In December 1986 the Puget Sound Water Quality Authority adopted tne 
first water quality management plan for Puget Sound. For point source 
pollution the plan emphasizes discharge limits, more stringent permits, 
compliance inspections, enforcement actions for nonperrnitted discharges 
and increased permit fees. For nonpoint sources the plan emphasizes 
educational programs, public involvement and legislation (e.g., to 
require marine pumpout facilities). 
It is anticipated that the availability of data required to compute 
total inputs of priority pollutants to Puget Sound will be increased in 
the future due to increased permit requirements. Additionally, permit 
requirements and other strategies are aimed at reducing contaminant 
inputs to Puget Sound. 
Summary 
As discussed, data required to compute contaminant loading to Puget 
Sound are limited. What initially appears to be a simple computation 
proves to be quite difficult because required information has not been 
routinely collected in the past. 
Available data have been used to compute preliminary contaminant mass 
loading to Puget Sound; these computations do indicate general trends 
regarding the relative contribution from different sources in the 
subregions of Puget Sound. For metals, natural contributions from 
shoreline erosion and riverine inflow appear to exceed human induced 
loading. Recall, however, that these natural inputs occur at non-toxic 
concentrations and would not be considered environmentally damaging. 
Riverine inflow of organic contaminants also appears to be significant, 
however, this conclusion is regarded cautiously due to limitations of 
the available data. Additionally, the overall contribution of human 
activities to the riverine loads is unknown. 
The large loadings associated with natural sources should not be 
misinterpreted to imply that human induced loadings are insignificant. 
Unfortunately, the data required to adequately assess the overall 
contaminant loading associated with human activities is not presently 
available. The relative importance of urban and agricultural runoff, 
logging operations, atmospheric deposition, industrial and municipal 
inputs cannot be quantified at this time. This information regarding 
human inputs is critical with respect to the protection of Puget Sound. 
To improve the accuracy and completeness of contaminant loading 
estimates better information concerning the chemical concentrations in 
both point and nonpoint sources are needed. Data are virtually 
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