Coastal Water Quality

The GCRC has been involved in coastal water quality issues since its inception in 2001.

Research Areas

• Freshwater Inflow -- A large body of our work concerns the effects of changing inflow on downstream resources and conditions. Please visit this section to see our current projects and view a number of coastal water quality documents.

• Watershed Assessments -- Some of our most detailed studies were supported by the National Park System: we prepared Water Resources and Habitat Assessments of Fort Pulaski National Monument and Cumberland Island National Seashore. These substantial reports synthesized relevant data on coastal water quality to identify the key threats in the area. Since these parks are at the northern and southern extents of Georgia's coastline and they are in markedly different realms with respect to development, they provide an interesting perspective on coastal water quality in our region.

• Other water quality studies by GCRC affiliated researchers.

• Coastal Stakeholder Issues -- Additional information on water quality issues may be found in the material for this focus area.

Documents and other resources

State of Knowledge Report: Stormwater Ponds in the Coastal Zone. Sadie Drescher, Mark Messersmith, Braxton Davis, Denise Sanger, October 2007. Prepared by the South Carolina Dept. of Health and Environmental Control, Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management in cooperation with the South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium. (1.4 Mb PDF, opens in new window)