Excerpt from Governance of Non-Point Source Inputs to Narragansett Bay: A Plan for Coordinated Action The United States Congress created the National Estuary Program in 1984, citing its concern for the "health and ecological integrity" of the nation's estuaries and estuarine resources. Narragansett Bay was selected for inclusion in the National Estuary Program in 1984 and designated an "estuary of national significance" in 1988. The Narragansett Bay Project (Nbp) was established in 1985. Under the joint sponsorship of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, the Nbp's mandate is to direct a five-year program of research and planning focussed on managing Narragansett Bay and its resources for future generations. The Nbp will develop a comprehensive management plan by December, 1990, which will recommend actions to improve and protect the Bay and its natural resources. The Nbp has established the following seven priority issues for Narragansett Bay: * management of fisheries * nutrients and potential for eutrophication * impacts of toxic contaminants * health and abundance of living resources * health risk to consumers of contaminated seafood * land-based impacts on water quality * recreational uses The Nbp is taking an ecosystem approach to address these problems and has funded research that will help to improve our understanding of various aspects of these priority problems. The Project is also working to expand and coordinate existing programs among state agencies, governmental institutions, and academic researchers in order to apply research findings to the practical needs of managing the Bay and improving the environmental quality of its watershed. This report represents the technical results of an investigation performed for the Narragansett Bay Project. The information in this document has been funded wholly or in part by the United States Environmental Protection Agency under assistance agreement #Cx812680 to the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management. It has been subject to the Agency's and the Narragansett Bay Project's peer and administrative review and has been accepted for publication by the Management Committee of the Narragansett Bay Project. The results and conclusions contained herein are those of the author(s), and do not necessarily represent the views or recommendations of the Nbp. Final recommendations for management actions will be based upon the results of this and other investigations. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.