The role of scientific information in the restoration and protection of polluted estuaries

Questions about the adequacy of the scientific basis for pollution control in estuaries have been a prominent part of the debate over national pollution control policy since the 1960s. The efforts of the marine scientific community to assist in solving the problems of estuarine water pollution appear to have been thwarted in the 1970s by the decision to separate water pollution control from coastal zone management. The recent history of Rhode Island´s efforts to control pollution in Narragansett Bay and Rhode Island´s coastal lagoons illustrate the weaknesses of the current case by case approach to regulation and point to the potential value of using special area planning to develop integrated pollution control plans which have a chance of being implemented at the state and local level. Policy changes are needed which recognize the value of acheiving consensus on pollution control goals, followed by research to evaluate the best means to those goals. Otherwise, the study of polluted estuaries will continue to have little relevance to public decision making.