Wetlands in Virginia
According to the state summary of the National Water Summary on Wetland Resources (U.S. Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper 2425):
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Virginia has about 1 million acres of wetlands; one-quarter are tidal and three-quarters are nontidal. Forested wetlands (swamps) are the most common wetlands in the State. Both shores of the Chesapeake Bay have extensive estuarine wetlands. Conversion to
nonwetland uses (agricultural, urban, industrial, and recreational), channelization and ditching,
and other causes have resulted in the loss of about 42 percent of Virginia's wetlands since the
1780's. Development in wetlands is regulated in part by means of the Virginia Water Protection
Permit. Local governments may adopt prescribed zoning ordinances and form citizen wetland
boards to regulate their own tidal wetlands; the State retains an oversight and appellate role.
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Source: National Wetlands Inventory of
the US Fish and Wildlife
Service |
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- Far from being useless, disease- ridden places, wetlands provide values
that no
other ecosystem can, including natural water quality improvement, flood protection, shoreline
erosion control, opportunities for recreation and aesthetic appreciation, and natural products for
our use at no cost."
The Army Corps of Engineers issues permits for dredging and filling wetlands. These permits
are required by Section
404 of the Clean Water Act (Public Law 95-217). A list of public notices being
considered by the Norfolk District will almost
always include a few announcements about 404 permit applications in Virginia. There are also
regional permits
The Federal government's claim to authority to control even minor land disturbance is based on
the constitutional authority to regulate navigable waterways (including Section 10 of the Rivers
and Harbors Act passed in 1899). As described Section 320.2 of
the Code of Federal Regulations:
- The construction of any structure in or over any navigable water of
the United States, the excavating from or depositing of material in such
waters, or the accomplishment of any other work affecting the course, location,
condition, or capacity of such waters is unlawful unless the work has been
recommended by the Chief of Engineers and authorized by the Secretary of the
Army.
Filling wetlands will change the way water runs off into the navigable streams, such as the James
River. The Corps is notorious in some quarters for its philosophy of building structures rather
than preserving the natural environment, even when the economic (as well as environmental)
costs of a waterway or dam exceed the benefits - but according to the Federal rules of the game,
it's the Corps that determines what permits to approve or reject.
There is a key difference between the definitions of "biological" and "jurisdictional" wetlands.
Wetland protection became a political issue in the Bush/Quayle administration, with claims that
the "no net loss" slogan was a fraud because the definition of wetland was being narrowed to just
areas with standing water throughout the year. The Federal agencies, including the Department
of Agiculture farming bureaus, the Department of the Interior wildlife conservation bureaus, and
the Envirnmental Protection Agency, were unable to adopt one standard manual for mapping
wetlands consistently.
It is still a professional judgement call to determine the edge of a wetland, not a cookbook
process that any real estate developer can eyeball from a car at 55 miles per hour. The Corps definition of
wetlands recognizes that areas that are dry for much of the year can still be classified as wetlands.
The Corps specialists will conduct on-site reviews to determine exactly where the regulations
require a permit based on the "vegetation, soil, and hydrology."
So cutting down the cattails to disguise the existence of a wetland won't work. The Corps
advises landowners to request consultation if , in the Corps definition, an:
- Area occurs in a floodplain or otherwise has low spots in which water stands at or above the
soil surface during the growing season. Caution: Most wetlands lack both standing water and
waterlogged soils during at least part of the growing season.
- Area has plant communities that commonly occur in areas having standing water for part of
the growing season (e.g., cypress-gum swamps, cordgrass marshes, cattail marshes, bulrush and
tule marshes, and sphagnum bogs).
- Area has soils that are called peats or mucks.
- Area is periodically flooded by tides, even if only by strong, wind-driven, or spring tides.
Links
Rivers and Watersheds
Habitats and Species
Geography of Virginia
