Titles of Proceedings Papers Proceedings Summaries Trends Executive Summary Trends in U.S. Coastal Regions, 1970-1998 Charles A. Bookman, Thomas J. Culliton, and Maureen A. Warren Coastal areas are invaluable for their economic vitality and biological diversity. At the same time, the coasts are under considerable pressure. This paper examines underlying and emerging trends that are shaping the coast, coastal resources and uses, and coastal management and policy. Coastal population and settlement. Population growth and its associated impacts may be the most critical issue confronting coastal managers and decision-makers.
Coastal areas are crowded and becoming more so.
About half the nation's population presently resides in the narrow fringe of coastal counties. From 1996-2015, the coastal population is projected to increase from 141 million to 166 million. As coastal populations swell, the natural features that may have attracted people to the coast are lost or diminished. Population pressures lead to increased solid-waste production, higher volumes of urban runoff, losses of green space and wildlife habitat, declines in ambient water quality, and increased demands on wastewater treatment, potable water, and energy supplies. To control these kinds of impacts, states and localities have begun to channel public investment for infrastructure into areas that are best able to accommodate growth without deleterious environmental impacts.