FOREWORD 



Long Island Sound is one of the nation's unique and irreplaceable natural re- 

 sources. An almost fully enclosed arm of the ocean, it has over 1300 square 

 miles of water surface and nearly a thousand miles of coastline. Spreading 

 eastward along both shores from the great metropolitan center which lies at 

 the Sound's western end, a growing concentration of increasingly affluent peo- 

 ple make ever greater demands on this urban sea. At the same time, there 

 is a growing feeling that the conflicting demands are destroying the Sound, 

 and that the problems must be resolved if the Sound is to be preserved. 



The Long Island Sound Regional Study is a comprehensive planning effort by 

 the federal government and New York and Connecticut, led by the New Eng- 

 land River Basins Commission. Assisting the Commission are professionals 

 from many disciplines representing the federal, state and regional agencies 

 listed on the back cover, a Citizen Advisory Comimittee, and a Research/ 

 Planning Advisory Committee composed of members of the region's scientific 

 community. 



THE GOAL OF THE STUDY IS TO PRODUCE A PLAN OF ACTION BY 

 JANUARY, 1975, WHICH BALANCES THE NEEDS TO PROTECT, CON- 

 SERVE AND WISELY DEVELOP THE SOUND AND ITS RELATED SHORE- 

 LANDS AS A MAJOR ECONOMIC AND LIFE-ENRICHING RESOURCE 

 FOR THE 12 MILLION PEOPLE WHO LIVE NEAR IT. 



This interim report is one of a series which outline demands placed on the 

 Soiond, its capacity to supply these demands, and the present or expected de- 

 ficiencies to be overcome if it is determined that supply should meet demand. 

 The reports provide a base for developing single purpose management plans 

 which will evaluate the environmental and socio-economic impacts of suggested 

 alternative solutions and propose courses of action. These management plans 

 will be integrated into a comprehensive multi-purpose plan of conservation 

 and development, reflecting relationships between types of demands and 

 setting forth goals and recommendations, the means for achieving them, and 

 a schedule of priorities. Interim reports in the series include: 



Sources and Movements of Water Water Supply 



Water Quality Recreation 



Scenic and Cultural Resources Land Use and Ownership 



Mineral Resources and Mining Flood Plains 



Soils Electric Power Generation 



Erosion and Sedimentation Transportation 



Ecological Studies 



