Water-dependent uses are defined as "an activity which can only be conducted on, in, over or adjacent to a water body because such activity requires direct access to that water body, and which involves, as an integral part of such activity, the use of the water". The ports and harbors of New York State are where most of these uses are concentrated.

These water-dependent uses and businesses include international shipping facilities, marinas, mooring areas, yacht clubs, boat yards, commercial and recreational fishing operations, facilities for shipping petroleum products and aggregates, ferry landings, and various support facilities for waterborne commerce and recreation. Together these uses generate billions of dollars for the State's economy and are vital to the economic health and character of most waterfront communities.

These working waterfronts need to be protected and promoted as important elements of a community's maritime heritage and economy. However, because the waterfront is also an attractive place to live, there is competition for the limited land area that surrounds ports and harbors that can endanger these important uses. Competition can also exist between the uses we make of harbors and the natural resources they contain.

Communities face hard decisions about how to allocate the limited harbor shoreline and waters among competing uses. These decisions require complex judgments about:

• How best to promote water-dependent development without compromising environmental quality
• What is the right mix of waterfront uses for a particular community
• How to balance property owners' expectations with the community's interest in maintaining a sense of maritime heritage
• What infrastructure and support facilities do water dependent uses need to remain viable
• How to meet the needs of tourists, seasonal, and year round residents
• What priority should water-dependent uses be given in land use regulation

In order to answer these questions you should identify your community's existing water-dependent uses by type, size, and location. You should discuss with the owners or operators of these uses the problems they face in maintaining a viable operation. You might then identify the areas suitable for particular water-dependent uses.

You will find that infrastructure needs for the working waterfront vary widely; but, whether these needs are a public or private responsibility, they can often be most efficiently met in the areas where these uses are concentrated. The ports and harbors where these uses are concentrated provide opportunities for coordination of efforts to maintain or provide necessary infrastructure, such as channel dredging, public docks and ferry landings, or links to land transportation.

Communities should examine the pattern and trends of land use change along their waterfront to determine an effective strategy for retaining or attracting the water-dependent uses. You should ask the following questions:

• Are the water-dependent uses being replaced by uses which do not require a waterfront location, such as, residential uses?
• Is demand for recreational boating facilities increasing?
• Are water-dependent industries closing without a new use moving in?
• Why are these changes occurring?
• What is the nature of demand for the uses on the waterfront?

While there must be market support to sustain most water-dependent uses, the market alone can not be relied upon to assure that the range of uses a community desires will be maintained or attained. Various incentives and disincentives as well as land and water use regulations are tools available to assist a community achieve the working waterfront uses that it has determined are appropriate and feasible. Choosing the right mix from among the tools available will depend upon the types of uses desired and the degree and nature of the competition for space on the waterfront.

The most basic approach to assuring that water-dependent uses have priority on the waterfront is through zoning. Once a community has established a list of permitted uses consistent with the uses it desires and identified the areas where these are appropriate, the most important factor in selecting the best technique is the degree of competition for use of the waterfront. The specific zoning techniques employed can vary depending on the degree of competition. The following general approaches to zoning for water-dependent uses reflect the role of competition:

• Permit water-dependent uses along with other uses. This is appropriate where competition is low, much open land is available, or there is a low demand for water-dependent use.
• Permit water-dependent use and allow other uses but not those that are most likely to choose a waterfront location and thus would compete with water-dependent uses, these are usually residential uses.
• Permit water-dependent uses and allow other uses only by special permit with the condition that they be part of a mixed use proposal that includes water-dependent uses. This may provide needed economic support for the desired water-dependent uses. 
• Permit water-dependent use only. This approach is particularly appropriate where the waterfront area is developed with water-dependent uses and there is strong development pressure to convert to other uses, generally residential.
• Provide for more than one water-dependent use zone with a different set of uses in each. This is appropriate where there may be competition for space between water-dependent uses, e.g., marinas and commercial fishing, or the uses have different sitting needs.

Other tools that communities can use to attract or maintain the mix of use that will make the most of their harbors include use value assessment for water-dependent uses; public infrastructure improvements, either directly or through creation of a harbor improvement district; working with State and federal regulators to expedite the permit process for water-dependent uses through, e.g., perimeter permits for marinas, generic environmental impact statements for common actions of similar harbor uses, or coordination of dredging projects; and harbor management plans.

Water-enhanced uses are defined "as an activity which does not require a location adjacent to coastal waters, but whose location on the waterfront adds to the public use and enjoyment of the water's edge". Water-enhanced uses are primarily recreational, cultural, retail, or entertainment uses. These uses are also important to the economy, character, and public enjoyment of a community's waterfront, and include such uses as, restaurants, parks, hotels, and shops. When developed in association with water-dependent uses they can provide necessary economic support; however, they may also compete with water-dependent uses. A community needs to decide the mix of uses that is suitable for its waterfront.