EPA 842F07001
"SzM National Estuary Program
Overview
WHAT ARE ESTUARIES?
Estuaries are places where
freshwater from rivers mixes with
saltwater from the ocean.
Estuaries contain important
habitats such as wetlands,
mudflats, rocky shores, and
seagrass beds.
Estuaries serve as nursery and
spawning areas. Almost 80% of
the commercial and recreational
fish we catch depend on
estuaries for part or all of their
lives.
• Established under the 1987 Clean Water Act
Amendments, the National Estuary Program (NEP)
protects and restores the ecological integrity of
estuaries of national significance.
NATIONAL
ESTUARY
PROGRAM
•	The NEP operates through partnerships among
EPA and other Federal, State, and local organizations,
industry, academia, environmental and business groups, and community
residents.
•	There are 28 local National Estuary Programs, each with a Director and
staff, working with local stakeholders to improve the health of the waters,
habitats, and living resources of their estuaries.
•	The NEP uses an inclusive decision-making process to deliver on-
the-ground action and results. The program is an important national
model for the protection and management of watersheds.
How Do Local NEPs Protect Estuaries?
Please visit:
www.epa.gov/nep
for more information
Together with their partners, local
NEPs develop and implement locally-
driven plans to improve water quality,
habitat, and living resources in and
surrounding their estuaries.
Local NEPs develop tailored
approaches to address critical water
quality priorities in their specific
places.
Local NEPs look across their
watershed and recognize the
connection between upstream
sources of pollution and
downstream impacts
Local NEPs engage in adaptive
management approaches to tie
monitoring to management actions,
and make corrections where
COMMON CHALLENGES
FACING LOCAL NEPs:
•	Habitat loss & Degradation
•	Declines in Fish and Wildlife
Resources
•	Invasive Species
•	Alteration of Natural Flow
Regimes
•	Nutrient Over-enrichment
•	Toxics and Emerging
Contaminants
•	Harmful Algal Blooms
•	Sea Level Rise, Coastal
Flooding, and Coastal
Erosion
necessary.

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Local NEP Websites
Albemarle-Pamlico Sounds
www.apnep.org
Barataria-Terrebonne
www.btnep.org
Barnegat Bay
www.barnegatbaypartnership.org/
Buzzards Bay
www.buzzardsbay.org
Casco Bay
www.cascobayestuary.org/
Charlotte Harbor
www.chnep.org
Coastal Bend Bays and Estuaries
www.cbbep.org
Delaware Inland Bays
www.inlandbays.org
Galveston Bay
www.gbep.state.tx.us
Indian River Lagoon
www.irlcouncil.com/
Long Island Sound
www.longislandsoundstudy.net
Lower Columbia Estuary
www.estuarypartnership.org/
Maryland Coastal Bays
www.mdcoastalbays.org
Massachusetts Bays
www.mass.gov/orgs/massbays-national
-estuary-program
Mobile Bay
www.mobilebaynep.com
Morro Bay
www.mbnep.org
Narragansett Bay
www.nbep.org
New York-New Jersey Harbor
http://www.harborestuary.org/
Partnership for the Delaware Estuary
www.delawareestuary.org
Peconic Estuary Program
www.peconicestuary.org
Piscataqua Region Estuaries
www.prepestuaries.org/
Puget Sound
www.psp.wa.gov
San Francisco Estuary
www. sfestu a ry. o rg/
San Juan Bay
www.estuario.org
Santa Monica Bay
www.santamonicabay.org
Sarasota Bay
www.sarasotabay.org
Tampa Bay
www.tbep.org
Tillamook Bay
www.tbnep.org
An Effective and Efficient
Public-Private Partnership
What has the NEP accomplished?
ON-THE-GROUND
RESULTS
Local NEPs have
protected and restored
over 2 million acres of
habitat since 2000
Habitat Annual and Cumulative Acres by Year
2,250,000
2,000,000
1,750,000
1,250,000
1,000,000
750,000
500,000
250,000
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Local NEPs cultivate
collaboration and build
partnerships that make
on-the-ground results
possible.
Fostering investment
over the long term
builds capacity to
provide sustained
benefits.
LEVERAGING FUNDS
Local NEPs provide a high
return on investment, with $19
leveraged for every dollar
provided by EPA.
$5.0
$4.5
NEP Primary Leveraged Dollars ($5.71 billion)
2003 to 2017
~ Cumulative Primary Leveraging
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