Report Finds Deep Flaws in Wetlands Program

A federal program that permits developers to destroy wetlands if they re-create similar landscapes elsewhere has failed to stem the loss of wetlands nationwide, including in Southern California, a National Research Council panel concluded in a report released Tuesday.

The council, an advisory body of the National Academy of Sciences, reviewed the status of hundreds of replacement wetlands and found that some were never started, some were not completed and others bore little resemblance to naturally functioning wetlands.

Nature’s own plumbing, the marshes, swamps and bogs that constitute wetlands, improve water quality by filtering pollution, help control floods by sponging up excess flow and stabilize shorelines. Wetlands also provide sustenance for a host of rare birds and other wildlife.

Retaining wetlands is important because the nation has lost so much of them--about 50% in the lower 48 states since 1780. Southern California has lost more than 90% of its coastal wetlands to development.

Historically, many wetlands were turned into farms. More recently, they have become prime real estate in many areas of the United States, offering easy access to water and desirable ocean and river views.

The National Research Council’s report raises sweeping questions about the track record of the federal program that allows landowners to fill natural wetlands if they commit to restoring degraded wetlands or creating artificial wetlands on once-dry land.

Of 70 wetlands-replacement projects assessed in Orange County, the report said only 30 were successful.

“Drawing [a wetland] on a map does not make it so. I think we need more truth in advertising about our ability to renew wetlands,” said Joy B. Zedler, the panel chairwoman who holds the Aldo Leopold Chair of Restoration Ecology at the University of Wisconsin. “Review after review of restored versus naturally occurring wetlands show they fall short.”

The report accuses the Army Corps of Engineers, which oversees the federal program, of failing to ensure that developers comply with requirements. It says the corps has neglected to monitor many artificial wetlands to ensure that they actually function as they are designed to, with a mix of soil, plants, animals and water found in naturally occurring marshes and swamps.

The federal Clean Water Act forbids discharging soil and sand into waters of the United States, which includes most wetlands. Confronted with development pressures, however, federal officials devised a system in which landowners could apply for permits to fill wetlands providing that they restored, created, preserved or enhanced other wetlands nearby.

The stated federal objective since 1990 has been “no net loss” of wetlands--meaning that the acreage and functions of replacement and preserved wetlands should counterbalance the loss of wetlands by development, agriculture and other causes.

But although wetland losses have slowed in recent years, the goal of “no net loss” has not been met, the report concludes.

From 1974 to 1983, according to the panel, the nation experienced a net loss of 2.5 million acres of wetlands. Between 1986 and 1997, the loss was 644,000 acres, even after factoring in newly created and restored wetlands. Those figures were based on U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service research.

“We’re still losing wetlands functions, but we’re just not losing it as fast,” said Suzanne Van Drunick, director of the council’s study.

Scientists involved in the study were stymied by poor record-keeping by the Corps of Engineers. In fact, corps data on existing projects proved so scanty that scientists said they could not calculate the total wetland acreage created and restored in recent years, compared to the number of acres destroyed.

The corps acknowledged in a statement Tuesday that information is lacking. “Because we do not gather compliance data,” the statement read, “we can neither confirm nor deny whether we are meeting ‘no net loss.’ ”

The report strongly urges the corps to track wetlands lost and gained over time in a national database. It describes hearing from corps staff “that there are consistently more [wetlands] permit applications than there is time for corps staff to perform adequate reviews.”

The report also said the corps rarely monitors replacement sites for more than five years, even though restored and created wetlands seldom comply with federal requirements within five years.

“Up to 20 years may be needed for some wetland restoration of creation sites to achieve functional goals,” the report adds. The panel recommended that developers be required to create or restore wetlands before destroying existing ones. It also called for broader searches for the best sites for replacement wetlands. It recommended searching through entire watersheds rather than choosing sites close to the wetlands to be destroyed. The federal government has normally opted for nearby sites.

Both the corps and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which also oversees wetlands, praised aspects of the scientists’ findings Tuesday.

“They certainly make clear that we have a lot of work to do. And that fundamental conclusion that they don’t believe we’ve achieved no net loss is something that we have to take seriously,” said John Meagher, director of the EPA wetlands division in Washington.

In their statement Tuesday, officials at corps headquarters agreed with many of the report’s recommendations but added that “because of limited funding, we will not be able to accomplish all of them.”

An official of the National Assn. of Homebuilders also had good things to say about the report.

“The report recognizes that we’ve made significant progress in mitigation over the past 20 years, but that there are some challenges ahead and some improvements that need to be made,” said Susan Asmus, vice president of environmental policy for the association.

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Causes of Wetland Losses

1974-83

Agricultural: 54%

Non-agricultural: 46%

Total acreage lost: 2.5 million

*

1986-97

Agricultural: 26%

Non-agricultural: 74%

Total acreage lost: 644,000

Sources: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Research Council