; and (2) many species that are listed as threatened or endangered species; Whereas estuaries provide critical ecosystem services that protect human health and public safety, including water filtration, flood control, shoreline stabilization, erosion prevention, carbon sequestration, and the protection of coastal communities during hurricanes, storms, and other extreme weather events; Whereas, by the 1980s, the United States had already lost more than 50 percent of the wetlands that existed in the 13 Original Colonies; Whereas some bays in the United States that were once filled with fish and oysters have become dead zones filled with excess nutrients, chemical waste, and marine debris; Whereas harmful algal blooms are hurting fish, wildlife, and human health, and are causing serious ecological and economic harm to some estuaries; Whereas changes in sea level can affect estuarine water quality and estuarine habitats; Whereas section 320 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act ( 33 U.S.C. 1330 ) (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) authorizes the development of comprehensive conservation and management plans to ensure that the designated uses of estuaries are protected and to restore and maintain the— (1) chemical, physical, and biological integrity of estuaries; (2) water quality; (3) balanced indigenous population of shellfish, fish, and wildlife; and (4) recreational activities in estuaries; Whereas the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 ( 16 U.S.C. 1451 et seq. ) provides that the policy of the United States is to preserve, protect, develop, and, if possible, restore or enhance the resources of the coastal zone of the United States, including estuaries, for current and future generations; Whereas 28 coastal and Great Lakes States and territories of the United States operate or contain a National Estuary Program or a National Estuarine Research Reserve; Whereas scientific study leads to a better understanding of the benefits of estuaries to human and ecological communities