Editorial: Whetting an argument

Friday, Oct. 14, 2005 | 7:50 a.m.

The U.S. Supreme Court has decided it will hear appeals from two groups of Michigan developers who claim the federal government is inappropriately applying the Clean Water Act to protect certain wetlands. At issue is whether the federal law applies to wetlands that aren't next to navigable waterways. Two lower court opinions say the federal law applies, but those who want to develop the wetlands claim they aren't even close to the nearest river or lake.

Controversy over whether to develop wetlands most recently entered general public discussion in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, where New Orleans' worst flooding occurred in the Ninth Ward area that had been built largely atop drained wetlands. It seemed, perhaps, that protecting wetlands wasn't merely about aesthetics. Maybe they were -- or should be -- valuable beyond bird-watching and hunting.

At first glance, a wetland seems little more than a useless swath of murky stew, not stable enough to build on or wet enough to navigate by boat and seemingly disconnected from everything. But wetlands are the environment's "kidneys," providing a filter that prevents pollutants from entering the water system and providing natural flood control for adjacent land.

Wetlands may be called marshes, swamps, bogs or fens, depending on their geographical locations, the type of vegetation they sustain and whether they have fresh or salt water. All types filter and store water. The Environmental Protection Agency says an acre of wetlands can store 1.5 million gallons of floodwater. Small wetlands, including those not directly connected to a river or lake, provide important links in this storage network.

A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers study of wetlands along Boston's Charles River revealed that preserving them saved an estimated $17 million in potential flood damage, the EPA reports.

Although wetlands cover only 5 percent of the nation's land area, they sustain 31 percent of its plant species and provide feeding and nesting grounds for half of the birds in North America, the EPA says. Ducks Unlimited, a wetlands and water fowl conservation group, says the nation's hunters, bird-watchers and fishermen pump more than $50 billion into the economy annually through activities revolving around, or made possible by, wetlands.

Wetlands even exist in the desert. The Las Vegas Wash channels floodwaters and helps cleanse the runoff headed to Lake Mead -- our drinking-water supply. Without this crucial, 10-mile-long wetland and its tributaries, the valley would be plagued by flooding and be forced to spend millions more on wastewater treatment.

Whether it's under the Clean Water Act or some other federal measure, such as the Endangered Species Act, which protects certain wildlife and plant habitats, the nation's wetlands need strict protection, no matter how small they are or how far away they sit from navigable waters.