Over 50% of the original riparian habitat in this country has been inundated, channelized, damned, riprapped, farmed, overgrazed, or altered by other land uses. - Natural Resources Defense Council, 1993.

More than half of U.S. wetland acreage has been lost since the time of European colonization; 22 states have lost 50% or more of their "original" wetlands, and 10 have lost over 70%. - Natural Resources Defense Council, 1993.

During this century, commercial fish harvests from major U.S. rivers have declined by more than 80% in the Missouri and Delaware Rivers, more than 95% in the Columbia River, and 100% in the Illinois River. - Institute for Environmental Studies, 1993.

To the earliest inhabitants of the continent, the North American wilderness offered an immeasurable wealth and abundance of natural resources. Native American communities long prospered from the bounty and beauty of the wildlife and resources that surrounded them, providing them with ample supplies of food, water, shelter, and clothing. Later, seventeenth-century traders and pioneers from Europe came to explore the vast areas of coastal shoreline and seemingly endless forests, and settle along deep, wide rivers and countless protective coves, harbors, and bays. Fish, fowl, and wildlife were plentiful food sources; land to clear for settlements and farming was abundant; and freshwater supplies surrounded the early settlers and Native American populations.

As decades passed, settlements along the coastlines and inland water routes grew, and new industries to supply communities with goods and services burgeoned. The impacts of growing populations on the natural surroundings eventually became evident, as deforestation, erosion, over-hunting, and use of waterways as waste streams began to exact their toll. Today, American bays, estuaries, rivers, aquifers, and watersheds are no longer the clean, pristine and biologically diverse areas first explored and inhabited by Native Americans and settled by Europeans.

Today, American bays, estuaries, rivers, aquifers, and watersheds are no longer the clean, pristine, and biologically diverse areas first explored and inhabited by Native Americans and settled by Europeans. As an example, the figure below summarizes a number of historical features and changes in Chesapeake Bay from 1600 to 1980. This graphic depicts population trends and land use changes from forested land to farming, with corresponding trends for aquatic vegetation and fishery landings, each of which reflects an ecosystem in decline.

During this same period of time, across the country, changes in land uses along the rivers and their tributaries eventually led to degeneration of environmental resources throughout their watersheds. In riverine and nearshore areas that lack flushing and free exchange with ocean waters, contaminants from the upland areas accumulated in the water and sediments, adversely affecting the health of aquatic ecosystems. Deforestation for agricultural and urban development resulted in sharp decreases in species abundance and diversity. At the water's edge, growing communities filled or otherwise destroyed vast areas of once ecologically productive estuarine and wetland areas, primarily for infrastructure development, including residential, agricultural, and commercial development, as well as the construction of roads and railways. In many locations, agricultural and ranching concerns diverted large volumes of fresh water from rivers for irrigation, resulting in decreased freshwater inflow to estuaries and increased saltwater intrusion into estuarine and riverine ecosystems. At the same time, there has been a massive, although gradual, infusion of toxic chemicals into the river systems from refineries and other industries, municipal sewage discharges, return irrigation water, accidental oil spills, and oil and grease washed by rain into rivers and coastal waters.

Fish and wildlife populations dependent on coastal and wetland habitat have declined significantly. Upstream, dams and other obstructions have cut off migrating fish from their spawning grounds, and alterations in freshwater flow and salinity as well as pollution have contributed extensively to the demise of many coastal fisheries.

Clearly, the economic benefits made possible by the development and exploitation of the nation's natural resources have been at a high ecological cost. However, we now recognize that we must sustain our natural resources in order to ensure continued economic growth. The call to reverse these trends has never been stronger, as there is no substitute for the water resources upon which we are so critically dependent for our very existence.

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