Folks:

I am back...from a Colorado vacation. While gone, this LTE appeared in the
Des Moines Register, on wetlands. FYI. I do not know how it was generated,
but a nice letter.


Letters to the Editor
By REGISTER READERS

06/07/2004

Wetlands help control flooding

There is no question the tiling of fields has dramatically increased their
productivity. However, with flooding becoming a perennial problem, Iowans
must start to investigate ways to mitigate contributing human-created
factors.
While wetlands and buffer strips are becoming increasingly common because of
government programs, wet areas continue to be developed. As natural barriers
are removed, water doesn't stop in fields and slowly seeps into the ground
or evaporates. That's great for the farmer who doesn't have a pond in his
field.
But instead of inundating the field, the water rapidly flows through tiles
into streams that pour into rivers that, with increased flows, burst their
banks. More often than not, the problem isn't the amount of water, but the
speed at which the water reaches rivers and streams.
Studies have shown that watersheds with 30 percent wetland coverage reduce
flood levels by 80 percent compared to watersheds without wetlands. Through
drainage efforts, 97.5 percent of Iowa's original wetlands have been lost.
Government incentive programs and conservation efforts in recent years have
failed to recover the vast majority of these.
Tiling is not the sole cause of flooding, only a contributing factor we are
capable of controlling. Through an expansion of programs that encourage
farmers to restore wetlands and the devotion of more areas to natural
buffers, many of the problems created by agricultural development could be
eased.
-Jeremy Varner,
Fayette.


___________________________________________________
Lyle Krewson
6403 Aurora Avenue #3
Des Moines, IA 50322-2862

[log in to unmask]

515/276-8947 - Ofc/Res
515/238-7113 - Cel
___________________________________________________

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
To view the Sierra Club List Terms & Conditions, see:
 http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/terms.asp