All three of my human companions are helping develop regulations for Virginia s new non-tidal wetland protection law. It passed in the 2000 General Assembly session. Now they re deep into the real work putting together the fine-grain details to stop wetland destruction in Virginia and turn the tide toward a net gain in acreage. There s a perception among extreme environmentalists that no wetland should ever be altered in any way. There s a corollary perception in the development community that any wetland can be replaced by building another.
Reality lies somewhere in between.
As long as the population of the Chesapeake watershed grows, some wetlands will get in the way, but building new ones to replace them is a complex, expensive process. Wetlands are intricate systems that come in all sizes and shapes. That intricacy makes regulating them difficult. There s a big difference, for example, between wet spots in farm fields here in the Blue Ridge foothills and tidal cypress swamps on the Chickahominy River near Williamsburg. Each, however, contributes important flood control, groundwater recharge, water treatment, and habitat to the Bay watershed.