The protection of Indiana’s wetlands has diminished in the past four years although our lawmakers tend to hide that trend.
For example, during the last session the Indiana Legislature passed a bill that expanded an existing program that offers a voluntary incentive for preserving a wetland. That’s a good concept that lowers property taxes for owners of those wetlands.
However, that program is voluntary. Not voluntary was a House bill, signed into law, that reduced the number of wetlands protected by the state. The move encourages construction on those sites.
Hoosiers have seen a 75% decrease in acres devoted to wetlands since 2021, according to the Hoosier Environmental Council. Those lands have rarely had their environmental functions replaced.
Indiana has long been in need of a comprehensive water policy, one that looks long-range into future water supplies. This has proved critical as the state moves ahead with a massive district in Boone County devoted to industries that require millions of gallons daily in an area with a dearth of rivers.
Also to that point, the White River Alliance gave the local White River watershed an “F” in the category of wetland change.
All this follows a 2022 report by the Environmental Integrity Project that found Indiana at the top of the list for having the most total miles of rivers and streams classified as impaired (or unusable) for swimming and recreation involving water contact.
Wetlands collect excess stormwater, reducing the threat of flooding. They store up to 1.5 million gallons of water per acre. And wetlands purify water while providing habitats for animals.
Indiana has indeed benefited from the guidelines of the federal Clean Water Act rules attacking pollution but there are wide gaps that work against Hoosiers.
Management of Indiana’s use of water hasn’t been comprehensively updated in more than a decade. And, at best, the 2010 set of best conservation practices were far from complete and not mandatory.
A good conservation program must include ongoing audits of water use, a prioritization of ways to reuse sources, industrial safeguards against pollution and creation of a plan to prevent water shortages.
If the task is too cumbersome for our current state legislators, then they should begin tackling ways to protect our critical wetland resources.
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