Healthy Economy

Can farmers make an income by restoring wetlands? Can taxpayers save money? The Wetlands Initiative says "yes" to both these questions.

Rather than being a financial burden, restoring and protecting our wetlands actually yields an economic gain, due to the essential services healthy wetlands provide to society. Without functioning wetlands in the landscape—storing floodwaters, removing pollutants, and controlling erosion—we face costly efforts to replicate their services, or to address the consequences. This is the source of the Initiative's statement that "land is more valuable wet than dry."

Water quality trading markets—which generate water quality "credits" by using restored wetlands to naturally remove excess nitrogen or phosphorus from waterways—could be set up around the Midwest and beyond. These voluntary markets could provide an important source of revenue for farmers who restore wetlands. They could also provide a more cost-effective way for cities and industries to meet water quality standards without having to make expensive infrastructure upgrades.

Such a market is just one example of the ecosystem service markets that could be created to make the economic benefits of wetlands visible, and to use those benefits to drive more restoration.