#3 Wetland policy: Managing the marsh

What are some negative connotations that facilitate widespread drainage of wetlands?

• Perception that “nothing is happening” (useless land)

• Mud and smell (Hydrogen sulphide)

  • unaesthetic, associations with malign forces

• Water-borne diseases (Malaria, Bilharzia, Schistosomiasis, etc)

• Value for alternative use (agriculture)

What was the wetland policy?

Early federal law that made it illegal to discharge refuse into navigable waters or alter waterways without a permit

Who administered the wetland policy?

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

What did the wetland policy do?

Provided initial, indirect protections for wetlands by regulating pollution and modifications to waterways

• laid the foundation for later environmental laws like the Clean Water Act.

What was the Swamplands Acts?

A series of federal laws that transferred control of federally owned wetlands to state governments on the condition that the land be drained and converted for agricultural use.

What did the Swamplands Acts do?

Led to the drainage of over 65 million acres of wetlands—especially in states like Florida—driving farming, settlement, and development at the cost of massive wetland loss and long-term ecological damage.

What was the Rivers and Harbors Act?

A federal law that regulated activities in navigable waters, prohibiting the discharge of refuse and requiring permits for alterations like dredging or filling.

Who administered the Rivers and Harbors Act?

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

What did the Rivers and Harbors Act do?

Provided limited, indirect protection to wetlands by controlling waterway modifications; served as a precursor to the Clean Water Act but offered no broad protections against wetland destruction.

What was the Clean Water Act, section 404?

section of a federal law that established new permitting requirements to destroy/alter “Waters of the U.S.”

Who was responsible for regulating dredging and filling of navigable waters in the Clean Water Act, section 404?

US Army Corps of Engineers

What did the Clean Water Act, section 404 do?

Offered new protections for wetlands, slowed losses from development/agriculture

Who is the Clean Water Act, section 404 mainly administered by?

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

What was the Executive orders (Jimmy Carter; late 70’s)?

Presidential directives establishing official federal policy to avoid and minimize wetland loss, introducing the “no net loss” principle.

What did the Executive orders (Jimmy Carter; late 70’s) do?

Required that any wetlands destroyed be replaced elsewhere, promoting wetland mitigation and influencing future conservation policy.

What did the “no net loss” policy allow for?

compensatory mitigation

• Mitigation banks

What were Mitigation banks?

• For the property owner, if they don’t want to restore the wetland, you can buy credit to have people come and restore the wetland on your property 

• Easily exploited though

What are some pros of a mitigation bank?

• Centralizes resources; larger contiguous habitat

  • SOME restoration for unavoidable degradation

• Conservation funding *

  • Often the ones making these banks are private companies and private ventures

• Prioritize valuable areas

  • Some restoration is happening

What are some cons of a mitigation bank?

• Not really certain on how to restore wetlands

• Relative value

  • If you have a certain function needed for a wetland but then its not there anymore

  • Interrupts migration

• Oversight

What are some oversights to the restored wetland?

• restored wetland not always equivalent

  • Monitoring can be spotty, depends on location

• Or sell it to people who degrade the wetland and not restore it

  • The land sits there

What was the Emergency Wetlands Resources Act?

A federal law aimed at addressing wetland loss by starting the National Wetlands Inventory (NWI).

What did the Emergency Wetlands Resources Act do?

Mandated federal agencies to identify, map, and monitor remaining wetlands in the U.S., improving understanding of wetland resources and supporting better management.

What was the Food Security Act (1985, with “Swampbuster” provision in 1986)?

A federal law with a provision (“Swampbuster”) that linked USDA benefits to wetland conservation on agricultural lands.

What did the Food Security Act (1985, with “Swampbuster” provision in 1986) do?

Prevented farmers from receiving subsidies if they converted wetlands to cropland, discouraging wetland destruction for agricultural gain.

What was the Easement Programs (late 1980s–present)?

Voluntary federal conservation programs offering financial incentives to private landowners to preserve wetlands on their property.

What did the Easement Programs (late 1980s–present) do?

Provided temporary or permanent protection of wetlands through legal agreements (easements), encouraging private conservation with periodic inspections.

What qualifies as waters of the USA?

All waters which are currently used or were used in the past or may be susceptible to use as interstate or foreign commerce including all waters which are subject to the ebb and flow of the tide

• Waters of the United States” (WOTUS)

Although wetlands were not specified in the original CWA, how did they come to be included in the CWA?

• Wetlands were not originally included under the Clean Water Act (CWA),

  • court cases in the 1970s forced the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to recognize and regulate wetlands adjacent to navigable waters.

• These rulings expanded CWA jurisdiction and required stricter permitting for dredge-and-fill activities, strengthening wetland protections over time.

What is the new definition WOTUS that USACE was forced to redefine?

…isolated wetlands and lakes, intermittent streams, prairie potholes, and other waters that are not part of a tributary system to interstate waters or to navigable waters of the United States, the degradation or destruction of which could affect interstate commerce

• didn’t last long

What was the importance of the 2001 Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County v. USACE case?

limited the scope of the Clean Water Act by ruling that isolated wetlands without a "significant nexus" to navigable waters are not federally protected, weakening protections for many inland wetlands.

What is important about wetlands in California?

• We have some of the strongest state-level wetland protections–

  • “waters of the state” include wetlands

• Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act (1969) 

• State Water Resources Control Board 

What was the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act– (1969) 

• kinda our own mini CWA

• Does more or less the same things, but the federal gov can’t step in and determine how to do things

Which agency handles wetland delineation in California?

State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB)

What does the State Water Resources Control Board do?

creates definitions and state delineation standards

What is wetland delineation?

a standardized process used to identify the boundaries of wetlands for regulatory and protection purposes

Why is wetland delineation important?

determines which areas qualify as wetlands and therefore receive legal protection under federal or state regulations

Which federal agency is responsible for wetland delineation?

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)

What are the three main criteria used in wetland delineation?

• Vegetation

  • hydrophytic species

• Soil

  • Hydric soils

• Hydrology

  • presence of saturation or flooding during the growing season

Hydric soils

saturated, flooded, or ponded long enough during the growing season to develop anaerobic conditions