Transcript Wetlands, Sloughs and Bayous and Their Role in Moving Water to

Understanding Texas’ Coastal
Wetlands – Their Values,
Restoration, and Role in
Sustainable Landscapes
Andrew Sipocz
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
Topographic Map of Houston Area
Where is
Houston?
Where is
Galveston
Bay?
Where is the high ground on this map?
What does this have to do with water
pollution?
Liscum 2001
Large increase in runoff
and peak discharge =
greater need for
channelization, bank
erosion, loss of riparian
vegetation and stream
fauna
This worked well TXDOT detention
facility for SH 290
Background – Wetlands and Water Quality
• Wetlands are able to transform or sequester some of our most
problematic water pollutants including inorganic nitrogen and
phosphorous via bacterial respiration
• Wetlands are also able to sequester or denature metals and complex
organic pollutants as PAHs via bacterial respiration
• Wetlands improve water clarity by trapping suspended sediment and
flocculating colloidal sediment
• Wetlands remove infectious bacteria through UV exposure (they are
shallow and have a high residence time) as well as viral and bacterial
action
• Wetlands are increasingly being used to pre-treat polluted waters for
drinking and as secondary, tertiary or even primary sewage treatment
• EX. Richland Creek Reservoir treats polluted Trinity River water
before it enters the reservoir with large wetland impoundments
• EX. Everglades restoration is being accomplished by removal of
agricultural phosphorous from runoff via large wetland
impoundments.
Background – Wetlands and Water Quality
• Removal of pollutants can
occur fairly quickly but
requires aerobic and
anaerobic periods and
contact between water,
soil and vegetation to
promote facultative
bacteria
• Removal efficiency
increases with amount of
contact, i.e. residence time
of water
Mitsch and Gosselink Wetlands 2000
What role does science play in all
of this?
Brays Bayou Wetland Creation Project