Wetlands
“Nothing is softer or more flexible than water, yet nothing can resist it.” — Lao Tzu, Chinese Philosopher
Last week, the Supreme Court dealt a devastating blow to the preservation of America’s wetlands by ruling in favor of Idaho landowners, stripping legal protections from the majority of the waters of the United States. In a 5–4 opinion, the justices determined that the Clean Water Act only protects wetlands that have continuous surface connection to larger bodies of water.
The judgment eviscerates U.S. regulations preserving wetlands and, unless safeguarded by state laws, will have significant impacts on water quality, flood control and wildlife habitat. According to The Audubon Society, more than half of the country’s original wetlands, including marshes, streams, swamps and playa lakes, have been filled, drained or destroyed.
Water will not be denied. We disrespect and undervalue its importance at our own peril.
In the wee hours of Friday night, most local residents suddenly had riverfront property. A series of slow-moving storms dumped heavy rains for hours, returning running water to Running Water Draw, a lake to Buffalo Lake and a roaring creek to Tierra Blanca Creek.
Flooding happens when we lose the argument with the uncontrollable forces of weather, the cycles of nature and the laws of physics. Culverts and pavement will never do the absorption and filtering jobs filled by wetlands and grassland. In a town bordered by hills of cow poop, it’s only logical to wonder about the quality of run-off flood waters.
Drenching rains that float cars and flood roadways give us drought amnesia. News stories about swift water rescues here and in neighboring towns muddle our understanding of the longevity and tenure of drought. The return of El Nino, however brief his stay may be, instills a false sense of complacency.
Alfred E. Neumann isn’t alone in asking, “What? Me worry?”
First world lifestyles with all our conveniences and comforts allow us to overlook the realities of Nature, particularly when it comes to the subject of water. With our reliance on earth-moving machines, civil engineers and drainage systems, we make some pretty naïve assumptions.
Life experience reassures us that freshwater will always be there when we turn the tap. To make iced tea. To fill the bathtub. To keep the grass green. To wash our clothes. To support millions of heads of cattle. To irrigate crops. To manufacture ethanol.
Get Kerilee Street’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
Industrial expansion in wetlands is as counterproductive as the housing developments that are springing up in places where there is already insufficient or nonexistent water. For those of us whose life source is the Ogallala Aquifer, the most important issue faced by local governments and economic development boards is water integrity beyond this week.
Spasmodic seasons of heavy rain grant permission to delay or ignore the realities beneath our feet. Most of us don’t yet have a reason to think about the plummeting underground water table. An “Out of sight, out of mind” mentality embraces an ignorance that will not serve us well.
We’ve made mistakes here in the past, recruiting water-hog industries that are accelerating the imminent need to invest in our city’s water future.
Americans tend to prioritize a community’s economic needs and ambitions above the limits of natural resources, as if one does not depend upon the other. In richly blessed lands, it’s tempting to pave and build over the green places in a sprint for green paper profits.
In West Texas, our primary supply of drinking water doesn’t magically fill the distinctive water towers on each city’s skyline. Virtually every single drop, shared by people, cattle, crops and industries, is pumped from an expansive underground aquifer that serves the ever-spiraling needs of seven Midwestern states.
Aquifers and wetlands are co-dependent with wetlands, functioning as the transition points between groundwater and surface water. The specifics of hydrology can get mind-numbing and overwhelming after one paragraph so let’s not let the message get lost in the minutiae.
Policies like CRP provided incentives for farmers to let land rest while reducing the water demands of irrigation.
Governing bodies on every level hide behind studies and projections and plans and consultants which aren’t meaningful substitutes for actions backed by binding strategies. If agencies and legislatures don’t step up with significant protections, the recent SCOTUS decision could decimate the future survival of wetlands.
We cannot pretend that this isn’t happening or adopt a “don’t care” attitude. Balanced stewardship of Creation’s irreplaceable gifts requires long-term commitment and investment in support of a stable and sustainable future.
Our economic health is inseparable from the well-being of our water supply. When the wells dry up, jobs and property values evaporate. Like most communities, ours only succeeds by the grace of water.
© All Rights Reserved
