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Wetlands and forested buffers are vital
By
David E. Wilson, Jr.
new scientific study released last month on the importance of protecting
forested headwaters of streams and surrounding wetlands should serve
to remind residents how important land preservation and water quality
monitoring have been for the protection of larger streams and rivers.
 nce
again, "Where Rivers are Born: The Scientific Imperative for Defending
Small Streams and Watersheds", shows how forestlands upstream provide
the natural processes which benefit humans by mitigating flooding,
maintaining water quality, recycling nutrients, controlling sediment,
recharging groundwater, providing habitat for plants and animals and
safeguarding the biological productivity of rivers, lakes and estuaries
like the Chesapeake.
 tream
ecologists, hydrologists, and wildlife biologists from 10 universities
prepared the study in the wake of Bush Administration plans to cease
protection of about two thirds of the nation's wetlands after a Supreme
Court ruling last year said the Clean Water Act did not cover wetlands
"isolated" from non-navigable waters. The US Army Corps of Engineers
is allowing comments on the administration's interpretation of the
ruling before the rollback takes effect.
lthough
much of "Where Rivers are Born" deals with wetlands, many of its key
finding revolve around the need to keep adequate water quality monitoring
in rivers and their tributaries and to slow the conversion of natural
land to impervious surfaces for homes, businesses and roadways.
 n
Pennsylvania, the state has provided critical data to help pinpoint
problem areas and to show where tributaries are being impacted. Real-time
monitors have helped scientists determine how weather changes can
instantly impact water quality. Additional data, which showed nutrient
pulses or inexplicable water level rises, has helped data collectors
pinpoint illegal activity.
 his,
in turn, has directed growth to less sensitive areas, brought millions
in federal dollars and began land preservation over the past decade
which will pay enormous dividends in water quality protection.
n
many cases, the tiniest of unnamed tributaries miles of primary river
channels, deep in local forests have immeasurable spawning and nursery
capacity for a host of freshwater, saltwater, and anadromous animal
and fish species. Protecting these forests must be a priority.
he
reason why land preservation in these areas has been so popular and
successful in the past is that it is voluntary, non-regulatory and
protects the culture and character of the region. It also has the
long-term effect of keeping taxes low and negating the need for all
types of enforcement which can be expensive.
o
keep learning how and why to protect sensitive areas, water quality
monitoring, which leads to action, must be beefed up, wetlands laws
must be enforced, and land preservation in Pennsylvania must continue.
 stuary
ecology has no simple solutions and is scientifically complex. But
this study and years of knowledge have shown us that some problems
have definite remedies if the citizens and their government have the
will to take them on.
Contact Dave Wilson
See past topics of In the Flow here!
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