Governments at every level adopted rules to protect wetlands in the 1970s and 1980s, requiring property owners to make up for destroying wetlands and build around them when possible. The rate of destruction dropped dramatically. But it didn?EUR??,,????'???t stop.

Though many experts say Florida has better wetland protections than most, the state still experiences a “pretty impressive wetland loss,” said David Jenkins, a wetland ecologist at the University of Central Florida. Wetlands vanish in Volusia County at the rate of about half an acre a day, while Flagler loses roughly an acre every nine days.

Wetlands are more protected than other sensitive lands, such as scrub and long leaf pine forests. Developers and single-family homeowners face a complex and costly permitting process. For every acre of wetland destroyed statewide, an average of four acres of upland and wetland habitats get preserved from development, an acre of poor quality wetland is restored and a half-acre is created.

HOW WE BENEFIT

Wetlands benefit man in a number of ways. Some filter pollution out of water before it flows to streams and rivers. Others work in concert with the groundwater, holding water and slowly discharging it back into the surrounding water table during times of low rainfall.

Some wetlands are linked to the deeper layers of groundwater used to provide drinking water for the people of Florida. In those cases, over-pumping can drain the wetlands and leave them to die. As more groundwater gets used for drinking, it puts “tremendous pressure” on remaining wetlands, Rockwood said. That creates a quandary for the regional water management agency and the millions who depend on Central Florida?EUR??,,????'???s water.

Wetland damage from groundwater pumping already has been seen in Tiger Bay State Forest, just west of Daytona Beach, and in Orange County, said Hal Wilkening, director of resource management for the St. Johns River Water Management District. By law, the district must limit pumping if it appears lakes and wetlands are drying up. That?EUR??,,????'???s one reason why the district wants local officials to look elsewhere for drinking water supplies, Wilkening said. “If you want to continue to grow, you?EUR??,,????'???re going to have to go to a lot greater lengths to have a sustainable safe water supply that doesn?EUR??,,????'???t harm the environment.”

A proposal to pull drinking water from the St. Johns River may help relieve the demand on groundwater but it could harm wetlands along the river. District officials say their studies show it won?EUR??,,????'???t, but Jacksonville officials and some wetland scientists remain unconvinced. Groundwater pumping, however, is just one way wetlands get disrupted. Fertilizers, oils and pesticides flow in with rain from yards and streets. New developments divert water from wetlands. A lot of the state?EUR??,,????'???s wetlands are degraded, said University of Florida professor Peter Frederick. “So they?EUR??,,????'???re losing a lot of their function.”

The biggest losses come from development, the draining and filling of wetlands for homes, shopping centers and roads. Each time a wetland is drained or filled, the state loses a little more wildlife habitat, a little more flood storage and another one of the links in the water cycle that provides the state?EUR??,,????'???s drinking water.