Protected Wetlands: An Ethical Argument

The Issue

During the summer of 2013 I was working as a construction inspector for Ackerman-Estvold Engineering in Minot, ND. My main site that summer was on a 3 mile gravel grade raise near Plaza, ND. It is nearly an hour to the closest mid-sized town. One of the many problems that arise from a project on gravel is the dust thrown up by the trucks. The simple solution is to just have a water truck spray the road every so often. The only issue is when the truck needs to be refilled, but in western North Dakota this doesn't seem like a problem at all. The water table is incredibly high, and the sloughs are always full of water. Unfortunately many of these sloughs are being designated at protected wetlands.

The Clean Water Act defines a wetland as, "those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs and similar areas." This is a bit lengthy, but in short is means any body of water that can support plant life can and will be legally protected. While this sounds nice in theory there are several problems that it causes, especially in western North Dakota.

The Problem of Protection

Because these sloughs were protected, we couldn't drain the water from them. The reason this 3 million dollar grade raise was happening was because the water level had gotten too high. Aside from being the reason for the project, they were also a hindrance to the work itself. Silt curtains had to be run hundreds of feet at a time in an attempt to prevent dirt from getting into the water. The water truck had to drive all the way to Berthold to fill up, which is over an hour and a half round trip. Tons of time and money were spent just to project a few sloughs. 

Outside of civil engineering, agriculture takes a huge hit due to these wetlands being protected. Since they can't be drained, farmers end up losing large amounts of land when either the ditches or a dip in a field fill up with water. Not only can they not plant in the area filled with water, the area around the sloughs are usually too saturated to grow anything. Protecting wetlands such as these results in a waste of resources for the agriculture industry in this region. 

Helping Habitats

The main purpose of the EPA protecting these wetlands is to ensure a safe environment for the flora and fauna that need these environments to survive. This includes not just the fish and the plants in the water, but all of the creatures that use the area for water, food, or shelter. Many migratory birds raise their young and nest on these wetlands. I will admit to seeing several ducks swimming in the sloughs at various times. I even saw a muskrat a couple times. 

Aside from that, protected wetlands help to stabilize the water table during drought periods. This can be a major issue in arid parts of the United States. These areas can also help trap flood waters, which Minot saw a lot of during the 2011 flood. They provide more area for the water to flow down into rather than flowing outwards.

The Actual Results

I agree the protection of wildlife and their environments is important, but are these sloughs really that vital? Since most of them occur on farm land, there are large amounts of pesticides and herbicides that run off into the water. Shouldn't it be illegal to let dangerous chemicals run into protected wetlands? In most cases it is, according to section 404 of the Clean Water Act. Most farming operations are exempt from this ruling though and don't even need to acquire a permit to do so. 

Maintaining ground water supply and keeping a stable water table would be important functions as well, if it wasn't for the fact that the last truly dry year in North Dakota was back in the late 90s. This has led to an unbelievably high water table, which makes any construction work 7ft below street level a sopping mess and makes a lot of farm land unusable. 

Protecting wetlands is an important issue, and there are many reasons they should continue to be protected nationally. The problem needs to be looked at more so on a case by case basis though. Is protecting such a small habitat worth a 3 million dollar grade raise and the lose of thousands of acres of farm land?