Wetlands

Under a 40-year-old law, the U.S. Department of Agriculture can withhold subsidies, like crop insurance and disaster payments, from farmers who clear, drain or convert wetlands. A company that owns farmland in the Midwest says it’s unconstitutional.

Artificial floating wetlands naturally filter water from contaminants and excess nutrients. There are about a dozen in the state, and the Missouri Department of Conservation wants to add more.

Despite the U.S. Supreme Court reversing a major Clean Water Act provision protecting wetlands, Illinois lawmakers attempted to codify protections into state law during this year’s session. The bill will be brought up again during the fall veto session.

A U.S. Supreme Court decision last year stripping wetlands of most federal protections is drawing more attention to the threatened ecosystems, and what states can do in response.

In Missouri, agriculture, urban development and man-made flood control measures have replaced 87% of the state’s original wetlands.

Many cities are already investing in nature-based solutions, such as removing pavement, building marshes and making room for rivers to flow. Now, St. Louis is looking to learn from Missouri’s neighbors in Dubuque, Iowa, on what the city can do with the River Des Peres.

The existential threat from flooding is also an economic one for the cities and towns that hug the country's major rivers. In total, flooding in 2019 along the Mississippi and its tributaries caused an estimated $6.2 billion in damage, including millions in the St. Louis region.

A new report from the Environmental Working Group found targeting the U.S. Department of Agriculture's conservation funding to the Mississippi River region would have huge benefits to water quality and the climate.

The Environmental Protection Agency recently released new rules regarding the Waters of the United States that decide which bodies of water fall under federal protection. But a case the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule on soon throws those rules into question and could mean less protection for wetlands.

Creating wetlands in farm country can reduce the severity of flooding downstream. The Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative and Ducks Unlimited have partnered to create more wetlands in the Mississippi River basin.