Know Your Watershed

Did you know…wetlands contribute significantly to the quality and quantity of water in watersheds? Wetlands help protect against flood damage by acting as sponges to absorb stormwater runoff and temporarily store it before slowly releasing it into streams and ground water. Wetlands serve as habitat for many species of plants and animals with a large number of them dependent on the wetlands for their survival. The sedges, rushes and other wetland plants can trap human-caused pollutants and prevent them from entering the waterways. The amount of human produced pollutants, though, can be so great as to overwhelm the ability of the wetland to serve this function.

Over the last 200 years many wetlands have been lost to agriculture, urban development, channelization of rivers, water impoundment in lakes, etc. During this time period, the area of Missouri wetlands has declined from around 7,500 square miles to about 1,000 square miles.

With such a small percentage of our wetlands remaining it seems essential that we all work together for their protection and to prevent further destruction so they can continue to provide their very important and necessary function. We can do this by learning more about their role and by eliminating, or at least significantly reducing, pollutants that enter our watershed and by speaking out for their protection.

You can check out more watershed information at www.southgrandwatershed.com