Wetlands around the world protect communities while helping fight climate change



When the Triple Creek wetland restoration effort began (left, 2016), vertical cut banks of up to 10 feet kept Myers Creek disconnected from its floodplain. After building structures that mimic beavers, the cutbanks are dramatically reduced and the water much closer to the floodplain (right, 2018). Photo courtesy Julie Vanderwal, Okanogan Highlights Alliance.

As the world grapples with climate change, those commemorating World Wetlands Day Feb. 2 are highlighting the importance of restoring, conserving, and wisely using wetlands because they can help reduce floods, relieve droughts, and buffer coastlines from extreme weather.

In the state of Washington, we work every day to protect and manage wetlands. The environmental and economic benefits they provide nature, our communities, and way of life are immeasurable.

More likely than not, there’s a wetland near where you live, work, or play. Our state mandate is to ensure Washington does not lose any more acres of wetland and the functions they provide—as well as restore, enhance, and preserve these important resources.

Wetlands: a natural solution
Wetlands provide important habitat for salmon that Washington’s endangered resident orca whales need to survive. We fund riparian restoration work in agricultural areas to benefit salmon.

Wetlands also help filter and clean our drinking water. They control flooding and erosion while providing habitat for other fish and wildlife species. Washington’s wetlands help maintain a safe, healthy environment and economy.



Wetland connected to Little Spokane River.

In Washington, we recognize the harm climate change can have on wetlands—from sea water intrusion to water chemistry changes to even being the source of greenhouse gases when improperly disturbed.

There are also numerous ways wetlands help us cope with climate change including sequestering or storing:

• Carbon efficiently while emitting little methane.
• Twice as much carbon in coastal wetland soil than in all the world’s tropical forests.
• More carbon than they emit as wetlands mature.
• Large amounts of carbon in tree biomass, especially forested wetlands.
• Up to 700 billion tons of carbon around the world—including 96 million tons of carbon every year.
• Water that is released later in the season to mitigate the effects of drought.

Washington community helping restore degraded wetland system

Many state residents are passionate about protecting existing wetlands while others are getting their hands wet and dirty, working hard to restore wetlands that have been degraded. There’s no better example than the Triple Creek wetland restoration project in north-central Washington.

Located on Myers Creek in Okanogan County near the town of Chesaw, the Triple Creek project is part of a privately-owned forested wetland named after three main creeks: Myers, Bolster, and Thorp.



Triple Creek restoration site in

Okanogan County

Historically, Myers Creek cyclically spilled over its banks and inundated the Triple Creek floodplain, including a series of beaver ponds on the creek. However, the stream lost its connection to the floodplain in the late 1990s after a rain-on-snow event combined with other factors and left an incision trench with left vertical cut banks of up to 10 feet.

The beaver ponds became breached and drained, no longer providing grade control or covering large areas of the floodplain. As the now-drier soils started favoring invasive plant species, a thriving great blue heron rookery was abandoned and the wetland became less able to filter and store water.

Triple Creek land stewards join local, state, and federal partnership



Triple Creek in Okanogan County.

The Triple Creek land stewards, who invested in 500 acres together, were disappointed to see a large part of their thriving wetland dry up. After exploring a variety of restoration options, the group selected the local non-profit entity Okanogan Highlands Alliance (OHA) to lead the restoration effort.

OHA, in partnership with Trout Unlimited, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center, worked with the land stewards to find the most cost effective ways to address the wetland degradation. The team seeks to improve hydrologic connectivity between Myers Creek and the adjacent wetland, improve fish and wildlife habitat including re-establishing beaver, and restore native wetland vegetation.

OHA secured community-based, federal and state funding—including funds from the settlement agreement reached between Ecology and the owners of the Buckhorn Mountain gold mine for environmental remediation. In addition, local groups, clubs, students, and community members have so far provided more than 1,400 volunteer hours to help restore the wetland.

Engineered beaver dams helping restore Triple Creek wetland


From left to right: In August 2016, Triple Creek restoration team installs structure mimicking a beaver dam. In May 2017, the red arrow would be underwater as the structure is overtopped. In August 2017, the structure is adaptively managed to extend its functional life. By May 2018, Myers Creek comes close to spilling over its banks onto the floodplain. Photo courtesy Julie Vanderwal, Okanogan Highlands Alliance.

The restoration team is focused on reducing the severe stream channel incision that disconnected Myers Creek from the floodplain. The project design mimics the work of beavers by using lines of wooden posts that are woven with branches to slow and redirect stream flows as needed. The structures help capture sediment to build the streambed back up and raise the water table. They also help make the channel longer while reducing its slope, making the system more stable.

By emulating the effect of beavers to slow stream flows, capture sediment, and connect the water with the land, the project aims to improve water quality and increase water storage capacity. Re-establishing beavers, and the plant life they need, is a key component of mitigating local drought and fire issues—increasing resilience to climate change. Wetlands help store water that becomes available later in the season to support streams and underground sources of water, and to offset the effects of drought.

Triple Creek wetland project achieving success

The first structures were installed in the field season before two years of intense flooding, creating optimal conditions for transforming the site. As Myers Creek interacts with the human-made beaver dams, the team's objectives for the stream are being realized more rapidly than expected. In places, the streambed at the site is more than four feet higher now than when work started in 2016—with a 23 percent increase in the overall channel length of Myers Creek within the project area.


Beaver at the restoration site captured on wildlife camera in fall 2017. Natural beaver activity will be critical to long-term project success.

The team continues to repair and enhance instream structures and is dedicated to establishing a healthy riparian plant community. A diverse and robust buffer zone will not only improve native vegetation but will encourage beavers to recolonize the area, and modify and maintain the site into the future.

Beavers have already shown increased interest in the project site, starting just a few days after construction began in 2016. Beavers even wove a post line themselves in 2017, before the project team could get to it!

By Curt Hart, Ecology, and Julie Vanderwal, Okanogan Highlands Alliance

Commemorate World Wetlands Day by hiking Renton's Springbrook Creek Trail

 

Springbrook Trail boardwalk crossing Springbrook Creek in Renton, Wash. The public trail is part of the 130-acre Springbrook Creek Wetland and Habitat Mitigation Bank. The critical urban wetland corridor helps control floods, filters drinking water, provides fish and wildlife habitat, and offers residents a chance to relax outdoors.

Wetlands are essential for a sustainable urban future. Nearly half the world’s population –
4 billion people – live in cities, a number that will continue to increase. In Washington state, the population in the 12 counties contiguous to Puget Sound alone is expected to increase by a million more people during the next 20 years. 

World Wetlands Day highlights importance of wetlands

While we take time today to commemorate World Wetlands Day, Feb 2 also highlights the importance of conserving and using our wetlands wisely. This is especially true in our urban areas. As our cities grow and demand for land increases, we’ve seen how urban centers have encroached on the critical way wetlands function.

Wetlands help make our cities livable because they protect water quality, reduce flooding, help recharge our underground sources of water for drinking and other uses, and provide critical habitat for fish and wildlife. 

More than a decade ago, the Washington State Department of Transportation and the city of Renton embarked on a project that demonstrates how our urban wetland habitats can be protected and restored.  

Renton mixes comfortably with its wetlands

Renton is a thriving city in the middle of the busy Puget Sound region. Yet, take just a few steps away from the Renton’s busy arterials, and one becomes immersed in the sounds, sights, and smells of a wetland. 

The Springbrook Creek Trail is part of the city's trails plan, providing area residents and their families with a quiet place to break away from Renton's urban center and enjoy the peace and tranquility of an urban wetland environment.

As the forested trail dampens the sounds of cars, trucks and buses, users are greeted by the songs of red-winged blackbirds and the sights of salmon fry swimming in Springbrook Creek and great blue herons fishing in an open wetland.  

State, city team together to restore, protect urban wetlands

The Springbrook Creek Wetland and Habitat Mitigation Bank (Springbrook Bank) is part of a larger environmental corridor connecting the Springbrook Valley wetlands to Renton’s 93-acre Black River Riparian Forest. In the future, the trail will become part of the larger regional trail system that will link up with the Interurban, the Green River and the Lake to Sound trails in King County.

And the Springbrook wetland serves a multitude of other uses for Renton residents. In 2006, WSDOT worked in partnership with Renton to develop the 130-acre Springbrook Wetland and Habitat Mitigation Bank.  The bank is designed to offset adverse environmental effects that urban development can have on our wetlands and environment.



Map depicts land parcels set aside in Renton to create

Springbrook Creek habitat and wetland mitigation bank.

The Springbrook Bank permanently protects some of the last large undeveloped parcels in the lower Green River basin providing habitat for various wildlife species including coyotes, red tailed hawks and other birds, frogs, salamanders, as well as different types of fish including salmon. 
As WSDOT moved forward with plans to widen Interstate 405, a major corridor in the Puget Sound basin, the department also need to make improvements to offset wetland impacts. Because the road project was located in the core of one of the fastest urbanizing areas of the United States, suitable large mitigation sites in the area were limited. 

At the same time, Renton was planning for development and looking for solutions to address city growth and flood issues. 

WSDOT worked closely with Renton to develop a wetland preserve within the city limits. This was an early project, designed to help meet the I-405 program goal of leaving the environment better than it previously was.

Urban wetlands like Springbrook Bank offer multiple benefits

The preserve provides multiple benefits beyond successfully mitigating the impacts of expanding the freeway and providing flood storage. The bank provides a place for the community to get close to nature, observe plants and animals and learn about them from the interpretive signs posted along the boardwalk. The project:

• Provides a habitat corridor for a range of different birds, fish and other wildlife.
• Re-establishes, enhances and reconnects the wetlands to Springbrook Creek for fish habitat and flood protection.
• The project enhances the City’s resilience to flood events by providing space for flood waters to move and vegetation to disperse flows.
• Expands the city’s trail system that will connect to three other urban trails in the Seattle area.
• Offers the community a place to get close to nature, observe plants and animals, and learn more about the environment from the interpretive signs along the boardwalk.

As a wetland habitat and mitigation bank, the Springbrook Bank site has met and even exceeded its requirements. Within seven years of construction, the bank has successfully established a critical wetland habitat in the middle of Washington’s largest urban area and has served as a mitigation bank for other road projects.

So next time you are in the Renton area, swing on by Oakesdale Avenue and stroll along the Springbrook Creek Trail.

$4.7M in federal grants conserve our biggest set of wetlands yet!

Over 2,500 acres of wetlands conserved?!
This makes our hearts swell!

Happy World Wetlands Day!

This year we're excited to announce we were awarded $4,713,613 in National Coastal Wetlands Conservation grants through the United States Fish & Wildlife Service. Only states can apply for the grants, so we partner with land trusts, local governments, tribes and other groups to restore and protect wetlands across Washington state. These federal grant dollars will conserve 2,582 acres of our wetlands--our biggest annual batch yet!

In the past decade, we've helped projects totaling almost $86 million conserve over ten thousand acres of our state's wetlands. Wetlands work hard to control flooding, clean the environment, provide habitat, recharge groundwater and do much more to benefit our ecosystem. We love them for it! With hundreds of thousands of acres of wetlands in our state, we've got a lot of love to spread around.

Protecting Barnum Point will preserve 67 acres of
vital habitat in its estuaries and shoreline.

Barnum Point Acquisition 

Partner: Island County
Location: Camano Island, Island County
Grant: $1,000,000

This project will acquire 67 acres of Puget Sound waterfront property on the east side of Camano Island. It protects one of the most important places in the Pacific Northwest for estuarine and nearshore habitat.

Situated in Port Susan Bay, within the greater Skagit and Stillaguamish Delta area, the biodiversity of this land plays a key role in the life of dozens of internationally important species that depend on its estuaries for survival.
 

Growing Dosewallips State Park will make a healthier
watershed and create better habitat for fish and wildlife.

Dosewallips Floodplain and Estuary Restoration 

Partner: Wild Fish Conservancy
Location: Dosewallips, Jefferson County
Grant: $402,117

Restoring five acres of tidally-influenced floodplain and enhancing 25 acres of salt marsh and mudflats at Dosewallips State Park will improve the natural functions of the ecosystem by reconnecting the main channel of the estuary to the salt marsh south of the river.

This will help create and maintain wetland habitats in the delta of the Dosewallips River by recreating the native network of water channels on the right bank of the river. By giving water the opportunity to flow and meander naturally, this project will improve habitat for wildlife and reduce the risk of flood damage to communities in the floodplain.

Protecting this threatened habitat in Grays Harbor will
 make a better home for ducks and other wildlife alike.

Grayland Acquisition Project

Partner: Ducks Unlimited
Location: Hoquiam, Grays Harbor County
Grant: $1,000,000

Acquiring these 1,750 acres of diverse and threatened habitat will protect more than 1,100 acres of estuaries and marsh wetlands, tidal mudflats, old-growth forests and wet dunes and meadows. This ecosystem provides a vital haven for ducks, other water birds, fish, amphibians and marine wildlife.

Preserving this property amplifies the benefit of the existing conservation lands that surround it. In this way, it helps the positive impact on the environment of neighboring state and federal public lands like Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge, Johns River Wildlife Area, Bottle Beach and Graylands Beach state parks.

This land purchase will protect 106 acres and restore
wetlands of national importance to their natural state.

Lower Henderson Inlet Acquisition 

Partner: Capitol Land Trust
Location: Olympia, Thurston County
Grant: $800,000

Acquiring these two parcels totaling 106 acres will restore 23 acres of nationally declining marsh wetlands damaged by past agricultural use. This project will restore the natural function of the tideland by allowing water to move more freely throughout the wetland.

Restoring this land will prevent contamination to the water and soil, and stop the spread of invasive plants.
 

Restoring these 88 acres of estuary will revive the
floodplain by bringing coastline and river together again. 

Zis a ba Estuary Restoration 

Partner: Stillaguamish Tribe
Location: Stanwood, Snohomish County
Grant: $511,496

Restoring these 88 acres of coastal wetlands will reconnect the floodplain. The project area is currently isolated from the rise and fall of the tides by a dike that was built a long time ago to prevent flood damage. We've learned through experience, however, that a healthy floodplain is best for protecting lives, homes and property from flooding.

The project is designed to restore tidal and river influence by removing the majority of the current levee and building a setback levee to protect surrounding property owners. The restoration work and setback levee will improve habitat and water quality by allowing the estuary to function more naturally. By doing this, it will bring Puget Sound and the Stillaguamish river together again in this area.
   

Conserving these 541+ acres protects a network of
lakes, wetlands and riparian areas. It also lays the
groundwork for future stream restoration.

Zylstra Lake Acquisition 

Partner: San Juan County Land Bank
Location: San Juan Island,
San Juan County
Grant: $1,000,000

Acquiring this land on San Juan Island will conserve over 541 acres. The project, which includes two lakes, approximately one mile of riparian stream and estuary shoreline, and almost three miles of Puget Sound shoreline, is located in the 11,464-acre False Bay watershed. The project will protect a network of lakes, wetlands and riparian areas. It will improve the ecosystem by reconnecting this network with the Salish Sea. In addition, this land purchase will protect water rights needed for future stream restoration projects.

Our work loving our wetlands

At Ecology, we understand how important wetlands are for clean water, healthy wildlife and a more pure Washington. Our children and grandchildren deserve the same beautiful nature we enjoy today. By protecting the wetlands we have and conserving those which can be restored, we are making Washington great for generations to come.

Our talented staff help local governments, businesses, communities and landowners protect, preserve, restore and enhance wetlands.

For more details on the projects listed above, visit our coastal wetlands grant program web page. Learn more about our role in managing wetlands by visiting our website.

By: Jessie Payne, communications manager

500+ acres of our wetlands conserved this World Wetlands Day!!

Happy World Wetlands Day!

Wetlands work hard to control flooding, clean the environment, provide habitat, recharge ground water and do much more to benefit our ecosystem. We love them for it! With hundreds of thousands of acres of wetlands in our state, we've got a lot of love to spread around.

Gaining, restoring and protecting wetlands

World Wetlands Day comes with an extra cause to celebrate this year; all five of the National Coastal Wetlands Conservation grants we submitted last year have been fully funded. This means that we're awarding over $4 million in federal grants to acquire, restore and protect wetlands. This grant money will join with local partners to total over $8 million for wetlands! How's that for good news on World Wetlands Day?

With these five grants, Washington has been granted over 20% of the National Coastal Wetlands Conservation funds that will go to conserving wetlands nationwide this year. Let's see where the money will go...

The Beach Lake Acquisition and Restoration will
conserve 46.3 acres, restore beaches and maximize
benefits from the removal of the Elwha River dams.

Beach Lake Acquisition and Restoration

Partner: Coastal Watershed Institute
Location: Elwha River Watershed
Clallam County
Grant: $1,000,000

This project will acquire and restore 46.3 acres of critical coastal wetlands in the Elwha River watershed. This conservation will benefit wildlife habitat, restore 870 feet of natural beaches and will boost the natural recovery process put in motion by the removal of the Elwha River dams.

The Coastal Watershed Institute will add $604,940 to the grant funds, totaling $1,604,940 to protect wetlands. Together, our work will create habitat for salmon, forage fish and migratory birds. And we're maximizing our investment by joining a broader effort by local conservation partners to protect the Elwha River watershed and estuary.

Acquiring Heron Point will protect some of the highest quality
forested wetland habitat within the Snohomish River Basin,
preserve 20 acres of old-growth Sitka spruce
and safeguard a haven for fish and birds. 

Heron Point Protection

Partner: Tulalip Tribes
Location: Ebey Slough
Snohomish County
Grant: $63,800

20 acres of old-growth Sitka spruce estuarine wetland will be protected along Ebey Slough with this project. The land we will acquire on Heron Point contains some of the highest quality and most intact forested wetland habitat within the Snohomish River Basin.

The Tulalip Tribes will provide $30,380 to match this grant, ensuring this treasured wetland will be protected for a price tag of $94,180. Following the acquisition, the Tribe will own and manage the property as part of the nearby Qwuloolt Estuary Restoration Project, which was funded by previous grants. Protecting this wetland improves forest biodiversity within the river basin and ensures important natural processes will continue to occur as the tide ebbs and flows throughout the area. Preserving this wetland provides a haven for fish and native birds, including a heron rookery.

Acquiring the Pearson Nearshore permanently
protects endangered fish and bird habitat; preserving
2,800 feet of estuarine wetland, feeder bluff and forest.

Pearson Nearshore

Partner: Whidbey Camano Land Trust
Location: Whidbey Island
Island County
Grant: $1,000,000

This project is a win for habitat. By acquiring 49 acres of Puget Sound waterfront property, we will permanently save habitat used by endangered salmon and other marine organisms. The upland forests that will be protected provide habitat for federally and state listed species such as pileated woodpecker, peregrine falcon and Vaux’s swift.

This project will protect 2,800 feet of intact estuarine wetland, feeder bluff and coastal upland forest. The feeder bluffs preserved will replenish beach sands as they erode, and help ensure the longevity of the ecosystem. In addition, a fifth of the property is made up of estuarine intertidal wetlands, a nationally declining type of nearshore habitat. The Whidbey Camano Land Trust will contribute $455,000 to match the grant, and the land will be forever conserved for a total of $1,455,000. The preservation that will benefit a wide range of species that depend on the saltwater, beaches and forest for survival.

Restoring the 315-acre Smith Island Estuary improves
habitat for local wildlife and recovers a safe haven for
birds as they migrate south from Alaska.

Smith Island Restoration, Snohomish River Estuary

Partner: Snohomish County
Location: Smith Island, Snohomish River Estuary, Snohomish County
Grant: $1,000,000

Restoring 315 acres of tidal marsh in the Snohomish River Estuary will represent a significant critical habitat improvement for Puget Sound. This restoration will provide refuge and valuable foraging areas for fish, birds and other wildlife. It will also improve habitat and migration pathways for Chinook and other salmon species.

This project will restore the estuary by repairing the natural ecosystem after years of damage from development. Not only is this a huge benefit to local wildlife, but the Snohomish River Estuary is also an important stopover on the Pacific Flyway for migratory birds. This means birds migrating from Alaska to Mexico and South America will reap the benefits as they take a break in the estuary while they recuperate along their long journey.

This project to protect and restore 73 acres of wetlands
and other aquatic habitat on Oakland Bay is part of a 
larger multi-year effort that will benefit the environment,
wildlife, tribal uses, oyster growers and recreation.

West Oakland Bay Restoration and Conservation

Partner: Squaxin Island Tribe
Location: Oakland Bay
Mason County
Grant: $1,000,000

Conserving these 73 acres on the western side of Oakland Bay is part of a much bigger plan to protect and restore marine nearshore, estuarine and freshwater habitats in Oakland Bay watershed that will benefit wildlife, tribal uses, oyster growers and recreation.

The project will protect 10 acres of saltwater and freshwater riparian habitat, four acres of tidelands and 59 acres of biologically significant wetlands and coastline. Over 21 acres of saltmarsh at the mouth of Goldsborough Creek will be restored, adding to a larger goal to preserve existing high-quality habitat and re-establish and permanently protect a saltmarsh estuary. The Squaxin Island Tribe will make this great benefit to Oakland Bay possible by matching the grant with $1,900,000, for a total price of $2,900,000.

Our work with wetlands

For more details on the projects listed above, visit our wetlands coastal grant program webpage. Learn more about our role in protecting, restoring and managing wetlands by visiting our website.

By Jessica Payne, communications manager, Shorelands program