 



moon revolves around the earth once every 29/6 

 days, and its orbit is inclined on the average of 

 23'A° to the earth's equator; that every body of 

 water has its own period of oscillation, and 

 responds differently to the tide-producing forces; 

 and that all of these factors, together with the 

 configuration of the land bordering the water 

 areas, enter into the formation of the tide, there is 

 present almost limitless possible combinations into 

 which these factors can unite to produce both 

 differences at the same time at different places and 

 differences at the same place at different times. * 



In addition to the tides, the sea level varies with 

 atmospheric pressure and ocean current changes. 



Boundaries determined by the tides are not 

 unambiguous, time-invariant Unes, but are a condi- 

 tion at the water's edge during a particular instant 

 of the tidal cycle: 



Boundaries determined by the course of the tides 

 involve two engineering aspects: a vertical one, 

 predicated on the height reached by the tide during 

 its vertical rise and fall, and constituting a tidal 

 plane or datum, such as mean high water, mean 

 low water, etc.; and a horizontal one, related to 

 the line where the tidal plane intersects the shore 

 to form the tidal boundary desired, for example, 

 mean high-water mark, mean low-water mark. The 

 first is derived from tidal observations alone, and 

 once derived (on the basis of long-term observa- 

 tion), is for all practical purposes a permanent one. 

 The second is dependent on the first, but is also 

 affected by the natural processes of erosion and 



I. BOUNDARIES AND OWNERSHIP 



A. Coastal Boundaries 



The uncertainty in our law of shore boundaries 

 derives partly from reliance on the natural phe- 

 nomenon of the tides. As stated by Aaron 

 Shalowitz: 



The phenomenon of the tide is far from being a 

 simple one. The tidal effect of sun and moon upon 

 the waters of the earth depends upon the relative 

 positions of the three bodies at a particular time 

 and a particular place. Considering then that the 

 earth revolves on its axis once every 24 hours, and 

 its journey around the sun takes one year; that the 



Figure 2. The natural shoreline along the Gulf 

 Coast as shown here at Grand Isle, Louisiana, 

 is difficult to delineate when valuable oil leases 

 are at stake. (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 

 photo) 



' Shalowitz, 1 Shore and Sea Boundaries 84-85 (1962). 



III-108 



