The Status of Our Wetlands

Axe Lake Swamp State Nature Preserve

Kentucky

 

The National Audubon Society notes that bird populations continue to decrease as wetlands are destroyed. In the past 15 years alone, the continental duck breeding population fell from 45 million to 31 million birds, a decline of 31%. The number of birds migrating over the Gulf of Mexico, which rely on coastal wetlands as staging areas (especially in Louisiana and Mississippi), has decreased by one-half since the mid 1960s. Approximately 100 million wetland acres remain in the 48 contiguous states, but they continue to be lost at a rate of about 60,000 acres annually. Draining wetlands for agricultural purposes is significant, but declining, while development pressure is emerging as the largest cause of wetland loss. Unfortunately, many remaining wetlands are in poor condition and many created wetlands fail to replace the diverse plant and animal communities of those destroyed.

 

When a wetland functions properly, it provides water quality protection, fish and wildlife habitat, natural floodwater storage, and reduction in the erosive potential of surface water. A degraded wetland is less able to effectively perform these functions. For this reason, wetland degradation is as big a problem as outright wetland loss, though often more difficult to identify and quantify.

 

"We have forgotten how to be good guests, how to walk lightly on the earth as its other creatures do."

Barbara Ward

Commercial Benefits of Wetlands

Cheyenne Bottoms

Kansas

 

Many industries, including the fishing industry, derive benefits or produce products dependent on wetlands. Part of this economic value lies in the variety of commercial products they provide, such as food and energy sources. Rice can be grown in a wetland during part of the year, and the same area can serve as a wildlife habitat for the rest of the year. Some wetland plant species, such as wild rice and various reeds, can be harvested for - or used to - produce specialty foods, medicines, cosmetics and decorative items. In many coastal and river delta wetlands, haying of wetland vegetation is important to livestock producers. In Europe, reed-growing for building materials is undergoing a revival in some countries as people realize the full potential of reeds as a roofing material. Aesthetically pleasing, thatched roofs are superior insulators to conventional tile roofs, and they have a life span of 25-40 years.

 

Wetlands also provide employment opportunities, including such positions as surveyor or park ranger. The production of raw materials from wetlands provides jobs to those employed in the commercial fishing, specialty food and cosmetic industries. These are billion dollar industries that depend on our wetlands to flourish.

 

In addition to the many ways wetlands provide economic benefits, they offer numerous less tangible benefits as well. These include providing aesthetic value to residential communities, reducing stream-bank erosion and providing educational opportunities as an ideal "outdoor classroom." By nearly any measure used, it pays to save wetlands.

 

"There must be a reason why some people can afford to live well. They must have worked for it. I only feel angry when I see waste. When I see people throwing away things we could use."

Mother Teresa

Wildlife Habitat in a Wetland

Long Lake

Indiana

 

Diverse species of mammals, plants, insects, amphibians, reptiles, birds and fish rely on wetlands for food, habitat or shelter. Wetlands are some of the most biologically productive natural ecosystems in the world, comparable to tropical rain forests or coral reefs in the number and variety of species they support. Although wetlands make up only about 5% of the land area of the lower 48 states, more than one-third of threatened and endangered species live only in wetlands. An additional 20% of the country's threatened and endangered species use or inhabit wetlands at some time in their life. Some species must have a wetland in order to reproduce. Migrating waterfowl rely on wetlands for resting, eating and breeding areas, leading to increased populations.

 

"Away, away, from men and towns,

To the wild wood and the downs,

To the silent wilderness,

Where the soul need not repress

It's music."

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Reconstructing a Wetland

Cache River

Illinois

 

Because natural wetlands are so effective at removing pollutants from water that flows through them, engineers and scientists construct systems that replicate some of the functions of natural wetlands. These constructed treatment wetlands use natural processes involving wetland vegetation, soils and their associated microbial life to improve water quality. They are often less expensive to build than traditional waste-water and storm-water treatment options, have low operating and maintenance expenses and can handle fluctuating water levels. For example, in 1990 city managers in Phoenix, Arizona, needed to improve the performance of a waste-water treatment plant to meet new state water quality standards. After learning that upgrading the plant might cost as much as $635 million, the managers started to look for a more cost-effective way to provide final treatment to the plant's waste-water discharge into the Salt River. A preliminary study suggested that a constructed wetland system would sufficiently clean the discharged water while supporting high-quality wetland habitat for birds, including endangered species, and protecting downstream residents from flooding. All these benefits would be achieved at a lower cost than retrofitting the existing treatment plant. As a result, the 12-acre Tres Rios Demonstration Project began in 1993 with assistance from the Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Reclamation and EPA's Environmental Technology Initiative and now receives about two million gallons of waste-water per day. This project is still flourishing, serving as a home for thousands of birds and other wildlife. There are hundreds of waste-water treatment wetlands operating in United States today.

 

"To halt the decline of an ecosystem, it is necessary to think like an ecosystem."

Douglas P. Wheeler

Wetlands and Flood Control

Grays Lake

Idaho

 

Flood damages in the U.S. average $2 billion each year, causing significant loss of life and property. Wetlands can play a role in reducing the frequency and intensity of floods by acting as natural buffers, soaking up and storing a significant amount of floodwater A wetland can typically store about three acre-feet of water, or one million gallons. An acre-foot is one acre of land, about three-quarters the size of a football field, covered one foot deep in water. Three acre-feet describes the same area of land covered by three feet of water. Coastal wetlands serve as storm surge protectors when hurricanes or tropical storms come ashore. In the Gulf coast area, barrier islands, shoals, marshes, forested wetlands and other features of the coastal landscape can provide a significant and potentially sustainable buffer from wind wave action and storm surge generated by tropical storms and hurricanes. After peak flood flows have passed, wetlands slowly release the stored waters reducing property damage downstream or inland. One reason floods have become more costly is that over half of the wetlands in the United States have been drained or filled. The loss of more than 64 million acres of wetlands in the Upper Mississippi Basin since the 1780s contributed to high flood waters during the great floods of 1927, 1993 and 2011 that caused billions of dollars in damages and the loss of hundreds of lives. Additionally, the damage sustained by the Gulf Coast during Hurricane Katrina could have been less severe if more wetlands along the coast and Mississippi delta had been in place.

 

"If  there is magic on the planet, it is contained in water."

Loren Eiseley

Wetlands and the Quality of Drinking Water

Alakai Wilderness Preserve

Hawaii

 

 Wetlands improve water quality in nearby rivers and streams, and thus have considerable value as filters for future drinking water. When water enters a wetland, it slows down and moves around wetland plants. Much of the suspended sediment drops out and settles to the wetland floor. Plant roots and microorganisms on plant stems and in the soil absorb excess nutrients in the water from fertilizers, manure, leaking septic tanks and municipal sewage. While a certain level of nutrients is necessary in water ecosystems, excess nutrients can cause algae growth that's harmful to fish and other aquatic life. A wetland's natural filtration process can remove excess nutrients before water leaves a wetland, making it healthier for drinking, swimming and supporting plants and animals. For example, a single swamp removes a quantity of pollutants from the watershed equivalent to that which would be removed by a $5 million treatment plant.

 

"When the well's dry, we know the worth of water."

Benjamin Franklin

Wetland Facts

Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge

Delaware

 

Did you know?

 

In 1991 wetland-related ecotourism activities such as hunting, fishing, bird-watching, and photography added approximately $59 billion to the national economy.

 

According to the Pacific Coast Federation of Fisherman's Associations, almost $79 billion per year is generated from wetland-dependent species, or about 71% of the nation's entire $111 billion commercial and recreational fishing industry in 1997.

 

An acre of wetland can store 1-1.5 million gallons of floodwater.

 

Up to one-half of North American bird species nest or feed in wetlands.

 

Although wetlands keep only about 5% of the land surface in the conterminous United States, they are home to 31% of our plant species.

 

"A healthy ecology is the basis for a healthy economy."

Claudine Schneider

 

Biological Productivity of Wetlands

Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge

Georgia

 

Wetlands are some of the most biological productive natural ecosystems in the world, comparable to tropical rain forests and coral reefs in their productivity and the diversity of species they support. Abundant vegetation and shallow water provide diverse habitats for fish and wildlife. Aquatic plant life flourishes in the nutrient-rich environment, and energy converted by the plants is passed up the food chain to fish, waterfowl, and other wildlife and to us as well. This function supports valuable commercial fish and shellfish industries.

 

"In nature we never see anything isolated, but everything in connection with something else which is before it, beside it and over it."

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Wetlands and Water Filtration

Bayou Bartholomew

Arkansas

 

After being slowed by a wetland, water moves around plants, allowing the suspended sediment to drop out and settle to the wetland floor. Nutrients from fertilizer application, manure, leaking septic tanks, and municipal sewage that are dissolved in the water are often absorbed by plant roots and microorganisms in the soil. Other pollutants stick to soil particles. In many cases, this filtration process removes much of the water's nutrient and pollutant load by the time it leaves a wetland. Some types of wetlands are so good at this filtration function that environmental managers construct similar artificial wetlands to treat storm water and waste water.

 

"For many of us, water simply flows from a faucet, and we think little about it beyond this point of contact. We have lost a sense of respect for the wild river, for the complex workings of a wetland, for the intricate web of life that water supports."

Sandra Postel

Wetlands and Water Storage

Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve

Florida

 

Wetlands function like natural tubs or sponges, storing water and slowly releasing it. This process slows the water's momentum and erosive potential, reduces flood heights, and allows for ground water recharge, which contributes to base flow to surface water systems during dry periods. Although a small wetland might not store much water, a network of many small wetlands can store an enormous amount of water. The ability of wetlands to store floodwaters reduces the risk of costly property damage and loss of life - benefits that have economic value to us.

 

"Allowing the large fraction of wetlands in New Orleans to disappear is an extremely expensive thing."

Richard Carson

Wetland Functions vs. Wetland Values

Ballona Wetlands

California

 

Wetland functions include water quality improvement, floodwater storage, fish and wildlife habitat, aesthetics, and biological productivity. The value of a wetland is an estimate of the importance or worth of one or more of its functions to society. For example, a value can be determined by the revenue generated from the sale of fish that depend on the wetland, by the tourist dollars associated with the wetland, or by public support for protecting fish and wildlife.

 

Although large-scale benefits of functions can be valued, determining the value of individual wetlands is difficult because they differ widely and do not all perform the same functions or perform functions equally well.

 

"I want to make sure we do all we can to make sure the wetlands are preserved."

Vicki Phillips

Why Celebrate Wetlands?

Koyukuk National Wildlife Refuge

Alaska

 

Wetlands are among the most valuable but least understood of all natural resources. They provide rich habitat for wildlife. They are places in which many animals and birds build nests and raise their young. migrating birds stop over in wetlands to rest and to feed. We celebrate wetlands each May when they are teeming with new animal and plant life.

Wetlands benefit our communities as well. They replenish and clean water supplies and reduce flood risks, provide recreational opportunities and aesthetic benefits. They serve as sites for scientific research and education, and benefit commercial fishing.

Unfortunately wetlands have been misunderstood for many years, often viewed as wastelands to be drained and converted to other uses. But if wetlands disappear, water will not be as clean, fish and bird populations will suffer and the frequency and severity of floods will increase. Americans have begun to recognize the value of wetlands, and the rate of loss has declined dramatically over the last 30 years. It is important that we continue to stop the loss of wetlands and begin to achieve a net gain through better management and restoration.

"The natural pattern of flooding supplies nutrients and sediment to wetland areas, keeping them as kind of a buffer and a natural absorber when a really big storm hits."

John Rennie