About Estuaries

An estuary is a partially enclosed, coastal water body where freshwater from rivers and streams mixes with salt water from the ocean. Estuaries, and their surrounding lands, are places of transition from land to sea. Thousands of species of birds, mammals, fish and other wildlife depend on estuarine habitats as places to live, feed and reproduce. Healthy estuaries are essential to vibrant communities and their economies. They are an irreplaceable natural resource that must be managed carefully for the mutual benefit of all who enjoy and depend on them.

Great Blue Herons by Ruth Shelly

Estuaries provide a wealth of ecosystem services including providing a nursery for Dungeness crabs and other important commercial species, moderating floods and storm surge, and natural water filtration. Estuaries offer climate resiliency through storing carbon. Tidal wetlands and eelgrass beds store carbon at rates three to five times greater than tropical forests.

Yaquina Bay, where the Yaquina River meets the Pacific Ocean, is one of Oregon’s 22 major estuaries and is essential to the area’s cultural, ecological, and economic future. Lincoln and Tillamook Counties have many estuaries; the Tillamook and Yaquina estuaries being the largest. The Nestucca, Salmon, Siletz, Alsea, and other smaller local rivers have estuaries that support a rich biodiversity of birds, aquatic life, and other wildlife. 

The Lincoln County Estuary Management Plan is intended to guide development and protection of local estuaries, but the plan is 40 years old and needs to be updated to address emerging issues like climate change.

What we are doing

Yaquina Bay Estuary from Oregon Coastal Atlas

We are engaged with other conservation and community groups, local businesses, government agencies, and the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians in a process to update the Yaquina Bay Estuary Management Plan (YBEMP). 

The goal of updating the 40-year-old plan is to modernize and digitize the plan so that it better reflects existing conditions. A major focus of the plan update is to make it consistent with Oregon’s Statewide Planning Goal 16: Estuarine Resources that provides guidance for the planning and management of Oregon's estuaries. 

The objective of Goal 16 is to "recognize and protect the unique environmental, economic and social values of each estuary and associated wetlands; and to protect, maintain, where appropriate develop, and where appropriate restore the long term environmental, economic and social values, diversity and benefits of Oregon’s estuaries."

The YBEMP is a regulatory document that provides guidance for cities and the county in making decisions about uses of the estuary (e.g., processing permits and applications for projects). Essentially, the plan determines who can do what, where, and when within the estuary. The plan shapes what the future of the estuary will look like and offers an opportunity to build ecological/social resilience to climate change and protect biodiversity.

Updated Plan Highlights

  • The new draft is the first Estuary Management Plan in the state to acknowledge the threat of climate change and incorporate a Climate Vulnerability section for plan users to assess potential impacts.

  • The plan is much more user friendly, and updated digital maps incorporate new resource information and spatial data.

  • Restored regions of the estuary were afforded protection and designated as “natural” management units. Additionally, many future restoration sites were identified.

  • Some locations that support recovering or restored native Olympia oysters were incorporated into the digital maps.

  • The plan update was a collaborative effort involving stakeholders, scientists, managers, ports, and the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians.

Yaquina Bay Estuary by Ruth Shelly

What’s next?

Lincoln County is updating management plans for all its estuaries in addition to Yaquina Bay. There will be opportunities for the public to provide feedback to the County prior to a countywide estuary management plan being adopted. Right now, the City of Newport is moving to adopt the new YBEMP by incorporating the plan in the City’s own Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Codes.

Get involved!

The City of Newport is in the review and adoption process for the YBEMP. The Newport City Council will be holding public meetings on the YBEMP in October or November. This will be an important opportunity to comment on the plan, letting the Council know what you value about the Yaquina estuary (It is important to note that the amendments to the Newport comprehensive plan and zoning ordinances only apply to the portion of the Yaquina estuary within the city limits, i.e., Sally’s Bend to the mouth.)

City Council meetings to review the YBEMP and amendments to the city’s comprehensive plan and zoning ordinance are yet to be scheduled. In advance of these public meetings, we encourage you to express your support for a strong YBEMP that protects the Yaquina Bay estuary habitat, which is vital to birds, other wildlife, and aquatic life. Click here to find key talking points that you can share in writing, public testimony, and/or talking with the Newport City Council.

Sign up for project updates or share your thoughts about what matters to you about the Yaquina Bay Estuary by visiting the interactive Yaquina Bay Estuary Management Plan website!

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