Effects of Nutrient Enrichment 

NOAA’s 2007  National Estuarine Eutrophication Assessment Update for the period from the 1990’s to 2004 by multiple authors with chapters by individual authors.

it was the most comprehensive examination ever reported of nutrient-related water quality impacts,

their causes, and expected changes in condition in U.S. coastal water bodies. The results showed that

most estuarine systems exhibited some level of eutrophication impact in the early 1990s. One of the

main aims of the report was to develop a national strategy to limit the nutrient enrichment problems

affecting U.S. estuarine and coastal water bodies.

This updated 2007 report continues to examine eutrophic conditions into the 2000s. It attempts

to look at changes that occurred in the past decade, and analyze the Nation’s progress in addressing

what we now see as a ubiquitous problem. Coastal eutrophication is a global problem not limited

to U.S. coastal waters. This report highlights the nutrient contamination in selected coastal systems

throughout the U.S., Europe, Australia, and China in an effort to share what we know about the

development of eutrophication, and to provide successful solutions to better manage the problem.