The National Estuary Prog

A Network Protecting and Restoring Coastal Eco
National Estuary Program Overvie

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 organizations; industry; academia; environmental and business groups; and community residents. The EPA provides technical and financial 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 specific actions designed to improve water quality, habitat, and living resources. The NEP stakeholders are fully involved in the development 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 river mixes with saltwestuary is often calleinlet or harbor. Estuaries and their sare among the moseconomically valuabpopulated places on e
NEP 20th Anniversary! 

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 volunteers 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 

NEPs make a differenc

• Achieving on-the-ground environmen

• Implementing the Clean Water Act a

quality issues 

• Informing the local community and fu

priority-setting and problem-solving 

• Obtaining significant funding by lever• Identifying national emerging contam• Improving coastal science and integr

decisions 

• Serving as the state-of-the-art nation

A recent study* found the networks in NEP ament, integrate more experts into policy discsonal ties between stakeholders, and create fairness of local policy than other comparabl*Building Consensual Institutions: Networks and 

M. Schneider et. al., American Journal of Politica

Log onto http://www.epa.gov/owow/estuaries for more information 
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 indicators 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 adjacent 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. *2007 NEP Coastal Condition Repo

Log onto http://www.epa.gov/owow/estuaries for more information 
NEP Environmental Results 

Habitat Protection and Restoration 

The increasing concentration of people living along the coast is placing stress on estuaries and their surrounding areas. This results in a loss in the quantity and quality of those habitats. The NEPs have implemented wideranging 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 Deployment of artificial reef balls • restoring beach nesting areas • removing invasive vegetation, or planting native vegetation 

Habitat Types and AcreaRestored by the NEPs 20

NEP Habitat Acres Protected and 

Wetland 

447,601.40 

Submerged 

Aquatic 

Vegetation 

12,798.85 Riparian 83,228.01 

Barrier Island 

8056.65 

Upland 

261,075.73 

Log onto http://www.epa.gov/owow/estuaries for more information 
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 organizations, 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 by: 

• developing finance plans that identify 

sources and financing strategies to imactions 

• building strategic alliances with imple

their financial support 

• demonstrating environmental results 

holders that the NEPs are effective, cresources, and will give them credit fo

• providing seed money or staff to initia

ing sources 

*Describes role of NEP (rather than NEP part

Log onto http://www.epa.gov/owow/estuaries for more information 
Puget Sound 

Lower Columbia River C

Tillamook New Bay M

B

N

Pe

Lon

San Francisco NY-NJ 

Barneg

Estuary Delawar

Delaware 

Morro Bay Maryland 

Albermarle-

Santa Monica Albemarle

Bay 

Mobile Bay Indian River Lag

Galveston Barataria- Terrebonne Bay San Ju

Coastal Tampa Bay Bend Sarasota Bay Bays Charlotte Harbor 

Locations and logos of the 28 NEPs 
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 

EPA 842F07002 

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