Connecticut 305b Assessed Estuary 2014 is a 1:24,000-scale, polygon feature-based layer that includes estuaries that have been assessed in compliance with Sections 305(b) and 303(d) of the federal Clean Water Act.  Section 305(b) of the Clean Water Act requires each state to monitor, assess and report on the quality of its waters relative to attainment of designated uses established by the State's water quality standards.  Section 303(d) requires each State to compile a subset of that list identifying only those waters not meeting water quality standards and assign a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) priority ranking to each impaired waterbody.  

This layer is based on information collected and compiled prior to 2014.  It represents conditions at a particular point in time and does not represent current conditions.  This layer includes only assessed estuaries.  It can be used with the 2014 Connecticut 305b Assessed Lakes layer and the 2014 Connecticut 305b Assessed Rivers layer to geographically display attainment and non-attainment for each designated use on assessed waters within Connecticut's boundaries.  

Features are polygon locations that represent the locations of  assessed estuaries.   The sources for these features include the hydrography layer and the water quality classification layer.  Attribute information is comprised of a unique identifier (segment Id) for each feature, a description of the waterbody, its location, the assessment cycle (year), the water type, the Long Island Sound basin and zone, whether the feature is an island or a beach, the water quality class, the size in square miles, and the assessment for the following categories:  marine aquatic life, recreation, fish consumption, and shellfish.    Data is compiled at 1:24,000 scale. This dataset is not updated.

Connecticut 305(b) Assessed Estuary 2012 is 1:24,000-scale data. It depicts the location of assessed estuaries along Long Island Sound, including all Connecticut coastal river estuaries to the extent of salt water influence.  Use this layer to show estuary locations and their accompanying use assessment . This layer should be used with the other assessed waterbody layers:  Assessed Rivers and Assessed Lakes.  To gain a historical perspective, use this layer with the 2006, 2008 and 2010 Assessed Waters layers.  

This layer should only be viewed with other 1:24,000-scale map data such as water quality classifications, roads, towns, topographic quadrangles, and digital orthophotos.  Not intended for maps printed at map scales greater or more detailed than 1:24,000 scale (1 inch = 2,000 feet.)

For additional information, refer to the Water Quality Standards for the State of Connecticut at http://www.ct.gov/dep/lib/dep/water/water_quality_standards/wqs.pdf.

ground condition

None. No restrictions or legal prerequisites for accessing the data. The data is in the public domain and may be redistributed.

None. No restrictions or legal prerequisites for using the data after access is granted. The data is suitable for use at appropriate scale, and is not intended for maps printed at scales greater or more detailed than 1:24,000 scale (1 inch = 2,000 feet). Although this data set  has been used by the State of Connecticut, Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by the State of Connecticut, Department of Energy and Environmental Protection as to the accuracy of the data and or related materials.  The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by the State of Connecticut, Department of Energy and Environmental Protection in the use of these data or related materials. The user assumes the entire risk related to the use of these data. Once the data is distributed to the user, modifications made to the data by the user should be noted in the metadata. When printing this data on a map or using it in a software application, analysis, or report, please acknowledge the State of Connecticut, Department of Energy and Environmental Protection as the source for this information. For example, include the following data source description when printing this layer on a map: Estuarine Assessment - From the Connecticut 305b Assessed Estuary 2014 layer, compiled and published by CT DEEP.  Source map scale is 1:24,000.  

This data is accurate in the time period specified for data collection dates.  Refer to the "2012 State of Connecticut Integrated Water Quality Report" at 
http://www.ct.gov/dep/lib/dep/water/water_quality_management/305b/2012_iwqr_final.pdf for more information about collection dates.

Includes assessed estuary features to include size of feature in acres and square miles, the reporting year (assessment year), unique identification, name and location of feature, water quality class goal, type of waterbody, Long Island Sound basin name and zone, whether or not the feature is an island or beach, and categories assessed:  marine aquatic life viability, recreation, fish consumption, and shellfish harvesting.  Use the ID305B field to uniquely identify features.  The Name attribute decodes ID305B.  Use either the Name attribute or the ID305B attribute to label features on a map. To define a layer that only includes a certain assessment of a feature type, query the features for a specific attribute (e.g. Recreation) equal to a specific value (e.g. Not Supporting).  This will display only those features where the Recreation use is Not Supporting.

Connecticut 305b Assessed Estuaries represented as polygon features.

State of Connecticut, Department of Energy and Environmental Protection

Connecticut 305B Assessed Estuary 2014

Although this data set  has been used by the State of Connecticut, Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by the State of Connecticut, Department of Energy and Environmental Protection as to the accuracy of the data and or related materials.  The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by the State of Connecticut, Department of Energy and Environmental Protection in the use of these data or related materials. The user assumes the entire risk related to the use of these data. Once the data is distributed to the user, modifications made to the data by the user should be noted in the metadata.

Geographic information sytem (GIS), computer-aided drawing or other mapping software is necessary to display, view and access the information.

The data distributor does not provide custom GIS analysis or mapping services. Data is available in a standard format and may be converted to other formats, projections, coordinate systems, or selected for specific geographic regions by the party receiving the data.

None. No restrictions or legal prerequisites for accessing the metadata.

None. No restrictions or legal prerequisites for using the metadata after access is granted.