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Tuesday, February 18, 2025

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N.Y.C. Council speaker calls on Mayor Eric Adams to resign; KY could do more to protect kids from accidental drug ingestion, shootings; OH food banks face fed funding uncertainty, DeWine budget cuts; Protesters say Trump administration actions 'cast aside democracy.'

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On a Middle East visit, Sen. Richard Blumenthal rejects a Gaza takeover. President's Day protests erupt around the country against White House moves, and another aviation accident draws attention to recent FAA cuts.

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Rural America struggles with opioids and homelessness in unexpected ways, Colorado's Lariat Ditch could help spur local recreation, and book deliveries revive rural communities hit by Hurricane Helene.

Weak protections for SD wetlands could lead to more flood damage

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Wednesday, December 11, 2024   

Wetlands protect against floods, like those some in eastern South Dakota experienced this June and researchers warned the growing presence of factory farms in the Midwest makes it harder to shield the state's natural resources.

A new report from the Union of Concerned Scientists said 30 million acres of wetlands in the Upper Midwest are at risk of destruction by industrial agriculture and other heavy industries. The authors said the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to strip some federal wetlands protections accelerates the potential loss.

Travis Entenman, managing director of Friends of the Big Sioux River, said action or inaction now will affect the outcomes in future high flood years.

"What we do on our landscape will directly impact the damage and the severity of those floods on our private properties, on our farm fields and our businesses and our urban settings," Entenman outlined.

Entenman pointed out South Dakota has no policies in place to protect wetlands and the state will be threatened by weaker federal ones. The report noted the pending Farm Bill could present opportunities to bolster existing conservation programs.

Wetlands can capture and slow floodwaters threatening homes.

Stacy Woods, food and environment research director for the Union of Concerned Scientists, said they provide other services, too.

"They're often called 'nature's kidneys,' because they provide such a service in cleaning our waterways," Woods explained. "But when we dump so much pesticide and fertilizer, and other pollutants onto our fields, that can run off into these wetlands and really impact the wetlands' ability to clean our water."

Researchers say one acre of wetlands provides $745 in flood mitigation benefits to residential homes. Without wetlands, they said homeowners and taxpayers absorb the costs through the National Flood Insurance Program.


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