Valuing Wetlands
Exceptional weather events and effects are becoming more routine. Much of the northern half of Georgia has received above average amounts of rain, sometimes triggering flooding events that rival the records. Mill Creek Nature Center, located just south of the Mall of Georgia in suburban Gwinnett County, is owned by the Georgia Wildlife Federation and permanently protected by a conservation easement held by the Georgia Piedmont Land Trust. This park was inundated by heavy rains and flooding in late July. The floods upturned wooden boardwalks and damaged other facilities, necessitating the closure of the park for some time. The event may not have broken all water level records there, but it certainly rivals past high water events there. This is both the new reality and a function of the development throughout the area.
Mill Creek Nature Center is a floodplain with expanses of wetlands; indeed, it is a park today because the developers of the Mall of Georgia were required to compensate for disturbance and destruction of wetlands elsewhere on the mall property. Every visitor to the Mall of Georgia benefits from the park’s existence, as do the remarkable amount of wildlife and birds that enjoy its habitat values.
As dramatic as the flooding of the July 24 event at MCNC was, the presence of this picturesque expanse of wetlands is a testament to the value of such features everywhere. The US Environmental Protection Agency answers the question, “Why are Wetlands Important?” (source: www.epa.gov/wetlands/why-are-wetlands-important)
- Wetlands are among the most productive ecosystems in the world, comparable to rain forests and coral reefs. The immense variety of species of all sizes that are part of a wetland ecosystem are linked in relationships called food webs – essential for all life, including human.
- Wetlands play an essential role in the ecology of their watershed. The combination of shallow water, high levels of nutrients and primary productivity is ideal for the development of organisms that form the basis for these food webs.
- Wetlands are part of global cycles for water, nitrogen and sulfur. By storing carbon instead of releasing it as carbon dioxide, they help moderate global climate conditions.
- Wetlands provide an array of natural products used by humans, ranging from fish and shellfish, to blueberries, timber and rice, among others.
- Wetlands provide important habitat: more than one-third of the threatened and endangered species of the U.S. live only in wetlands, while nearly one-half use wetlands at some point in their lives. Such species as wood ducks can live only in wetland systems. Other breeding bird populations depend upon them at least part of the year to feed and raise their young. Beavers play an essential role in wetland formation, creating such ecosystems for other species that depend upon their industry.
- Wetlands act as natural sponges that trap and slowly release surface water, rain, groundwater and flood waters – even when these levels are dramatically increased by the surface runoff from impervious surfaces such as streets, sidewalks and roof tops. Wetland vegetation slows the speed of flood waters and distributes them more slowly through the floodplain, acting as brakes to reduce erosion.
