Wetlands contribute significantly to the quality and quantity of water in watersheds? Wetlands help protect against flood damage by acting as sponges to absorb stormwater runoff and temporarily store it before slowly releasing it into streams and ground water. Wetland plants can trap human-caused pollutants and prevent them from entering the waterways. However, the amount of human produced pollutants can be so great as to overwhelm the ability of the wetland to serve this function.

Wetlands serve as habitat for many plants and animals and a number of species are dependent on the wetlands for their survival. Let’s all work to protect the ability of our wetlands to provide their very important function. We can do this by learning more about their role and by eliminating, or at least significantly reducing, pollutants that could enter our watershed.

You can check out more watershed information at www.sgrwa.org