Enhancing protection for vulnerable waters

Abstract

Governments worldwide do not adequately protect their limited freshwater systems and therefore place freshwater functions and attendant ecosystem services at risk. The best available scientific evidence compels enhanced protections for freshwater systems, especially for impermanent streams and wetlands outside of floodplains that are particularly vulnerable to alteration or destruction. New approaches to freshwater sustainability - implemented through scientifically informed adaptive management - are required to protect freshwater systems through periods of changing societal needs. One such approach introduced in the US in 2015 is the Clean Water Rule, which clarified the jurisdictional scope for federally protected waters. However, within hours of its implementation litigants convinced the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit to stay the rule, and the subsequently elected administration has now placed it under review for potential revision or rescission. Regardless of its outcome at the federal level, policy and management discussions initiated by the propagation of this rare rulemaking event have potential far-reaching implications at all levels of government across the US and worldwide. At this timely juncture, we provide a scientific rationale and three policy options for all levels of government to meaningfully enhance protection of these vulnerable waters. A fourth option, a 'do-nothing' approach, is wholly inconsistent with the well-established scientific evidence of the importance of these vulnerable waters.

Hydrological, Physical, and Chemical Functions and Connectivity of Non‐Floodplain Wetlands to Downstream Waters: A Review

“…Much of the updated literature we examined on NFWs indicates that these systems have important hydrologic and water quality functions that affect downstream waters and rivers (Creed et al. ). In USEPA (), the literature did not sufficiently support a definitive conclusion regarding non‐floodplain connectivity of particular groups or classes of wetlands, though USEPA () acknowledged that NFWs which intersect surficial and near‐surface runoff can perform substantive chemical sink and transformative functions.…”

Headwater Streams and Wetlands are Critical for Sustaining Fish, Fisheries, and Ecosystem Services

“…Those wetlands are distributed across 6.59 million ha in the conterminous USA as, for example, playa lakes, prairie potholes, Carolina and Delmarva bays, pocosins, and vernal pools; they provide valuable habitat for fish and other organisms and are particularly vulnerable ecosystems (Tiner ; Lane and D'Amico ; Creed et al. ; Figure ). We refer to headwater streams and wetlands outside of floodplains collectively as “headwaters.” However, we also emphasize the inherent complexity of natural systems, and recognize and provide examples of waterbody types that provide similar functions as headwaters such as floodplain wetlands that lack a continuous hydrologic surface connection to a river, low‐gradient streams that flow through floodplains, and sloughs and side‐channels of navigable rivers.…”

Modeling Connectivity of Non‐floodplain Wetlands: Insights, Approaches, and Recommendations

“…In recognition of this loss, NFWs have been the focus of policy debates at both state and federal levels, and central to this debate is uncertainty associated with their hydrologic connectivity to downstream waters and associated influences to the physical, chemical, and biological integrity of such waters (e.g., “significant nexus”; see Alexander ; Creed et al. for more details).…”

“…Finally, managing wetlands using a watershed or systems approach that considers a portfolio of wetland functions requires understanding how wetlands hydrologically connect to each other and to downstream surface waters (Creed et al. ). As a tool, models are well suited for this task.…”

“…Continued use of models to quantify the movement of water, material, and organisms will be required to effectively manage and conserve NFWs and their river networks ( sensu Hynes ; see also Creed et al. ; Harvey et al. ; Leibowitz et al.…”