When found at unsafe levels in nearshore waters, pathogens can lead to beach and shellfish bed closures. These toxic substances can cause death or reproductive failure in the fish, shellfish, and wildlife that use the habitat. Pesticides and herbicides used on farmlands and lawns can be washed into ground and surface waters by rainfall, snowmelt, and irrigation practices and may, ultimately, find their way to nearshore waters. These contaminants are usually very persistent in the environment and can accumulate in fish, shellfish, and wildlife to levels that pose a risk to human health and the environment. Habitat modification results from activities like development, channelization, dam construction, impacts from storms, and dredging.
Shoreline modification can destroy habitat and result in water quality problems.
When urban shorelines are hardened or filled, habitat diversity decreases. Typical examples of the effects of habitat modification include loss of streamside vegetation, siltation, smothering of bottom-dwelling organisms, and increased water temperatures. The modification of surrounding lands causes water quality problems that can decrease the number of species capable of living and reproducing in the nearshore waters. EPA works in partnership with other federal agencies, state and local governments, other organizations, and the public to improve and protect nearshore water quality. Applied watershed planning tools to the wetland permitting process to identify areas that are suitable or unsuitable for development.