Background Agencies & Legislation Continue Search Long-term maintenance and enhancement of the State's ocean and coastal waters can only be achieved with coordinated efforts to manage California's entire ocean ecosystem, which consists of the inland watershed zone, the enclosed waters zone, the nearshore ocean zone, and the offshore ocean zone. There is growing recognition that the majority of impacts to California's enclosed waters and nearshore ocean zones derive from pollution transported through inland waterways leading to the ocean. However, ocean water quality can be affected by activities within any of the zones. For instance, accidental releases of untreated sewage and oil spills on land or in the open ocean can adversely affect enclosed waters, such as bays, estuaries, coastal wetlands and lagoons, and inland waterways used by anadromous fish species. Water quality in California has been improved by State and federal water quality protection programs that require coordinated approaches to water quality management. Water quality is affected by two types of pollution, the difference between the two being determined by the source of input into the marine environment. Point source pollution is characterized by its entry to the aquatic environment from a specific structural facility, such as a pipeline outfall system, and can be generated from a variety of industrial and municipal facilities, including sewage treatment plants, oil refineries, or power plants. Nonpoint source pollution, or polluted runoff, is any source that is not a point source and includes runoff from a variety of land uses such as agricultural, urban, forestry, or mineral extraction.

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This file last modified on: Tuesday, January 24, 2006.
Document URL: http://ceres.ca.gov/ocean/theme/water_quality_background.html
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