The Delaware Wetlands Conference opened to stark news that standing water inundates the county as wetlands disappear, and predictions of more of the same.

Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) Secretary Collin O’Mara said devastation from recent flooding is a wake-up call. “This will be the new normal with climate change,” he said. Building in wetlands areas, as well as wetlands loss, has contributed to area flooding, he said. “We have people’s attention now because people are looking for solutions. There are still 2 feet of standing water in some parts of our state and people are looking for help,” he said.

“We’ve got to stop the bleeding and protect what we have left,” he said at the Wednesday, Jan. 20 conference at Dover’s Sheraton Hotel.

One acre of wetland holds 1 million gallons of water. O’Mara said people are often shocked when they fill a parcel and build on it, only to have it flood. “We are doing this to ourselves,” he said. “Scientists must do a better job helping people avoid and solve problems, and not focus entirely on the environmental side of the issue, because the issues people face now have economic value as well.”

Adding more ditches or drainage pipes will not solve Sussex County’s problems, he said, calling such a fix untenable. O’Mara called Sussex flooding terrifying and said it’s heartbreaking to see what people are going through. “The homes shouldn’t have been built there, but they’re there now, so what can we do to help these people?” O’Mara asked.

O’Mara called for watershed-wide solutions. “We can run around like crazy trying to address the symptoms, but what we need is comprehensive, front-end science,” he said, directing the conference of more than 180 people to find ways to put their findings into language useful to people across the state – from planners and engineers to developers and residents or property owners.

Dave Fowler, Region V board director of the Association of State Floodplain Managers, said his group’s mission is to mitigate losses and suffering caused by flooding.

“Floods are natural, disasters are usually man-made. A lot of our development is in the way,” said Fowler.

Floods cost billions annually, and the cost of damage rises each year, he said. “We know where floods are going to be, but we keep building there,” said Fowler, an engineer. Engineers should not build in flood-prone areas simply because they can, he said. Avoiding the floodplain saves money and heartbreak later, he said.

“Current government policy promotes development in risk areas, ignores changing conditions and ignores adverse impacts to existing properties, but also undervalues the natural functions of floodplains and wetlands,” Fowler said.

Amy Jacobs, DNREC wetlands scientist, agreed engineers should be discouraged from building on wetlands.

Recent flood disasters, including Hurricane Katrina, are wake-up calls, Fowler said. “We are putting people in harm’s way, and we’ve got to stop,” said Fowler. He said in the Midwest, in response to devastating floods, engineers are adjusting their methods, letting levees breach and removing concrete riverbanks to restore natural functions to waterways to reduce flooding.

Jacobs said wetlands require a watershed-wide perspective, because harm to some wetlands affects other wetlands, especially at headwaters. Tidal wetlands can be instrumental in reducing flooding and wave action, preserving coasts from erosion in storms, she said.

New map shows more losses

Mark Biddle, DNREC environmental scientist, said the department has just received maps that show changes in state wetlands from 1992 to 2007.

The maps have not yet been fully analyzed, he said, but a report should be out in the coming months.

Better mapping will help planning efforts, but changes have been slow to come, Biddle said.
Sussex lost 2,600 acres of wetlands as a result of land-use changes, Biddle reported. While the county gained 1,400 acres of wetlands, it was mostly open-water areas, such as drainage ponds. “Gains in acreage are not really gains in function because so much is open water,” said Biddle. Open-water areas do not have the same filtering and storage abilities as natural wetlands, he said. Remaining wetlands are not performing well, he said.

Biddle said the department has not yet explored whether lost wetlands were developed under permits or not, but those analyses will be part of later reports.

Sea-level rise

When Delaware sees early signs of sea-level rise, it will be in the wetlands, said David Carter, environmental scientist with DNREC’s Coastal Programs.

Over 30 years of working and recreating in Delaware wetlands, Carter said he’s already seeing changes. What once were wetlands are now converting to open water.

Current predictions call for a foot of sea-level rise per century, he said.

Regulations are fine, but preparing for sea-level rise and stormwater inundation will require more, said Carter. The question is whether to retreat and avoid the water, elevate structures or armor coastlines against erosion and rising water, he said.

“We need to make a proactive decision about what’s at risk, what can be protected and at what cost, and where can we let nature take its course,” said Carter.

Carter said DNREC’s Sea Level Rise initiative is launching pilot projects, including data-gathering and an early-warning system. Two such projects are beginning at Bowers Beach and New Castle, which is protected by 300-year-old dikes built by Dutch settlers.

Carter said even if a foot of sea-level rise is manageable, its effects will disproportionately affect tidal wetlands. Natural sediment deposits won’t be able to keep up, and there isn’t enough room for the wetlands to migrate inland, he said.