Theme: 

Wetlands are among the most productive ecosystems in the world, yet are also among the most degraded of ecosystems. However, the public view of wetlands is contradictory, and many people view them as a source of disease and pestilence. Federal policy in the U. S. and other countries has also often been contradictory in the past, with some agencies promoting wetland drainage, and others promoting wetland protection. Wetland protection is accomplished by a variety of federal and state laws, some of which relate only indirectly to wetlands. Many state laws, and some federal policies, require mitigation for wetland losses by either creation or restoration. The former is a poorly-developed science, while a number of successes have occurred with the latter. Dealing with wetland ecology and management requires detailed knowledge of soils, chemistry, water quality, botany, wildlife biology and management, and the regulatory environment.

http://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/soe/95/8_2s1.htm

Lake Moira is a shallow freshwater 800 ha lake, immediately adjacent to the River Murray, within the Moira State Forest, 15 km south of Mathoura in southern NSW. It is the largest open waterwetland in an extensive wetland system within the Barmah-Millewa forest. The Barmah-Millewa orest is the largest area of river red gum forest (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) in Australia.

The Issue: Under natural hydrologic conditions prior to river regulation, Lake Moira would have filled and drained in direct response to the seasonal and variable flows in the River Murray. The natural flow regime created a highly productive biological system. Since the completion of Hume Dam in 1936, the natural flows in the River Murray have changed dramatically. Due to the maintenance of constant high flows during summer and autumn to provide water supply for irrigation and to South Australia, Lake Moira has remained permanently inundated, the biological productivity of the lake has dramatically reduced and many of the natural values of the wetland have similarly diminished.

http://www.iwla.org/SOS/handbook/casestudies/landtrst.html

June 1998 Conservation Easements Protect Wetland Functions and Values Delta Land Trust, Mississippi

http://www.ramsar.org/cop7_doc_18.1_add.htm

The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands: The Ramsar 'Toolkit': Handbooks for the Wise Use of Wetlands

"People and Wetlands: The Vital Link"; 7th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar, Iran, 1971), San José, Costa Rica, 10-18 May 1999. Case Studies on Local and Indigenous People's Involvement in Wetland Management. Twenty of the 23 case studies are now available to be downloaded (in Word 6 for Windows 95 format).

http://www.ies.wisc.edu/research/ies900/nancycasestudies.htm

List of Student Case Studies, with links to individual reports. Includes A survey of boundary/edge attributes among selected plant community restorations in Madison, WI; Restoration of channelized streams to enhance fish habitat; Restoring the Sugar River: A watershed approach; A tale of two watersheds in southeast Wisconsin: Lake Ripley and Lulu Lake

http://www.ramsar.org/lib_wise_21.htm

The Ramsar Library  Towards the Wise Use of Wetlands Edited by T. J. Davis (Ramsar, 1993) Chapter 3 Distilling lessons from the case studies

In adopting a definition of wise use, and subsequently providing guidelines for its implementation, successive Conferences of Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention have provided substantial encouragement to countries seeking to improve management of their wetland resources. The present volume takes a significant step further by providing specific examples of the ways in which a wide diversity of countries have pursued wise use. Thus, while it would be imprudent to claim that any yet provide a clear demonstration of lasting success, these case studies provide a wealth of information and encouragement to those institutions that are seeking to grapple with the application of the wise use principle.

http://www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/construc/content.html

EPA report on Constructed Wetlands for Wastewater Treatment and Wildlife Habitat (17 case studies).

http://www.coastalamerica.gov/text/pubs/consensus/fftoc.html

THE FRAGILE FRINGE: COASTAL WETLANDS OF THE CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES

http://www.kuai.se/~leilin/vatmark/wetland.htm

Information about Ekeby wetland, Eskilstuna, Sweden. Eskilstuna is the chief town in Eskilstuna municipality (90.00 inhabitants) and is situated about 110 km west of Stockholm. The biggest sewage treatment plant in Eskilstuna is Ekeby STP which treats the sewage water from the chief town and the neighboring towns (about 95% of all sewage water in the municipality is treated at Ekeby; the rest is treated in 6 smaller local sewage treatment plants). Eskilstuna sewage treatment plant has been built step by step. It started in 1956, when the first stage -mechanical treatment was put into operation (cleaning bars, pre-airation, sand catcher and primary sedimentation). In 1965, the second stage was put into operation - biological treatment (active sludge plant with airation basins and secondary sedimentation).

http://www.nap.edu/books/0309045347/html/379.html

Restoration of Aquatic Ecosystems: Science, Technology, and Public Policy (1992) National Academy Press

http://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/soe/95/8_1.htm

EPA State of Environment Report, 1995 -- Rivers, Estuaries, Lakes & Wetlands

http://cnie.org/nle/wet-8a.html

This Congressional Research Service Report is made available to the public by THE COMMITTEE FOR THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT; 1725 K Street, NW, Suite 212, Washington, D.C. 20006 (202); 530-5810 cnie@cnie.org

Wetland Mitigation Banking: Status and Prospects II

http://www.aswm.org/bk-serv.htm#ecology

Association of State Wetland Managers Book Service.