May 23, 1998 The Honorable William J. Clinton President of the United States The White House Washington, DC 20050 Dear Mr. President: We thank you for the giant environmental step your administration has taken in sponsoring the National Ocean Conference (NOC) in Monterey CA on June 11-12. This crucial forum will have lasting impact if you use the opportunity to make clear that there is a vital connection between a naturally functioning watershed and the sustainable riches of its coastal zone. Over 500 billion dollars has been spent since 1970 to rid this nation of water pollution; at least as much will now be expended to improve the health and management of our watershed-coastal zone complex. It is still not well understood that watersheds and their coastal zones form a single complex ecosystem; damage to one reach is eventually seen in the other. We wish we could be at the June NOC to make this point. But as you gaze over Monterey Bay, where a huge river once cut a channel deeper than the Grand Canyon, be aware that all the natural aquatic ecosystems of California are in danger of disappearing along with their adjacent coastal zone resources. The MBNMS is not the only system in danger. Northern California is presently struggling to save the "broken delta" of the Sacramento-San Joaquin rivers, while planning to withdraw even more water to satisfy the contracted "needs" of agriculture, industry and a burgeoning population. In the Southern California Bight, 26 major and some 150 minor waterways have been damned and depleted, leading to major declines in coastal resources. Massive efforts to severely reduce pollution coming from 15 million inhabitants and their industries have not brought concomitant resourcev recovery in this area. Similar water development schemes elsewhere have presented us with severe resource problems in the Colorado and Columbia river systems, Gulf of Mexico, and East Coast and Florida bays and estuaries. For too long we have failed to understand the nature of this link, and have blamed a multitude of other sins (habitat destruction, pollution, overfishing, and, now, even global warming) for the obvious decline in our sea's resources. As those bright fellows Sir Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein taught, you can't get something from nothing! Although each new sin may compound our problems, without some remaining semblance of a naturally functioning watershed the coastal zone resources will continue to decline, costing our economy billions. Even the now protected Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS) will not survive, and this fact will not change much by further scientific studies of pollution, overfishing, or other concerns not related to the overarching problem of fresh water depletion. We have been looking in the wrong place for the cause of the ocean's decline! It is time to focus on the critical link between watersheds and seas. It's the water that forged and strengthened this link over the past several thousand years. Decades of careful study and experience has shown us this problem stems primarily from the cumulative effects of dam building and subsequent freshwater diversions to serve human needs. A practical limit is diversion of more than 25-30% of the average natural freshwater runoff . Exceeding this amount has denied coastal waters of billions of tons of sediments, nutrients, oxygen, and other trace materials. These elements, along with the natural hydrological mixing and entrainment processes of Spring flushing, are essential to maintain even a small part of the formerly teeming coastal zone sustaining 90% of our most important fish and shellfish resources. Not every drop of water reaching the sea is wasted (contrary to the cries of water developers). The longterm, cumulative effects of runoff depletion on the delta-estuary-bay-coastal complex have just begun to receive wider attention. Future work deserves an integrated system approach that can only be accomplished by the wonderfully diverse talents brought together for your NOC. Please raise the bar by challenging them to work in concert with other estuarine and freshwater stake-holders to research, develop and manage lasting solutions for all future generations. These facts have long been apparent to us, are well documented globally and are clearly seen in ecosystem destruction in the former Soviet Union, including a shriveled Aral Sea, salinized Azov Sea and 150 billion dollars in lost fishery catch in the Black Sea and Caspian. Elsewhere in Asia and the Middle East, the water supply crisis has advanced to the stage where the looming issue is "environmental security." This strategic aspect of water is now becoming more prominent in our daily news (e.g., A thirsty China may prove belligerent, Georgie Anne Geyer, Orange County Register, CA Opinion, May 15, 1998). Mr. President, your trip west in June would be seen by us as a great success were you to call attention to the role played by runoff in maintaining the rich and abundant productivity of the nation's watershed ecosystem (river-delta-estuary-bay-coastal zone complex). Use this opportunity to announce initiatives to determine the appropriate division of this nation's fresh water, halting the cumulative effects that diversions have already had on formerly rich estuarine and coastal waters. Until watershed limits are determined in a comprehensive, integrated way we predict continued decline in renewable resources and further degradation in coastal water quality. This fact will eventually result in even more serious consequences than just the "water wars" we are continually trying to avoid here in California. A strong federal presence in this business can counter some of the parochial interests that continue to inhibit progress in understanding the bigger picture of the nature of water and its vital role in maintaining our priceless coastal zone. Respectfully, Irwin Haydock, Ph.D.; Aquatic Ecologist, Fountain Valley, CA Michael Rozengurt, Ph.D., P.H.; Oceanographer and Hydrologist, Huntington Beach, CA. (Together representing over 80 years of watershed-coastal zone science and management) cc: Honorable Vice President, Al Gore Kathleen A. McGinty, Chair, CEQ Senator Barbara Boxer Senator Diane Feinstein Congressman Sam Farr Congressman Dana Rohrabacher Attachment: Selected References. Selected References Robinson, A.E. 1981. Chesapeake Bay low freshwater inflow study. In: R.D. Cross and D.L. Williams (eds.), Proceedings of the National Symposium on Freshwater Inflow to Estuaries II:114-127. U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C. Rozengurt, M.A. and M.J. Herz. 1981. Water, water everywhere but just so much to drink. (pp. 65-67) Oceans. Sept. Rozengurt, M.A. and I. Haydock. 1981. Methods of computation and ecological regulation of the salinity regime in estuaries and shallow seas in connection with water regulation for human requirements. In: R.D. Cross and D.L. Williams (eds.), Proceedings of the National Symposium on Freshwater Inflow to Estuaries II:475-507. U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C. Rozengurt, M.A., M.J. Herz, and M. Josselyn. 1985. In: D.L. Goodrich (ed.) San Francisco Bay: issues, resources, status, and management. NOAA Estuary-of-the-Month Seminar Series No. 6. (pp. 35-62) NOAA, Washington, D.C. Rozengurt, M.A., M.J. Herz, and S. Feld. 1987a. Technical Report No. 87-8, Tiburon. Center for Environmental Studies, San Francisco State University, Tiburon, CA. Rozengurt, M.A., M.J. Herz, and S. Feld. 1987b. Analysis of the influence of water withdrawals on runoff to the Delta-San Francisco Bay Ecosystem (1921-83). Technical Report No. 87-7. Center for Environmental Studies, San Francisco State University, Tiburon, CA. Rozengurt, M.A., and J.W. Hedgpeth. 1989. Impact of Altered River Flow on the Ecosystem of the Caspian Sea. Reviews in Aquatic Sciences Vol. 1, 2, pp.337-362. Rozengurt, M.A. 1991. Strategy and ecological and societal results of extensive resources development in the South of the U.S.S.R. In: Proceedings, The Soviet Union in the Year 2010. USAIA and Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. Rozengurt, M.A. and I. Haydock. 1991. Effects of fresh water development and water pollution policies on the world's river-delta-estuary-coastal zone ecosystems. In: H.S. Bolton (ed.), Coastal Wetlands Volume, Coastlines of the World. (pp. 85-89) Coastal Zone '91, Proceedings of the Seventh Symposium on Coastal and Ocean Management. American Society of Civil Engineers, New York, NY. Rozengurt, M.A. 1992. Alteration of freshwater inflows. In: R.H. Stroud (ed.), "Stemming the Tide of Coastal Fish Habitat Loss." Marine Recreational Fisheries Symposium 14:73-80. National Coalition for Marine Conservation, Savannah, GA. Rozengurt, M.A. and I. Haydock. 1993. The role of inland water development on the systemic alteration of the coastal zone environment. In: Proceedings of Watershed '93, A National Conference on Watershed Management. U.S. EPA, Washington, D.C. Simenstad, C.A., D.A. Jay and C.R. Sherwood. 1992. Impacts of watershed management on land-margin ecosystems: the Columbia River Estuary. In: R.J. Naiman (ed.), Watershed Management, Balancing Sustainability and Environmental Change. (pp. 266-306) Springer-Verlag, NY. Tolmazin, D.M. 1985. Changing coastal oceanography of the Black Sea. Prog. Oceanog.15:217.