The Compleat Wetlander: Identifying Wetlands That Store Floodwater

By Jeanne Christie – Association of State Wetland Managers – May 30, 2013

The past couple years have been a roller coaster ride for the people who live along the Mississippi. Flood was followed by drought was followed by flood.  While drought still persists in the western half of the United States, the main stem Mississippi states are no longer too dry.  In April the problem was too much water.

The literature about wetland values routinely identifies flood storage as one of the benefits of wetlands on the landscape.  Wetlands also provide other benefits for wildlife, water quality, sediment retention, recreation, etc.  Some wetlands are good for specific kinds of wildlife.  For example, prairie potholes are essential to migratory waterfowl. Others retain sediment or filter water.  It follows that some wetlands are better suited to store floodwaters.   However, in the past tools did not exist to identify which lost wetlands should be restored specifically to provide flood storage or nutrient retention or other specific benefits.  On the Mississippi and its tributaries, wetlands restoration in the right places could reduce flood heights.  Plus these same wetlands might also store water and minimize the impact of sustained droughts, reduce nutrients reaching the gulf and support wildlife populations. For full blog post, click here.

Recorded ASWM Webinars

The Association of State Wetland Managers host sand records 3-5 webinars each month.  Below are some recent presentations.  For more information on future and past webinars, click here.

National SURRGO Wetlands Soils Project Webinar – John Galbraith, Virginia Tech

Site Selection and Design for Stream Mitigation – Will Harman, Stream Mechanics

Climate Change Adaptation for States, Tribes and Local Governments: a Webinar Series hosted by North Carolina State University, in cooperation with EPA’s Office of Strategic Environmental Management (June 3-12)

North Carolina State University, in cooperation with EPA's Office of Strategic Environmental Management, will host a virtual Symposium on climate change adaptation for states, tribes and local governments to be offered in a series of twelve on-line sessions over two weeks. The series will bring together tribal, state and local stakeholders, EPA representatives, and experts from a variety of sectors to consider the impact of EPA’s new Climate Change Adaptation Plan on the implementation of federal environmental programs, and to present case studies, tools and solutions to some of the most pressing climate change adaptation challenges.

Individual webinars are stand-alone educational opportunities for governments, planners and policy makers, and participants can attend one or more webinars as meets their particular needs.  Participants will obtain the most current knowledge and information applicable to states, tribes and communities on adaptation practice and implementation to build community resiliency. For more information, click here.

Implications to Floodplains and Wetland Managers of Arkansas Game and Fish Commission v. United States

By Jon Kusler, Esq., – Association of State Wetland Managers – December 2012

On December 4, 2012 the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision with impact on how government agencies at all levels of government will need to address flooding. See Arkansas Game & Fish Commission v. United States, U.S., No. 11-597, reversed and remanded 12/4/12. The Court held that government flooding of lands need not be permanent to be a Fifth Amendment “taking” of property without payment of just compensation. Governments have long been held liable for long duration and/or repeated flooding under certain circumstances. So, the decision is to a considerable extent consistent with existing law. But the ruling of the case is not necessarily confined to long duration or repeated flooding. To read full paper, click here.