The National Estuary Program
A Network Protecting and Restoring Coastal Ecosystems
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NATIONAL
UARY
ROGRAM
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National Estuary Program Overview
ESTUARY
(PROGRAM
Established in 1987 under the Clean Water Act Amendments, the
National Estuary Program (NEP) is a successful community-based
program designed to restore and maintain the water quality and
ecological integrity of estuaries of national significance. The NEP
uses an effective watershed-based ecosystem planning approach
to connect upstream pollution sources with downstream impacts.
A unique voluntary program, it operates through partnerships
among Federal, State, and local agencies; nonprofit organiza-
tions; industry; academia; environmental and business groups;
and community residents. The EPA provides technical and finan-
cial assistance, and management guidance to these partnerships.
There are 28 NEPs across the country, each led by a director and
staff who work in concert with these key stakeholders.
Each NEP creates and carries out a plan, called a Comprehensive
Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP). The plan has spe-
cific actions designed to improve water quality, habitat, and living
resources. The NEP stakeholders are fully involved in the devel-
opment of the CCMP and implementation of its actions. Actions in
each plan may be of a regulatory nature, or employ innovative
management approaches which are transferable to other coastal
watersheds.
The NEPs target a broad range of issues in their CCMPs, such as
loss of wetlands, leaking septic systems, stormwater runoff, and
introduction of invasive species. To determine the effectiveness of
actions, NEPs are required to conduct monitoring and analysis of
environmental data collected. The NEPs can then modify their
actions if they are not achieving the desired results. The NEPs
also fully engage the public through outreach and education
efforts, including the dissemination of these results to the public.
Estuary—a waterbody where freshwater from a
river mixes with saltwater from the ocean. An
estuary is often called a bay, sound, lagoon,
inlet or harbor.
Estuaries and their surrounding environments
are among the most biologically productive,
economically valuable, scenic, and densely
populated places on earth.
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NEP 20th Anniversary!
NEPs make a difference by...
The NEP has made significant achievements in implementing
effective and innovative management solutions for the benefit and
protection of water quality and living resources in some of our Nation's
most important estuaries over the last 20 years.
This success is a result of the strong partnerships formed within each
NEP, and the critical efforts made by these local stakeholders. EPA
recognizes and applauds these partners, and the many citizen volun-
teers who have worked so diligently over the years.
The following principles have guided and will continue to guide the work
of the NEP:
• Build on traditional water quality control measures and tailor them to
specific places and communities
• Use the watershed as a geographic unit for management decisions
• All stakeholders participate as equal partners—employ a collaborative
approach to problem-solving (consensus-building)
• Include the public in every stage of the decision-making process
• Make decisions on sound science but take early action where feasible
• Set measurable goals and objectives and monitor effectiveness of actions
taken
• Use adaptive management—the process of monitoring and adjusting if
goals and objectives are not being met
• Transfer lessons learned to others
Join us in celebrating the success of our National Estuary Program!
EPA looks forward to continuing our effective partnership for years to
come!
Benjamin H. Grumbles
EPA Assistant Administrator for Water
Achieving on-the-ground environmental results
Implementing the Clean Water Act and tackling complex water
quality issues
Informing the local community and fully engaging the public in
priority-setting and problem-solving
Obtaining significant funding by leveraging resources
Identifying national emerging contaminants, issues and trends
• Improving coastal science and integrating findings into management
decisions
Serving as the state-of-the-art national coastal watershed model
A recent study* found the networks in NEP areas span more levels of govern-
ment, integrate more experts into policy discussions, nurture stronger interper-
sonal ties between stakeholders, and create greater faith in the procedural
fairness of local policy than other comparable estuaries.
"Building Consensual Institutions: Networks and the National Estuary Program,
M. Schneider et. a/., American Journal of Political Science, Vol. 47. No 1, January 2003
Log onto http://www.epa.gov/owow/estuaries for more information
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Overall Health of the NEPs
According to the NEP Coastal Condition Report,* an assessment
of conditions in the NEP estuaries, population pressures in the
NEPs were greater than those in non-NEP estuaries from 1990-
2000.
Yet, the NEP estuaries showed the same or better estuarine
conditions than our coastal waters overall. The overall condition of
the nation's NEPs is fair. This rating is based on four key indica-
tors of ecological health: water quality, sediment quality, benthic
community condition, and fish tissue contaminants.
For each of these four key indicators, a score of good, fair, or poor
was assigned to each NEP. These ratings were then averaged to
create overall regional and national scores, illustrated in the adja-
cent map, using "traffic light" color scoring.
These estuarine monitoring data were collected as part of EPA's
National Coastal Condition Assessment and provide a "snapshot"
of conditions in the NEPs. The ratings developed in the report are
based solely on the National Coastal Condition Assessment data.
The individual NEPs collect other monitoring data over a longer
time period and at more sampling stations that further enhance the
picture of conditions in their estuaries.
Overall Condition
U.S.NEP
Estuaries
Condition
Northtut Court
NEP Eitunriu
Water Quality MMX
Sediment Quality Index
* Benthic Index
H Fish Tissue
Contaminants Index
*2007 NEP Coastal Condition Report EPA-842-B-06-001
Log onto http://www.epa.gov/owow/estuaries for more information
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NEP Environmental Results
Habitat Protection and Restoration
I The increasing concentration of
people living along the coast is
placing stress on estuaries and
their surrounding areas, j^is
' results in a loss in the quantity
I and quality of those habitats. The
NEPs have implemented wide-
I ranging actions to address habitat
loss and degradation, as well as to permanently protect and restore
these valuable areas. These actions are carried out by the NEPs and
their many Federal, State and local agency partners. Since 2000
alone, NEPs and their partners have protected and restored over
1 million acres of habitat.
Examples of Protection efforts:
• land acquisition or purchase
• conservation easements
Examples of Restoration actions:
• creating wetlands
• removing or replacing culverts
• constructing artificial reefs
• repairing or replacing tidegates
• installing fish ladders or weirs
• restoring beach nesting areas
• removing invasive vegetation, or planting native vegetation
Habitat Types and Acreage Protected and
Restored by the NEPs 2000-2006
NEP Habitat Acres Protected and Restored 2000-2006
Wetland
447,601.40
Barrier Island
8056.65
Upland
261,075.73
Instream
F 6657.33
Submerged
Aquatic
Vegetation
12,798.85
Other 7,536.56
Estuarine
^237,889.91
Beach and Dune
935.82
Riparian \ Mangrove
83,228.01 1240.09
Log onto http://www.epa.gov/owow/estuaries for more information
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NEP Leveraged Funds
Leveraging Resources
EPA encourages and promotes the adoption of sustainable
financing strategies by each of the 28 NEPs. The NEPs receive
Federal funding each year authorized under Section 320 of the
Clean Water Act. These core funds enable the NEPs to raise
additional dollars and to obtain additional in-kind resources from
other government agencies, private entities, nonprofit organiza-
tions, and individuals.
The funds raised are used to implement the NEPs' CCMPs. By
leveraging EPA money into additional funds, the NEPs are
able to accomplish much more and give their organizations a
more stable financial foundation.
By developing strategic alliances with implementing partners, the
NEPs have leveraged approximately $16.50 for every $1 of
EPA funding (where NEPs played a primary role in obtaining the
funding). As a result, nearly $1.11 billion has been generated
through individual, private, local, State and Federal partnerships
to support implementation of CCMPs since 2003. This money is
raised from annual membership appeals, grants, license plate
revenues, fines and penalties, taxes, and intergovernmental
agreements.
The NEPs successfully leverage federal seed money
by:
• developing finance plans that identify and evaluate funding
sources and financing strategies to implement their priority
actions
• building strategic alliances with implementing partners to obtain
their financial support
• demonstrating environmental results that convince stake-
holders that the NEPs are effective, can be trusted with their
resources, and will give them credit for their contributions
• providing seed money or staff to initiate and develop new fund-
ing sources
Cumulative Leveraging in the NEPs:
2003-2006
*Describes role of NEP (rather than NEP partners) in obtaining the resources
Log onto http://www.epa.gov/owow/estuaries for more information
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Locations and logos of the 28 NEPs
PLIGHT SOUND
ACTION TEAM
Lower
Long
j Island
""Sound
Columbia
River Estuary
Partnership
Buzzards Bay
Tillamook
Estuaries
Partnership
Estuary
Project
A MORRO BAY
NATIONAL
ESTUARY
! P R O G R A M
Puget Sou
Lower Columbia
Tillamook
Bay
San Francisco
Estuary
Morro Bay
Santa Monica
Bay
NARMGANSE1T BAY
BTUAKY PROGRAM National rstuary
Program
NewHampshire
EstuariesProject
Casco Bay
New Hampshire Estuaries
Massachusetts Bays
Buzzards Bay
Narragansett Bay
Peconic Bay
Long Island Sound
NY-NJ Harbor
Barnegat Bay
Delaware Estuary
Delaware Inland Bays
Maryland Coastal Bays
ioble
alveston Barataria-
gay Terrebonm
Coastal Tampa Bay
Bend SarasotaBay ,
Charlotte Harbor
Indian River Lagoon
San Juan Bay
Bays
bay restoration commission
• ^J ST[»1BOS Of S I N T 1 MO«IC« 0«l
r>zj>v<.
CENTER FOR THE INLAND BAYS
•)TTE
ii in IEEI
rogram
SAKASOTA BAY
ESTPAEY FBOCRAM
San Juan Bayl£
Estuary Program
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AJV/)
YEARS
For more information
contact:
US EPA
Coastal Management Branch
Oceans and Coastal Protection Division
Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds
Mail Code 4504T
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Phone: 202-566-1260
Fax: 202-566-1336
Log onto www.epa.gov/owow/estuaries
Photographs courtesy of:
Barataria-Terrebone National Estuary Program
Casco Bay Estuary Partnership
Delaware Center for the Inland Bays Program
Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program
Galveston Bay Estuary Program
Indian River Lagoon Program
Maryland Coastal Bays Program
Massachusetts Bays Program
Morro Bay National Estuary Program
New Hampshire Estuaries Project
Santa Monica Restoration Commission
Tampa Bay Estuary Program
Tillamook Estuaries Partnership
Texas Parks and Wildlife
Aerographics
Byron Chamberlin
Donna Bollenbach
Malcolm Brenner
Don Best
Lisa Nash
Joe Costa
John McShane
Chris Solloway
Nanette O'Hara
Maran Hilgendorf
Sally Boswell
Dave Wilson
Cheryl Lesinski
Scott Jones
Dave Kellam
Karen Young
Ed Garland
Gary Raulerson
Rick Balla
Nancy Laurson
EPA 842F07002
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