NWF Offers 10 Important Tips for Working with Nature to Keep Us Safe

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) ran a great article by Joshua Saks identifying “Five Actions to Protect People, Property and Wildlife from Storm and Flood Damages” http://blog.nwf.org/2012/11/post-sandy-working-with-nature-to-keep-us-safe/ and “Five Actions that Put People, Property and Wildlife at Risk from Storm and Flood Damages.” http://blog.nwf.org/2012/11/post-sandy-working-with-nature-to-keep-us-safe/

In the top five of each list is the health of wetlands and riparian areas. Healthy wetlands act as a buffer to slow, filter and absorb flood waters.

“Protect Our Natural Defenses:
Natural features like wetlands reduce storm intensity and protect nearby properties from flooding. In fact, a single acre of wetland can store 1–1.5 million gallons of flood water. We must capitalize on these benefits and ensure that government helps protect these beneficial and cost-effective flood control features. The Obama Administration took several new steps to meet this goal. It has created new guidance and intends to pursue rulemaking to reinstate crucial Clean Water Act protections for wetlands and streams, and is also poised to release new water resources planning guidelines.”

With regard to actions that put people, property and wildlife at risk is the use of hard materials, like rock and concrete, in the place of natural materials for wetland and riparian stabilization and restoration.

“[Don’t] Build with Concrete instead of Mud and Grass:
The WRDA 2007 national water policy proposed to “protect the environment” by “protecting and restoring the functions of natural systems and mitigating any unavoidable damage to natural systems,” and by “seeking to avoid the unwise use of floodplains.” The Corps is ignoring these requirements by continuing to promote environmentally destructive and costly structural projects even where less costly and environmentally protective nonstructural and restoration measures would provide better solutions. We need a major change of course to stop building structures that protect those directly behind them and exacerbate downstream flooding and instead use natural, open floodplains to allow rivers room to expand and cover their banks without impacting property.”