'Now is a crucial time for scientists and the public to educate state and local decision makers about how acutely we need wetlands,' writes swamp_prof.
Each year, I take my environmental-law students on a swamp walk in Big Cypress National Preserve in the western Everglades in Florida. Hip-deep in the translucent water, and mindful of alligators, we appreciate the cathedral-like setting inside a cypress dome. The trip helps the students to understand aquatic ecosystems and how wetlands influence downstream waters.
The court quashed clean-water protections twice. First, it declared that the Clean Water Act applies to wetlands only when they have a continuous surface connection to a permanent body of water, such as an ocean, river, stream or lake. Wetlands connected to other bodies through groundwater are excluded, as are seasonal wetlands, such as vernal pools and playa lakes. By some estimates, this requirement wipes out Clean Water Act coverage for more than half of the nation’s wetlands.
With each wetland that is filled, people’s water quality will suffer, municipalities’ risks of floods will increase and habitat for wetland-dependent species will be eliminated.
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