The wetland hub.  Wetlands are connections and transition points between land and water.  Whether adjacent to lakes, streams and oceans, or in shallow depressions that may only hold water for a portion of the year, they are a natural and necessary part of water cycles and aquatic habitat.  Wetlands protect public health and well-being through critical functions including flood storage and stormwater management, water quality protection, recharge of drinking water aquifers, and provision of fish and wildlife habitat.  At the same time, the majority of wetlands are on private property, and as such are subject to the desires and management decisions of property owners, — or public land management agencies.  Wetlands are therefore central hubs in a web of concerns about land use, water management and the environment.  

Wetlands provide a number of public benefits — or “ecosystem services.”   The temporary storage of flood water in wetlands can significantly limit property damage, and the gradual release of stormwater that is naturally stored in wetlands replenishes groundwater aquifers, and maintains the flow in streams during dry seasons.   Wetlands also provide a significant buffer against the impacts of powerful storm surges, reducing the damage from hurricanes and similar natural hazards.  The filtering of sediment and other pollutants through wetlands helps to protect downstream water quality, and to protect coastal areas.  

In addition, wetland ecosystems are among the most biologically productive landscapes on the planet – typically surpassing the annual production of plant material on even the most fertile farmlands.  As such, they support both commercial and recreational production of fish, shellfish and game animals.  The diversity of plants and wildlife in wetlands is very high —many of the nation’s rarest species depend on wetland environments.

Balancing public benefits and private property rights.  The need to balance these well-documented public benefits, and the desire of private property owners to use wetlands for agriculture or forestry, or to convert wetlands to uplands to support residential or commercial development, has generated tension regarding wetland regulation, protection and management.   Given the traditional role of states in both land and water management, state legislatures have a number of options available in helping to achieve an appropriate balance.

Wetland permit programs seek to support this balance.  State and federal regulatory professionals assess the public impacts of proposed alteration of wetlands, and recommend measures to avoid or minimize adverse impacts.  Even though most regulated projects are relatively small, and the vast majority of permits are issued, the review of permit applications avoids unintended consequences while considering the additive effect of multiple small wetland losses.

For example, construction in a wetland may be shifted out of a critical floodway, or may be scaled back to avoid the unintentional flooding of neighboring property (a common consequence of wetland fill).  Wetland crossings may be redesigned to include culverts that will provide an adequate flow of water, thereby avoiding erosion, drying of downstream waters, and the cost of replacing a poorly designed crossing.  Wetlands that are essential for fish and wildlife habitat can be avoided through cooperation with resource management agencies.