Sierra Club National held a press conference this week concerning wetlands destruction and the recent flooding in the Midwest... many newspapers covered the event. The following should be of interest to those fighting the many "flood control" projects in NJ...

PROTECT OUR FAMILIES AND HOMES FROM FLOODS,
KEEP DEVELOPERS OUT OF FLOODPLAINS AND WETLANDS!

by Brett Hulsey and local activist

"Here we go again,' say river residents flooded out of their homes this spring. We once again witness the sad ritual of rains, floods, displaced families, deaths, and taxpayer bailouts. Our hearts go out to those whose homes and lives are once again devastated by flooding.

Four years ago we stood on the levees along the Mississippi River and said never again. We have made progress moving people out of flood-prone areas like Valmeyer, Illinois and West Alton, Mo., but now Congress wants to expose more families to floods by weakening our wetland protections.

This makes no sense. Wetlands protect our homes from floods by soaking up rain and releasing the water slowly. Nationwide, we have already lost over half of our wetlands. We have lost 90% in Ohio, and over 80% in Kentucky and Indiana. We should protect wetlands to protect our families and homes from future flooding.

According to noted hydrologist Don Hey writing in the March 1995 Restoration Ecology journal, preserving one-half the wetlands in the Upper Mississippi River Basin would have held back most of the flood waters that flowed past St. Louis in the 1993. Protecting wetlands could have saved up to 50 lives, and over $15 billion in homes lost and taxpayer bailouts.

Along the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, three out of every four wetland acres have been destroyed.

The Clinton Administration took a bold step by phasing out the easy wetlands destruction permits, Nationwide Permit 26, for isolated wetlands over the next two years.

Sadly Congress wants to reverse this step forward and make it easier for developers to build in wetlands by giving developers an automatic permit to build-- called Nationwide Permits.

This action could greatly increase flood deaths, damage, and taxpayer bailouts. The floods tell us that we should do more, not less to move families out of harms way, and protect floodprone areas and wetlands.

The flooding along the Ohio River, and California prove that politicians changing the rules is just bad science. We should not allow any new building in wetlands. Bottom lands along streams tend to flood.

The Sierra Club analysis of national flood damage shows that floods have killed almost 500 people and destroyed $50 billion in homes and property over the last four years.

The Sierra Club's flood damage summary concludes:

Floods in 1996 killed over 200 people and cost families and
taxpayers at least $7 billion.

The states with the greatest loss of life and property like
Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, California, have lost the most wetlands, over 80%.

In 1996, floods killed over 200 in North Carolina, Georgia,
Florida, California displacing millions and costing over $7 billion.

In 1993, Midwest floods in Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri killed
50, brought commerce to a halt, and cost more than $12 billion. Taxpayers paid at least $5.4 billion.

Currently the National Weather Service estimates annual
flooding costs are up to $3.1 billion per year. Flood damage has tripled in constant dollars since 1950.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) estimates that
9.6 million households and $360 billion in property is at risk from flooding. This includes one-fifth of the U.S. population and 22,000 communities.

So why would Congress vote to make it easier to build in flooding areas and wetlands? What common sense steps do we need to take to protect our homes from floods?

1. Developer PACS gave over $2.5 million to Congress, especially those leading the charge to weaken wetlands protections;

2. Senator Dewine and others say taxpayers should pay for all zoning and wetland protections, even though such rules save money by protecting communities from flooding and disasters; and

3. Right now the government grants 97% of wetland destruction permits. Because of this, we are losing over 290,000 acres of wetlands each year. That exposes hundres of thousands of families and homes to flooding each year.

Wetlands soak up flood water like a sponge. As we need the water, wetlands release the water for our use.

But realtors, developers, and others who profit from wetlands destruction are pushing hard to pass rule that would destroy, not protect wetlands and families.

Congress' attempts will create natural disasters, it won't fix government programs. This change could double the cost of flooding to almost 200 deaths and $6 billion per year.

Call Senator Dewine today and ask him to protect our families and homes from flooding, protect flood prone wetlands.

To protect our homes from flooding:

1. Call the Federal Emergency Management Agency to find out if your home is built in a wetland or floodplain, and to find out what you can do, call 1-800-525-0321.

2. Ask Senators, Representatives, and other policymakers for a moratorium on all new wetland destruction permits in high-flood areas and states like CA, MO, OH, IL, and any high-flood watershed.

3. Protect and restore critical flood-soaking wetlands along the Ohio, Mississippi, Missouri and other rivers by increased funding for the Wetlands Reserve Program, Conservation Reserve Program, and other programs that restore and protect high quality wetlands.

4. Require unscrupulous developers who build homes and realtors who sell homes in flood-prone wetlands to take full financial responsibility for any flood and personal damage.

5. Increase wetland destruction permit costs to fully cover cost to administer, restore, and protect wetlands.

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Brett Hulsey is Midwest Representative for the Sierra Club.