Restoration of Aquatic Ecosystems Science, Technology, and Public Policy (1992) / Chapter Skim
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They recycle nutrients, purify water, attenuate floods, augment and maintain streamflow, recharge ground water, and provide habitat for wildlife and recreation for people. Rapid population increases in many parts of the United States accompanied by intensified industrial, commercial, and residential development have led to the pollution of surface waters by fertilizers, insecticides, motor oil, toxic landfill leachates, and feedlot waste.
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Had environmental protection been adequate in the past, many expensive restoration projects would not be necessary today. Naturally, restoration of aquatic ecosystems may be accomplished in stages, and particular ecosystem functions and characteristicssuch as potable water- may be restored even when other ecosystem characteristics deviate from natural conditions.
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Failure to restore aquatic ecosystems promptly will result in sharply increased environmental costs later, in the extinction of species or ecosystem types, and in permanent ecological damage. NATIONAL STRATEGY The committee recommends that a national aquatic ecosystem restoration strategy be developed for the United States.
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Thus, Congress should request that USDA investigate where and how an expansion of the Agricultural Wetland Reserve Program would result in a savings of USDA farm program expenditures; and saved funds could then be reallocated to expand the wetland reserve program beyond 1 million acres. Any redirection of federal policies and programs for aquatic ecosystem restoration should take into consideration the following: · use of a landscape perspective in restoration efforts; · use of adaptive planning and management (this refers to analysis of alternative strategies, reviewing new scientific data, and reanalyzing management decisions)
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Because aquatic ecosystems are interconnected and interactive, effective restoration efforts should usually be conducted on a large enough scale to include all significant components of the watershed. In addition, aquatic restoration efforts also need to be long-term to ensure that restoration project goals have been achieved and that restored ecosystems can endure stressful episodic natural events such as floods, droughts, storms, pestilence, freezing, heavy cyclical pre 1 ~ _ _ _ cation, invasion by exotics, and other perturbations.
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A net gain over the next 20 years of 2 million acres of restored lakes, out of the current 4.3 million acres of degraded lakes, is an achievable goal. By the year 2000, it is recommended that a minimum of 1 million acres of lakes be restored.
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Knowledge of the current ecological condition of the nation's lakes is grossly inadequate, and a national assessment of lakes is necessary to determine the severity and extent of damage and to measure changes in their status. The CLP should increase support of research and development of effective tools for restoration, and should continue guiding states in developing lake restoration programs.
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Stream and river restoration should begin with improved land management practices that will allow natural restoration of the stream or river to occur. Therefore, the committee recommends the follow~ng: · Erosion control programs in watersheds should be accelerated, not just to conserve soil, but also for the purpose of restoring streams and rivers.
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Federal agencies should be requested to update channelization estimates and to estimate miles of bank stabilization work already performed. The agencies should provide average and mean costs per mile for construction and maintenance of these conventional river management strategies, so that unit costs are available for comparison of different strategies.
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Wetlands restored in regulatory contexts often receive little management after initial restoration because private and public landowners, who are not motivated to provide such management, may move on or have no legal obligation for such management. Similarly, the responsible federal agencies do not have staff to assess the adequacy of restoration projects and do not monitor or require monitoring of permit mitigation conditions for sufficient time periods (10 years or
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, and establish regional and national data bases to provide comparisons of the natural functioning of different wetland ecosystem types in different regions. · Design and conduct experimental research programs to examine wetland restoration techniques and functional development over time in different system types.
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This represents a tenfold increase in the wetlands restoration target included in the Agricultural Wetland Reserve Program of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990. This number also represents less than 10 percent of the total number of acres of wetlands lost in the last 200 years.
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By embarking now on a major national aquatic ecosystem restoration program, the United States can set an example of aquatic resource stewardship that ultimately will also improve the management of other resource types and will set an international example of environmental leadership. REFERENCES Benke, A
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