What is an estuary in a watershed?

What is an estuary in a watershed?

An estuary is a coastal wetland where freshwater that flows from rivers and streams mixes with the saltwater from the ocean. Estuaries are also the endpoints of watersheds. Read more about the Tijuana River Watershed.

What are some benefits of an estuary?

Importance of Estuaries

• They act like buffers, protecting lands from crashing waves and storms.
• They help prevent soil erosion.
• They soak up excess flood water and tidal surges.
• They are important feeding and/or nursery habitat for commercially and ecologically important fish and invertebrates, and migrating birds.

How does a watershed affect an estuary?

ABSTRACT: Watershed land use can affect submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) by elevating nutrient and sediment loading to estuaries.

How do estuaries help water quality?

Estuaries support major fisheries, shipping, and tourism. They sustain organisms in many of their life stages, serve as migration routes, and are havens for threatened and endangered species. Associated wetlands filter pollutants, dissipate floodwaters, and prevent land erosion.

Why is an estuary an important part of a watershed?

The wetlands that fringe estuaries perform extremely valuable functions that protect our waterways and communities. Wetlands act as natural buffers between the land and the water, guarding against erosion, flood waters and storm surges.

How do estuaries work?

An estuary is an area where a freshwater river or stream meets the ocean. In estuaries, the salty ocean mixes with a freshwater river, resulting in brackish water. High tides can create estuarine currents. Saltwater is heavier than freshwater, so estuarine currents sink and move near the bottom of the estuary.

How do estuaries help the economy?

Estuaries are often the economic centers of coastal communities. Estuaries provide habitat for more than 75 percent of the U.S. commercial fish catch, and an even greater percentage of the recreational fish catch. The total fish catch in estuaries contributes billions of dollars a year to the U.S. economy.

Why estuaries are very productive ecosystem?

Estuaries are very biologically productive. The salinity gradient and the changes in tides, fresh water and accompanying flux in nutrients within estuaries create a variety of habitats that support a diverse food web. Because these gradients exist, estuaries are transition zones for many species of wildlife and fish.

What are the functions of estuaries in the ocean?

Estuaries: Where the River Meets the Sea. These freshwater estuaries also provide many of the ecosystem services and functions that brackish estuaries do, such as serving as natural filters for runoff and providing nursery grounds for many species of birds, fish, and other animals.

What are the functions of a brackish estuaries?

These freshwater estuaries also provide many of the ecosystem services and functions that brackish estuaries do, such as serving as natural filters for runoff and providing nursery grounds for many species of birds, fish, and other animals.

What does the Hudson River Estuary Program do?

The Hudson River Estuary Program helps people enjoy, protect, and revitalize the Hudson River and its valley.

How does water flow from uplands to estuaries?

Water draining from uplands carries sediments, nutrients and other pollutants to estuaries. As the water flows through wetlands such as swamps and salt marshes, much of the sediments and pollutants are filtered out. This filtration process creates cleaner and clearer water, which benefits both people and marine life.