Basis and tools for a sustainable development of estuaries and coastal areas

The Bay of Cullera is an example of a multi‐source polluted coastal environment. As a result of the combined discharge from the Júcar River and the sewage from a marine outfall, the Cullera coastal area presents occasionally severe water quality problems. The enhanced knowledge obtained for the most relevant processes affecting the quality of coastal and estuarine waters will lead to the production of suitable strategies and criteria for a sustainable development of these areas. This, together with the generation of a set of scientifically supported alternative policies directed to improve coastal water management, is the main goal of this paper and of the ECOSUD European research project.