Summary of wetland loss in the USA

Vast areas of tidal wetlands have been lost on the coast of the USA. There has been extensive loss and continuing destruction of estuary habitat. For example, more than half (roughly 55 million acres) of wetlands have been destroyed along the USA coastline. In the San Francisco Bay area alone studies show that 95% of the original wetlands have been lost, 85% of the sea grass meadows in Galveston Bay, and an estimated 50% of the salt marshes in Rhode Island. In addition in 1996, the Environmental Protection Agency (http://www.epa.gov) reported that almost 40% of the nation's surveyed estuaries were too polluted for fishing and swimming.

The situation at one small site within the Galveston NEP site serves to illustrate the timing and scale of the changes which have taken place as the 'drowning' of coastal wetlands has taken place:

Conclusion: It is suggested at this site that at the present rate of erosion, most of the remaining intertidal habitats will be gone within five years. Soft sediments, which formerly supported emergent vegetation at the cove, have disappeared, further reducing the ability of the marsh to recover from impacts.