Wetland Loss

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Wetland Loss

• Wetland loss is the loss of wetland area, due to
  the conversion of wetland to non-wetland
  habitats, as a result of human activity.
• The United States alone has lost more than half
  of its original wetlands, and we continue to lose
  over 100,000 wetland acres a year.

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Wetland degradation is the impairment of wetland
functions as a result of human activity.
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The United States alone has lost more than half
of its original wetlands, and we continue to lose
over 100,000 wetland acres a year.
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22 states have lost 50 percent or more of their
original wetlands
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California has lost the largest percentage of
original wetlands within the state (91)

• (means that currently less than one-half of 1
  percent of California's total acreage is
  wetlands)

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Florida has lost the most acreage (9.3 million
acres).
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The mid-western farm belt states of Illinois,
Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and
Wisconsin account for over 36 million acres of
wetlands lost since the country was settled.
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Frayer et al. estimated that 87 percent of the
wetland losses from the mid-1950's to the
mid-1970's were due to agricultural conversion.
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87 of wetland drainage from mid-1950s
mid-1970s agricultural 1990s wetland loss due
largely to urban sprawl
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Artificially Drained Land in the US
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Agricultural tile drain Ritchey Woods Natural
Area
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New Drain Installation Ritchey Woods Natural
Area
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Wetland Restoration - Ritchey Woods Natural Area
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In the 1990s wetland loss continued, but the
cause shifted from agricultural development to
urban sprawl
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Impact of Wetland Loss

• Wetland acreage has diminished to the point where
  environmental and socio-economic benefits (i.e.,
  ground water supply and water quality, shoreline
  erosion, floodwater storage and trapping of
  sediments) are now seriously threatened
• Role of wetlands in global climate change
  currently being debated

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Impaired Waters of the US (1998)
Water Threatened / Total Miles in Watershed
US EPA, 2001
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Artificially Drained Land in the US
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White River Wetland IUPUI
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Riparian Buffer - IUPUI
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It is estimated that restoring 6 of wetlands in
flood-prone areas and relocating homes and
businesses, would largely eliminate costly floods
in the Midwest
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Data from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
indicates that developers had a success rate of
99 in securing permits to fill wetlands between
1988 and 1996.
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Extent of Wetland Loss Worldwide
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Asia

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• wetland loss has been occurring for thousands of
  years
• Lowland rice cultivation began in SE Asia about
  6,500 years ago
• no trace remains of the natural floodplain
  wetlands of the Red River delta in Vietnam, which
  originally covered 1.75 million hectares

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• virtually nothing left of the one million
  hectares of natural floodplain vegetation which
  once covered most of the Sylhet Basin in
  Bangladesh
• Much of the 40 million hectares of rice
  cultivation in the central plains of India must
  have been developed at the expense of natural
  wetlands

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South America

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• most wetlands remained more or less intact until
  recent decades
• Cauca River Valley system (Colombia), 88 of
  mapped wetlands were lost between the 1950s and
  1980s
• Magdalena River delta (Colombia), 80 of mangrove
  forests died between 1970 and 1987 (changed
  hydrologic cycle)

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Caribbean

• Long history of wetland reclamation and
  alteration
• A survey of 220 Eastern Caribbean coastal
  wetlands (predominantly mangroves) between 1989
  and 1991 revealed that virtually every site
  visited in the 16 islands showed evidence of
  damage, and over 50 showed severe damage.
  (Bacon, 1993)

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Indiana Wetlands

• Presettlement Wetlands (ca. 1780)
• 5,600,000 acres
• 24.1 of surface area
• Current (1998) Distribution of Wetlands
• 813,000 acres
• 3.5 of surface area

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Wetland Distribution in Indiana, 2002
Number of wetlands per square mile
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Percentage of land area as wetland by County
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Clean Water Act

• 1972,1977
• Section 404 established a permit system for the
  discharge of dredged or fill materials into
  navigable waters
• Term wetlands was not used in the Act
• Initial permitting given to the USACE, later
  shared with USEPA

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Food Security Act

• Introduced in 1985, amended in 1990
• Established two conservation programs for the
  protection of wetlands
• Doesnt prohibit filling, offers incentives and
  penalties to protect wetlands
• NRCS does delineation

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Swampbuster in the Food Security Act

• Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)
• Emphasis on cropped wetlands
• Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP)
• Tries to provide incentives to protect, preserve,
  and enhance wetlands
• WRP offers options of permanent easements,
  30-year easements and 10 year restoration cost
  share agreements

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The SWANCC Decision

• January 9, 2001
• Solid Waste District of Northern Cook County
  (SWANCC) v. United States Army Corps of Engineers
• Challenged extent of federal jurisdiction of
  isolated wetlands
• Reduced federal jurisdiction left to states to
  determine level of protection

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HEA 1798 and HEA 1277

• The classification of an isolated wetland is
  based on the level of quality of the wetland
• The level of protection afforded isolated
  wetlands is then based on the size of the wetland
  by class
• The new wetland protection program for Indiana
  allows disturbance of the wetland by human
  activity to affect its level of protection
  regardless of the potential of the wetland for
  restoration

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Indiana Isolated Wetland Regulations

• New legislation rule making on-going
• Defines 3 classes of wetlands based on quality
• Apply different rules for permitting filling
  isolated wetlands based on classification
• Different requirements for mitigation depending
  on class of wetland impacted

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Class I Wetland

• Supports only minimal wildlife or aquatic habitat
  for threatened or endangered species
• Wetland is gt50 non-native, invasive species
• Does not support significant wildlife or aquatic
  habitat
• Does not possess significant hydrologic function

No permit required to impact Class I Wetland if
1/2 acre or less
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Class III Wetland

• An isolated wetland located in a setting
  undisturbed by or minimally disturbed by human
  activity or development
• Supports more than minimal wildlife or aquatic
  habitat or hydrologic function
• Or is a rare or ecologically important type

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• No permit required to impact Class I Wetland if
  1/2 acre or less
• No permit required to impact a Class II Wetland
  of ¼ acre or less
• Class III Wetlands subject to stronger
  protections

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