ABSTRACT
Prior to the establishment of the National Estuary Program (NEP), Congress appropriated funds in 1985 for the states of Connecticut and New York as well as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) to research, assess, and monitor the water quality of Long Island Sound. Soon after the enactment of the amended Clean Water Act of 1987, Long Island Sound was designated an Estuary of National Significance and a Management Conference was convened on the sound in March 1988. This conference identified six priority areas of environmental concern that merited further investigation: (1) low dissolved oxygen (hypoxia); (2) toxic contamination; (3) pathogen contamination; (4) floatable debris; (5) the impact of these water quality problems as well as habitat loss and degradation on the health of living resources; and (6) land use and development resulting in habitat loss and degradation of water quality. Low dissolved oxygen was deemed to be the most pressing problem in Long Island Sound.
