"Wetlands" is the collective term for marshes, swamps, bogs, and similar areas. Wetlands are found in flat vegetated areas, in depressions on the landscape, and between water and dry land along the edges of streams, rivers, lakes, and coastlines. Wetland areas can be found in nearly every county and climatic zone in the United States. Inland wetlands receive water from precipitation, ground water and/or surface water. Coastal and estuarine wetlands receive water from precipitation, surface water, tides, and/or ground water. Surface water sources include runoff and rain. Since the 1600s, more than half of the original wetlands in the lower forty-eight states have been destroyed (Winter 124). Twenty-two states have lost at least fifty percent of their original wetlands. Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Ohio have lost more than eighty percent of their original wetlands and California and Iowa have lost nearly ninety-nine percent. Since the 1970s, the most extensive losses of wetlands have occurred in Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Florida, South Carolina, and North Carolina. Wetlands have been drained and converted to farmland, filled for housing developments and industrial facilities, and used as receptacles for waste. Human activities continue to adversely affect wetland ecosystems. More recently, society has begun to understand the functions of wetlands and the value humans obtain from them. Wetlands help regulate water levels within watersheds; improve water quality; reduce flood and storm damages; provide important fish and wildlife habitat; and support hunting, fishing, and other recreational activities. Wetlands are important features in watershed management. The characteristics of wetlands are a good reason to regulate and control the destruction of them. The use of regulation to protect wetlands as integral and essential parts of the nation's waters began formally in 1972 through the Clean Water Act (...
