Thursday, May 12, 2016

Announcement: Release of the National Wetland Condition Assessment 2011 Report


Hello National Aquatic Resourc Survey (NARS)  Partners:  EPA is pleased to announce the release of the National Wetland Condition Assessment 2011 Report.  This report is the culmination of a significant partnership between EPA, states, tribes, and other partners. The NWCA report is posted at http://www.epa.gov/national-aquatic-resource-surveys/nwca along with data used in the assessment.

Key findings from the report include the following:
·         Less than half of wetland area (48%) is in good condition; 32% is in poor condition and the remaining 20% is in fair condition.
·         Physical disturbances to wetlands and their surrounding habitat such as compacted soil, ditching, and removal or loss of vegetation, are the most widespread problems across the country. Wetlands with high levels of compacted soil are about twice as likely to have poor plant communities.
·         Nonnative plants are a problem across the country, particularly in the interior plains and west. 46% of wetland area in the interior plains and 72% of wetland area in the west have high or very high levels of stress from nonnative plants.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to the NWCA from planning through implementation and finally development of this report.  If you have any questions, please direct them to Gregg Serenbetz (Serenbetz.gregg@epa.gov 202-566-1253) or me.

Sincerely,
Sarah

Sarah Lehmann
202-566-1379