Palouse-Clearwater Environmental Institute

“connecting people, place and community”

Ponds and Wetlands

The TerraGraphics Pond and Wetlands at the PCEI Nature Center function as an outdoor classroom where students can learn about the healthy and lively habitat of pond life.  With wildlife species including mallards, great blue herons, red-winged blackbirds, long-toed salamanders, spotted frogs, and a dozen different macro invertebrates, there is always something interesting to observe and experience.

Situated among three hillsides with vegetation consisting of upland grasses, the pond is located on the east/uphill side of the property and captures runoff from adjacent hills.  The pre-existing pond was 64 feet in diameter and at capacity reached a depth of seven feet.

In 2006, with the help of TerraGraphics Environmental Engineering, Inc., we reduced the slope and depth of the pond, allowing overflow to cascade into a series of wetlands through the Nature Center and inundate approximately 15,000 square feet of smaller swales.  We wanted something that would allow us to do different things with higher permeability and fewer petroleum products.  Additionally, we wanted an enhancement demonstration project providing on-site educational and native plant propagation opportunities.  The wetlands were a great project for this because they increase wildlife habitat, storm water holding and filtering capacity and provide a home for native plants like camas, willow, sedges, rushes and smartweed.

What Are Wetlands?

Wetlands are areas where water covers land partial or completely at least up to the surface most of the year.  Wetlands are essential to the health of the planet’s water system and offer many benefits with their unique and diverse ecosystems.  The benefits of wetlands include the following:

  • Water filtration: through both physical and biological processes, wetlands filter polluted water before it enters back into aquifers, streams, rivers, and oceans.

  • Flood control: wetlands mitigate flooding.  In fact, an acre of wetland can store 1–1.5 million gallons of floodwater [1].

  • Carbon sequestration: wetlands store carbon dioxide.

  • Habitat creation: wetlands have rich and diverse ecosystems, supporting a healthy plant and animal community.

  • Recreation: wetlands are unique places for people to observe and enjoy.

Types of Wetlands

Wetlands vary greatly depending on regional and local differences in “soils, topography, climate, hydrology, water chemistry, vegetation, and other factors, including human disturbance” [2].  There are, however, four general categories wetlands fall into: marshes, swamps, bogs, and fens.  All types are important for the health of the planet’s water system and each is unique in its benefits and ecosystem.

  • Marshes

    • protect against flooding

    • have diverse ecosystems offering habitat to a variety of plant species, waterfowl, small mammals, migratory birds, macro invertebrates, and insects

    • filter polluted runoff

  • Bogs

    • protect against flooding

    • store carbon dioxide

    • drain acidic bog water into estuaries and help keep the water salinity, nutrient, and acidity level appropriate for fish

    • provide habitat to endangered species and interesting carnivorous plants

  • Swamps

    • protect against flooding

    • remove nutrients and pollutants from water

    • have highly diverse vegetation due to nutrient-rich soil

  • Fens

    • protect against flooding

    • provide habitat to diverse plant and animal community

    • purify water

For a complete explanation of the different types of wetlands, visit water.epa.gov/type/wetlands/types_index.cfm.

Recently, wetlands have been noticed for their crucial role in our plant’s ecosystem and recognized as important and necessary ecosystems themselves.  Development, urbanization and agricultural namely, have in the past wiped out over half of the United States’ original wetlands [3], but efforts to protect, restore, and build wetlands are more prevalent among state and county organizations and governments.

Wetlands in the Palouse-Clearwater Region

Wetlands in the Palouse-Clearwater region are a type of marsh—wet meadows and vernal pools.  Before Euroamerican settlement of the area, these wetlands were prevalent in the area, and the Palouse people as well as Nez Perce depended on the wetlands for food.

Much of these wetlands have been drained for agriculture use.  As these wet meadows have declined so has the native flora populations.  PCEI is dedicated to restoring wetlands in the Palouse-Clearwater region.  The wetlands at the PCEI Nature Center are home to many native plants, such as camas, willow, sedges, rushes and smartweed.

Footnotes

1. EPA publication 843-F-01-002c, Functions and Values of Wetlands (PDF)

2. EPA web site, Wetlands Definitions

3. EPA publication 843-F-01-002d, Threats to Wetlands (PDF)

Further Resources

EPA wetlands web page: http://water.epa.gov/type/wetlands/

Fran Howard. “Wetlands.”  Great book for small children explaining wetlands.  Available at the Moscow Public Library.  Call number JUV 577.68 HOW

Neil Champion. “Caring for the Plant: Rivers and Wetlands.”  Great book for young adults exploring the values, dangers, and future of wetlands.  Available at the Moscow Public Library.  Call number JUV 577.6 CHA

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