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.3.Water Quality and Sustainable Practices on Land: Enhance water quality in the ocean, alongour coasts, and in the Great Lakes by promoting and implementing sustainable practices onland.Obstacles and OpportunitiesNonpoint source pollution (pollution that comes from diffuse sources instead of one specific point),caused by poor land management practices, is the leading cause of water quality problems in the UnitedStates and a major cause of rapidly declining ocean and coastal ecosystem health.Runoff from suburbanstreets and lawns, agricultural and industrial uses, transportation activities, and urban development  evenhundreds of miles away  negatively impacts water quality, resulting in deleterious effects on ocean,coastal, and Great Lakes systems as evidenced by harmful algal blooms, expansive dead zones, andincreased incidents of human illness.Areas with particularly poor water quality are known to experiencefrequent beach closures, massive fish kills, and areas of toxic sediments.Since this pollution comes frommany diffuse sources throughout the country, addressing it requires a strong commitment to coordinationand cooperation between multiple sectors and among Federal, State, tribal, local authorities, and regionalgovernance structures.Fortunately, a number of point and non-point source prevention programs areavailable to State, tribal, local, regional, and private entities to reduce the amount of pollutants that aretransported from our Nation s watersheds and into our coastal waters There are opportunities to achievesignificant reductions in these inputs to our coasts and ocean through concrete mechanisms that integrateand coordinate land-based pollution reduction programs.The Plan Should Address:" The major impacts of urban and suburban development and agriculture, including forestry andanimal feedlots, on ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes waters;" The relative contributions of significant land-based source of pollutants, sediments, and nutrientsto receiving coastal waters and ways to address them, including recommendations of how tointegrate and improve existing land-based conservation and pollution programs;" Best management practices, use of conservation programs, and other approaches for controllingthe most significant land-based sources of nutrients, sediments, pathogens, toxic chemicals, solidwaste and marine debris, and invasive species; andEOP | INTERAGENCY OCEAN POLICY TASK FORCE 36INTERIM REPORT OF THE INTERAGENCY OCEAN POLICY TASK FORCE" The establishment of a comprehensive monitoring framework and integration with Statemonitoring programs.4.Changing Conditions in the Arctic: Address environmental stewardship needs in the ArcticOcean and adjacent coastal areas in the face of climate-induced and other environmentalchanges.Obstacles and OpportunitiesClimate change is having a disproportionally greater impact on polar regions than elsewhere, and theArctic region is faced with serious problems.Permafrost is thawing at an accelerated rate, which leads tothe release of large amounts of methane.Multi-seasonal sea ice is rapidly deteriorating.Much of theAlaskan Arctic seashore is threatened by coastal erosion and other environmental challenges.Increasedhuman activity in the area is bringing additional stressors to the Arctic environment, with seriousimplications for Arctic communities and ecosystems.At the same time, the diminishing ice presentsopportunities and pressures for increased development of living and non-living resources and forincreased commerce and transportation.Working with all of the stakeholders, including the indigenouscommunities, we have the opportunity to develop proactive plans, informed by the best science available,to manage and encourage use while protecting the fragile Arctic environment [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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