Decision-support Systems: Do they have a Future in Estuarine Management?

Estuaries are highly complex ecosystems. Consequently they present daunting challenges to planners and regulators responsible for devising ‘ sustainable development ’ strategies or for taking rapid decisions with respect to ‘ crisis management ’. Over the lifetime of the Estuarine and Coastal Sciences Association, there have been significant developments in both the range and sophistication of the tools available to assist with these tasks. Indeed, managers are now faced with a confusing plethora of possibilities that may, or may not, help in achieving the optimum solution to a given problem. Typical problems confronting managers and the systems available to resolve the issues are considered. By way of illustration, we present some examples based on our experience over the last 25 years in the Mersey Estuary (which has seen dramatic improvements in water quality and a number of major proposed developments), from the Ribble Estuary and from along the north-west coast of the U.K.