By Tom Murdoch / Herald Forum
Streams are often viewed as the veins that flow to rivers that evolve into the arteries of our ecosystems. Wetlands are commonly referred to as the kidneys of the larger body of streams and rivers.
These fragile natural features filter pollutants. Wetlands store water. They provide essential wildlife habitat; from a biomass perspective, wetlands are the most productive places on the planet. Wetlands are also points of entry for surface waters to seep into the ground water systems, enabling streams and rivers to flow during dry periods.
When wetlands are degraded or filled, water quality in streams and rivers is degraded, as is the water quality where streams and rivers flow. When wetlands in watersheds surrounding streams and rivers are degraded, the water quality of Puget Sound is degraded as well. Habitat required for salmon shrinks, as do the numbers of salmon. When we lose our wetlands, we lose our salmon.
Tragically, we have been seeing in the news a resident killer whale mother carrying her dead calf in Puget Sound. The loss of this baby and other resident orcas is attributed to the loss of chinook salmon, a main staple for the Southern Resident whales. There is a direct connection to the loss of chinook salmon and the degradation and loss of our wetlands; something that people can easily prevent.
The Snohomish County Council has proposed an amendment to the county’s Critical Areas Regulation (Ordinance 24-097), that, if adopted, will result in reduction of “buffers” between new development and wetlands and streams, and the filling of some wetland that are smaller than 4,000-square-feet. That will result in the degradation of streams and rivers in Snohomish County and the waterways where those streams and rivers flow.
Stream and wetland protection in the Critical Areas Regulation must be strengthened, not weakened. The county council has decided to gather more information before scheduling another public hearing and deciding on the amendment. If you would like to share information with the county council email contact.council@snoco.org.
Tom Murdoch is co-director of the Adopt A Stream Foundation and teaches stream and wetland ecology classes at the Northwest Stream Center. He can be contacted at www.streamkeeper.org.
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