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Human Impact

Paragraph focusing on physical alteration of estuaries.

Another major human impact on estuaries is physical alteration of the estuary or the watershed of the estuary for development, flood control, or other land uses. In the United States of America there are around 94 million people that live in counties along the coast. With high concentrations of people living in coastal areas there has been significant change in the watersheds of estuaries. Activities occurring in the watershed may impact an estuary even if they are far away it is from the estuary itself, if the activity is within the watershed. Development of infrastructure such as roads, buildings, factories, or other development activities can impact estuaries in a negative manner because pervious surface is being changed to impervious surface which leads to increased erosion and surface runoff if not managed properly. Other physical alterations are construction of agricultural land and flood control; both negatively impact estuaries due to habitat destruction and flow alteration. The creation of agricultural lands result in the loss of estuary plant communities, because the area is drained to become suitable farmland. Canals, levees, dams, and other flood control disrupts the function of estuaries because of flow alterations from these structures.

Estuary Protection and Restoration (New Section)
As human activities continue to negatively affect estuaries efforts to help protect and restore impacted estuaries have been done to help improve the quality of the impacted estuary. Both humans and wildlife rely on the resources that estuaries provide whether it is storm protection for coastal communities or vital nurseries for marine species. Protection and Restoration are two ways to help estuaries when it comes to human activities.

Protection
Estuaries can be sensitive ecosystems, which need to be protected to allow humans and wildlife to continue to benefit from estuaries. In the United States of America, there is a program called the National Estuarine Research Reserves which was created by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The program was established to protect estuaries in the United States and conduct research on these ecosystems to help with conservation and management practices for the estuaries within the reserve. The National Estuarine Research Reserves are spread across 29 estuary systems throughout the United States of America, which occupies around 1.3 million acres. This program was created due to the Coastal Zone Management Act, in which NOAA provides funding and guidance while the coastal state agencies or local organizations are tasked with managing the actual estuary site. Estuary sites are located in the Caribbean, Great Lakes, Gulf of Mexico, Mid Atlantic, Northeast, Pacific, Southeast, and West Coast regions of the United States of America. The designation of estuaries for protection is just one aspect for the preservation of estuaries, the other aspect is restoration of estuaries.

Restoration
Restoration of estuary systems is done to help estuaries recover from either natural or human disturbances. In the United States of America, there is an act called the Estuary Restoration Act which established the restoration of estuary systems as a national priority. This act impacts 30 states and some of the U.S. Territories by creating partnerships between public and private organizations to coordinate restoration efforts in estuary systems. Federal agencies like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) help provide funding and assistance during the restoration process. Some examples of restoration projects are Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge/Indian River Lagoon in Brevard, Florida and Stewart’s Creek Salt Marsh Restoration Project in Barnstable, Massachusetts. Another key aspect of the Estuary Restoration Act is the monitoring process of each project to gather data to be used to improve restoration practices. The combination of protection and restoration of estuaries in the United States of America is important in the effort to sustain estuary systems.