"What is the use of a house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?" -HENRY DAVID THOREAU Chapter V ENHANCING BENEFITS THE marine environment is usually thought of in terms of the visible sweep of vast ocean, of large gulfs, and of broad bays. The part of that environment which is most accessible, and which man uses most intensively, is the Coastal Zone—the margin where land and water meet and interact. The Zone includes a broad variety of physical features-estuaries, lagoons, wetlands, shoreline beaches of varying widths, cliffs, peninsulas, bays, coastal islands, and off-shore waters on the edges of the seas. The Coastal Zone is also characterized by dynamic interaction of wind, tides, currents, waves, storms—and land; and it supports a rich variety of flora and fauna. The great natural beauty of the shore holds fascination for everyone. Yet this Coastal Zone has values for man other than curiosity and pleasure. Thirty states, with more than 75 percent of the Nation's population, are on the coasts of the Atlantic or Pacific Oceans, the Gulf of Mexico, or the Great Lakes. More than 45 per cent of our urban population lives directly along the coast, and nine of the 16 largest metropolitan areas are in the Coastal Zone. This population continues to grow and to concentratealong the East, West, and Gulf Coasts, and the Great Lakes. All of the megalopoli now projected for the year 2000 are in the Coastal Zone. Shipbuilding, maritime commerce, and the fishing industry could have developed only in the Coastal Zone. The seaward thrust for off-shore oil, gas, and minerals, and our naval strength must be based there. Many industries have found it advantageous to locate there because of proximity to ocean transport, labor and product markets. With a burgeoning population that increasingly finds time and money for water-related recreation, the American people have increasingly sought the aesthetic benefits of the Coastal Zone-its temperate climate and opportunities for swimming, sport fishing, and boating. Tens of millions live or vacation at coastal resorts, retirement homes, and beach cottages. Millions regularly head for beaches on weekends. Many others find business opportunities there. Rational Uses of the Coastal Zone Thus we seek to use the Coastal Zone in its natural form far more intensively. We also seek to modify it to suit our purposes ever more effectively. As municipalities look increasingly seaward for new habitable areas, or perhaps offshore airports, careful planning of urban and ocean activities becomes essential. Development of filled-in marshland along estuaries may affect nursery grounds of commercial fish species. Those who dredge and fill along the coasts, or develop harbors, must anticipate changes in shoreline circulation patterns. Sanitation problems associated with ducks, gulls, and other marine birds near populated areas become important. Waste disposal must be related to the assimilation limits of nearby waters. This area of inshore waters is ecologically fragile and complex in its natural state. It is nevertheless subject to ever more intense pressures for varied uses which may both conflict among themselves and degrade the natural environment. The scope, diversity, and significance of problems that arise in the Coastal Zone are so broad that practically all institutions of our society have become involved in its management-private individuals who own shoreland, industrial interests, local and State Governments, and the Federal Government. Only rarely have lands and waters of the Coastal Zone been subjected to planned and controlled development. Further, the planning which has been done has not always resulted in effective allocation of resource uses among competitors. As a consequence, the trend in some places has been toward single-purpose uses, determined by immediate economic advantages to individuals, firms, and local governments. Industrial development; transportation and commerce; oil, gas, and mineral production; private water front housing; public recreation; and nature preservation; among others, have all pre-empted Coastal Zone areas without consideration either of harmonious relationships between users or optimum use of a scarce resource itself. In the early stages of a shoreline's development, single actions may have relatively little impact. But in time, the resource base for certain uses is dissipated. Unplanned expansion of private ownership and development has reduced public access to beaches. The physical destruction of estuarine habitats by dredging and filling have decreased a region's fishing potential; and the pollution of estuarine and coastal waters by cities and industries has begun to destroy much of their usefulness for water supply, fish and wildlife, and recreation. What we seek are opportunities for multiple, compatible uses of the inshore waters and for maintaining options for future uses not foreclosed by degradation of the resource-first, by identifying alternative uses and multiple compatible uses, and then by encouraging the development of effective mechanisms for rational choices among incompatible uses. Science and technology become the tools to assist in accomplishing explicit goals, predicting possible inadvertent adverse effects, reducing construction costs so as to add to the range of choices, and in evaluating costs and benefits to facilitate choices. Because of the diversity of Coastal Zone activities in which the Federal Government has a responsibility, almost every member and observer agency of the Marine Sciences Council is directly concerned with the development of the Coastal Zone. Table V.1 summarizes those aspects of the Federal marine science programs which have been classified in this report as activities of the Coastal Zone-coastal engineering, water quality, health, conservation, and recreation. Many other parts of the program discussed in other chapters of the report also indirectly relate to Coastal Zone activities. As shown in Figure V. 1, Federal funding for these purposes amounted to $21.4 million in FY 1967, and will reach $28.7 million in FY 1968. Appropriation requests for FY 1969 are $28.6 million. Conservation and Recreation is the major cost category and is the one in which the major part of the FY 1968 increase occurred: $20.2 million in FY 1968 as compared with $15.4 million in FY 1967, primarily for developing marine areas for recreation and for conversation of marine locales, gamefish, and wildlife. Another important increase in Federal responsibility, largely stemming from new legislation of 1965-66, has been in water quality management. Some of the most difficult water pollution problems are those in the Coastal Zonethe Great Lakes, estuaries, and other near-shore waters. For water quality management in the marine environment, expenditures in FY 1967 were $4.5 million; funding for FY 1968 is estimated at $7.0 million, and the appropriations requested for FY 1969 to $8.7 million. Figure V-1- Federal Outlays for Marine Science and Technology, Use of the Coastal Zone NOTE: Activities in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare relating to health and Marine pollution were budgeted at: FY 1967, $0.9 million; FY 1968, $1.1 million; and FY 1969, $1.1 million. These amounts are not included in the above totals; they are shown in Appendix Table A-1 under major purpose "Health". Coastal Engineering Erosion is a common and often severe form of degradation of the coasts, caused by the action of tides, currents, and hurricane-induced storm surges. Vast areas of valuable land have been lost through erosion, and the land washed away often deposits silt in navigation channels. Erosion may introduce pollutants into the water, and the material deposited may suffocate marine life. Shore stabilization and protection, carried out by the Army Corps of Engineers, is well established as a Federal function. However, projects are authorized and carried out one at a time in response to local requests, and a longer range approach to setting priorities for such public Coastal Zone works may be needed. Dredging is essential to waterborne commerce but can damage environmental quality disturbing the habitat of marine or marsh life. The Corps of Engineers has long had the authority, under the River and Harbor Act of 1899, to deny permits to non-Federal interests for dredging, filling, and excavation in navigable waters if the results would interfere with navigation. Recently, this authority has been interpreted to cover all activities. inimical to the public interest. The Secretaries of the Army and the Interior concluded an agreement in 1967 whereby the Department of the Interior will be consulted by the Corps of Engineers when issuance of a permit to dredge or fill in estuaries or other navigable waters is pending. Such coordination permits assessment of fish, wildlife, recreation and pollution problems associated with the proposed dredging. The Department of the Interior and the Corps of Engineers also have an agreement covering the disposal of material dredged from Federal navigation projects in the Great Lakes area, which is designed to reduce risks of water pollution damage. Research and engineering studies focused on the requirements for Corps of Engineers construction projects are carried on at the Coastal Engineering Research Center and by contract. Some of the major recent accomplishments include: -inventory of offshore sand deposits suitable for beach use. Subsurface profiling by sonic techniques and coring of the sub-bottom in 15 to 70 feet of water was completed for selected offshore areas of Florida, New Jersey and California. -study of improvement of coastal inlets by dredging. Dredging of a deposition basin was completed in the throat of Carolina Beach Inlet, North Carolina; a surveillance program is being carried out to determine the effects the basin will have on the natural channel depths over the ocean bar. |