The Bay of St. Louis (St. Louis Bay; french: Baie Saint-Louis) is a shallow-water, partially enclosed

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...

of the northeast

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

along the southwestern coast of

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

.Wang, X, Y. Cai, and L. Guo. 2010. Referential removal of dissolved carbohydrates during estuarine mixing in the Bay of St. Louis in the northern Gulf of Mexico, in ''Marine Chemistry'' 11(1-4):130-138.Lin, P., M. Chen, L. Guo. 2012. Speciation and transformation of phosphorus and its mixing behavior in the Bay of St. Louis estuary in the northern Gulf of Mexico, in ''Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta'' 87:283-298.Blain, CA, CR Edwards. 2002. Development of a forecast capability for coastal embayments of the Mississippi Sound, in OCEANS '02 MTS/IEEE 3:1501-1508Blain, CA, J Veeramony. 2002. The role of river discharge and vertical mixing formulation on barotropic circulation in Bay St. Louis, MS, in ''Estuarine and Coastal Modeling, Proceedings of the 7th International Conference'', ML Spaulding, editor, 745-764. The estuary receives freshwater input from one

blackwater Blackwater or Black Water may refer to: Health and ecology * Blackwater (coal), liquid waste from coal preparation * Blackwater (waste), wastewater containing feces, urine, and flushwater from flush toilets * Blackwater fever, an acute kidney disea ...

, or swamp-land, the

Jourdan River Jourdan may refer to: * Carolyn Jourdan, American author *Claude Jourdan (1803–1873), French zoologist and paleontologist * David W. Jourdan, businessman *Jean-Baptiste Jourdan (1762–1833), French army commander * Jourdan Bobbish (1994–2012), ...

on the west and the Wolf River on the east and some smaller streams (

Bayou Portage In usage in the Southern United States, a bayou () is a body of water typically found in a flat, low-lying area. It may refer to an extremely slow-moving stream, river (often with a poorly defined shoreline), marshy lake, wetland, or creek. They ...

); these are mixed in the bay with salt water from Mississippi Sound and the

Mississippi Bight Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Mississ ...

. The waters are comparatively well mixed, with an average salinity of less than 20. The Bay of St. Louis is classified as an "impaired" waterway by the

United States Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...

due to high

fecal coliform A fecal coliform (British: faecal coliform) is a facultatively anaerobic, rod-shaped, gram-negative, non-sporulating bacterium. Coliform bacteria generally originate in the intestines of warm-blooded animals. Fecal coliforms are capable of growth ...

levels in the waters from

urban development Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

on the bay and surrounding waters.Lui, Z, NB Hashim, WL Kingery, DH Huddleston. 2010. Fecal coliform modeling under two flow scenarios in St. Louis Bay of Mississippi, in ''Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part A: Toxic/Hazardous Substances and Environmental Engineering'' 45(3):282-291.

References

Estuaries of Mississippi Bodies of water of Hancock County, Mississippi {{HancockCountyMS-geo-stub