State coastal waters - the first three miles from shore - and the ocean beyond, up to 200
miles offshore, are under varying degrees of government regulation, control, or ownership. A
complex mixture of state, federal, and international agencies oversee activities within this body
of
water.
Further, activities and occurrences in watersheds 100 miles or more inland can affect natural resources in bays, estuaries, rivers, and streams that drain into the ocean along 1,100 miles of coastline.
To achieve these goals, the state would convene a cabinet-level coordinating council of agency and department directors with ocean resource management duties. Like the California Biodiversity Council, the high-level panel would serve as a forum for broad consensus-based approaches.
"The ocean is a vital source of food, livelihood, resources, recreation, transportation, and aesthetic beauty. We must protect its environmental health," Secretary for Resources Douglas P. Wheeler said. "An ocean council, such as we envision, would supply a communication link and help to establish a more effective approach to achieving common goals for managing California's irreplaceable ocean resources."
The panel would coordinate state programs, and seek advice and recommendations from ocean resources management stakeholders in the public and private sectors, academic community, and local and federal governments.
Coastal tourism and recreation, which contribute some $10 billion a year to the California economy, are the biggest economic generators, said Brian Baird, ocean program manager for the Resources Agency.
"Many people who come to California are attracted by the international reputation of the ocean for its outstanding natural features and unique recreational opportunities, all of which hinge on good stewardship of the resources," Baird said. Increasingly, economic and environmental impacts are recognized as going hand in hand. The Resources Agency's ocean management strategy recommends that the state Trade and Commerce Agency focus on sustainable ocean and coastal tourism in its annual tourism marketing plan.
Closer and easier to pinpoint, but just as difficult to control, are pollution sources such as sewer discharges, storm drainage, and oil spills.
The Ocean Agenda emphasizes the value of coordination to improve and protect water quality. For example, the Resources Agency is working closely with representatives of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary to reduce sources of pollution.
Sanctuary Manager Terry Jackson says some sanitation districts have stopped discharging primary waste into the sanctuary, and others are being encouraged to provide secondary or tertiary treatment before discharging sewage.
Storm drains function as arteries that carry urban runoff into Monterey Bay. The runoff may contain motor oil, cleaning solvents, and other toxic or contaminating chemicals that wind up in the ocean.
Offshore oil spills are another potential pollutant. Although the sanctuary is the largest single marine jurisdiction in the U.S. where oil and gas leasing is permanently banned, some tankers laden with oil sail through it en route to oil-receiving terminals along the coast.
But diligent management need not be detrimental to the economy. Even in the sanctuary, small businesses profit from the environmental protections, and more will prosper in the future, says Karin Strasser Kauffman, a former Monterey County Supervisor who chairs the sanctuary's advisory council. The panel assigned a task force to document economic benefits to business and industry.
Copies are available in public libraries on the coast, or through CERES, whose Internet address is http://ceres.ca.gov/CRA/ocean/agenda.html, or for $10 from the Ocean Resources Management Program, c/o The Resources Agency, 1416 Ninth St., Sacramento, CA, 95814.)
Along with the release of the ocean resources management strategy in draft, six public meetings were scheduled in late August in coastal communities from Eureka to San Diego. Throughout the meetings, large numbers of the public, including representatives of industry and academia, commented about issues such as fishing management, oil and gas operations, vessel traffic safety, water quality monitoring, and procedures to implement the Ocean Agenda.
"It is gratifying to have such outstanding participation from the communities, and we will closely consider these comments in preparing the final version to be released in the winter," Wheeler said. "Our vision is to implement a coordinated new approach to managing, conserving, and enhancing California's ocean resources. Our challenge is to take the action necessary to make this vision a reality for the benefit of current and future generations. They will depend upon the ocean's resources as we do for sustenance of marine and human life, for recreation, and for aesthetic beauty that enriches our lives," he said.