Wetlands are ecosystems saturated with water, either seasonally or permanently. Although the Whitney project is not directly tied to the fen project, if the research efforts are successful, they could help Aurora and Colorado Springs secure a permit approval for the reservoir — and maybe alter the fate of an ecosystem. In recognition of these challenges, the RAMSAR Convention, an international treaty, was adopted in 1971. But is a transplanted fen as good as not touching one in the first place? As the lead scientist for the Rocky Mountain Fen Research Project, Johnson is part of an effort spearheaded and paid for by Aurora Water and the Board of Water Works of Pueblo to study new ways to restore fens. An initiative of the Center for Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado Boulder. Learn more at, Data viz: explore our interactive dashboards for drought, precipitation and snowpack, Data viz: surveying Colorado River Basin maps. “We are excited about proving that you can restore and rehabilitate fens,” Kitzmann said. Mostly urban residents, study says. You can also read all about Emma’s research at the Harrier Hide, where there is an information board next to an ancient oak tree stump. “I’m sensitive to that,” he said. In the meantime, Aurora is hopeful that Johnson’s research might one day help solve some of the environmental problems around new water development. Click here to download the latest Flash Player. But appearances can be deceiving. But like it or not, Johnson believes that more impacts to fens are inevitable. To protect fens, the U.S. Wetlands play a major role in protecting land against floods and the impacts of storms. Since ancient times, humanity has inhabited wetlands and used them in different ways. WWT Martin Mere, Fish Lane, Burscough, Lancashire, L40 0TA. We conducted a lidar survey around wetlands that multiple use proxies established were ancient Maya polycultural systems. As Colorado’s population grows, water utilities will have to build new reservoirs, the state will need new roads and ski resorts will want to expand. The utilities, working together as Homestake Partners, are looking at building the reservoir in the Homestake Creek valley, south of Minturn, in an area that probably contains fens, which could hinder the project. By. “On-site or in-kind replacement of peatlands is not possible,” the policy reads. Environmental groups including Colorado Headwaters, a nonprofit, oppose the Whitney Reservoir project, arguing that it would destroy one of the state’s most valuable wetlands, as well as an important habitat for wildlife and rare native plants. Major cities in the United States, such as Chicago and Washington, D.C., are located on sites that were, in part, covered by wetlands. This information helps scientists to use prehistoric vegetation data from the same time periods to discover other tree species that existed in woodlands such as elm and birch, and how these woodlands changed in response to natural climate change and human impacts on the environment. Preserved in peat as subfossils, these stumps are often referred to as bog oak. He sighed. According to the RAMSAR Convention, wetlands include: “all lakes and rivers, underground aquifers, swamps and marshes, wet grasslands, peat lands, oases, estuaries, deltas and tidal flats, mangroves and other coastal areas, coral reefs, and all human made sites such as fish ponds, rice paddies, reservoirs and salt pans”. A Fish and Wildlife Service spokesperson said fens are still designated a “Resource Category 1,” which means that the appropriate type of mitigation is avoidance, or “no loss.”, White River National Forest supervisor Scott Fitzwilliams echoed the spokesperson’s statement, noting that land managers place a high emphasis on protection for fens: “It’s really hard to replace a wetland in these high elevations.”. Using the scientific technique of dendrochronology, also known as tree-ring dating, Emma discovered that the bog oaks on our site were actually over six thousand years old – that’s older than the Great Pyramids of Giza and even older than the first stone that was erected at Stonehenge. Egypt has many forms of wetlands. This map depicts data from the National Drought Mitigation Center. These maps and visualizations let you interact with vital data on our water supply. Ancient oak tree stumps around Martin Mere’s wetlands have finally been dated to a specific calendar year, thanks to Manchester Metropolitan University student Emma Clarke. The research could help facilitate future water development in Colorado, such as the potential Whitney Reservoir project, part of a 20-year water-development plan from Aurora Water and Colorado Springs Utilities for the upper Eagle River watershed. They can be isolated from their water source if drainage areas are modified or impoundments are built. “You can sort of see why it wouldn’t be the best, just given the vastness of the wetlands,” Kitzmann said. If you’ve walked through Colorado’s high country, chances are you’ve walked by a fen, which are among the state’s most biodiverse and fragile environments. Potential fen impacts are just one of several environmental hurdles facing the project. Since ancient times, humanity has inhabited wetlands and used them in different ways. Degrees of warming: How a hotter, thirstier atmosphere wreaks havoc on... Study finds small number of jobs lost under demand-management program, State officials set sights on ponds without water rights, Voters overwhelmingly pass Colorado River District tax hike, Millions in new taxes approved for West Slope, Front Range water districts, Who in the U.S. is in ‘plumbing poverty’? Wetland agriculture was crucial to ancient cultures, but no previous study coupled lidar with multiproxy evidence to demonstrate the extent and uses of Maya wetland fields. Wetlands are considered the most biologically diverse of all ecosystems, and occur naturally on every continent except Antarctica. Mariout, Edku, Burullus and … To date the bog oaks, Emma took samples from around the site and analysed them at Manchester Metropolitan University. Then, he and a team of helpers removed blocks of soil from another degraded fen site and reassembled them, like an organ transplant, at the “receiver” site, where the restored spring now flows through veinlike cobble bars and sandbars, feeding the transplanted fen. “It’s like walking on a sponge,” Johnson said, marching across the marshy ground, stopping every now and then to point out a rare sedge or grass species. By continuing to use our site, you are Using the dropdown menu above the chart –... Aspen Journalism is a local, independent, nonprofit, and investigative journalism organization based in Aspen, Colorado. policy for further information about how we use your personal information. Facebook. ReddIt . Linkedin. After a number of fits and starts, Johnson three years ago settled on a design for the research that would test whether it’s ecologically possible to transplant fen soils from one location to another. This map shows total rain and snowfall in the contiguous United States, every month from 1981 to the present. We use cookies on this site to improve your user experience. Aspen Journalism - December 2, 2019. This map shows daily snowpack estimates for the contiguous United States since October 2003. “They wanted to figure out how to do this right so they could actually permit their projects,” Johnson said. In fact, the ancient society of Mesopotamia, between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, was founded and thrived in wetlands. Inside the Fish and Wildlife Service, however, a different interpretation emerged. “Irreplaceable” became “unmitigable,” making it difficult or impossible to secure approval for any project that would severely impact fens. Wetland - Wetland - Wetland management: Wetlands can be easily altered or destroyed.
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