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Protection and restoration of coastal watersheds requires the synthesis of complex environmental issues. Contaminated site remediation, dredging and disposal of contaminated sediments, and restoring injured habitats are a few of the challenges facing coastal managers. The evaluation of multiple environmental issues can be significantly improved by combining scientific data and watershed characteristics into a Geographic Information System (GIS).NOAA's Coastal Protection and Restoration Division (CPRD) has developed decision-support tools for specific watersheds around the country that combine the use of a standard database structure, database-mapping application, and GIS. CPRD Watershed Database & Mapping Projects facilitate sediment and tissue chemistry and bioeffects data, natural resources, and potential habitat restoration projects to be overlaid on a watershed's features and land uses, and displayed on maps at flexible spatial scales. This approach simplifies data analysis and presentation, provides valuable tools for complex decision-making, and improves our understanding of dynamic aquatic ecosystems.