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World Wetlands Day: How Important are wetlands and what can we do to help them?
Protecting Wetlands through Community Rainwater Management
Wetlands are an incredibly valuable ecosystem, providing habitat for wildlife, flood alleviation for local communities, and many other benefits. However, they are under threat from pollution and human activity. By adopting community-driven rainwater capture and harvesting initiatives, we can help protect these vital areas whilst simultaneously addressing other environmental challenges such as surface water flooding and sewer overflow spills.
- Wetlands
- Community
- Rainwater
What Are Wetlands?
Wetlands are areas where water covers the soil, either permanently or seasonally, creating a unique ecosystem that supports a wide variety of plants and animals. They include marshes, swamps, bogs, and fens. In the UK, notable examples include the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads, Somerset Levels, and Thames Estuary marshes.
Why Are Wetlands Important?
Wetlands play a natural role in maintaining environmental balance.
- They act as natural water filters, trapping pollutants and improving water quality.
- The peat in wetlands slowly absorbs water and gradually releases it back, helping to regulate water flow, reducing the risk of flooding downstream.
- Wetlands are biodiversity hotspots, supporting rare and endangered species of invertebrates, birds, plant-life and many others.
- They're called 'carbon sinks', meaning they store carbon, helping to mitigate the effects of climate change.
The Issue: Pollution and Human Impact
40% of world species are reliant on wetlands in one way or another and since 1970, over a third of the world's wetlands have disappeared.
Despite their importance, wetlands are increasingly threatened by:
- Pollution from agriculture: Runoff from farms can introduce excess nutrients, pesticides, and sediment into wetlands, degrading water quality and harming ecosystems.
- Sewer spills: During heavy rainfall, combined sewer overflows (CSOs) can release untreated wastewater into rivers and wetlands, causing serious pollution.
- Urban runoff: Rainwater running off roads and pavements carries oil, heavy metals, and other pollutants into watercourses, ultimately impacting wetlands downstream.
How Rainwater Management Can Help Protect Wetlands
One effective way to help reduce pollution and protect wetlands is through community rainwater management. By capturing rainwater, we can slow the flow of water entering drains and sewers, which in turn can help tackle surface water runoff and the risk of sewer overflows.
Benefits of Rainwater Capture
- Help alleviate the impact of surface water flooding
- Help to reduce combined sewer overflows
- Provides a sustainable water source
Water butts and other rainwater capture systems can help reduce pressure on drainage systems by slowing the flow of water.
Did you know, it is possible to monitor such systems? This provides invaluable insight into attenuation performance and facilitates pro-active and effective asset maintenance. We offer this through real-time monitoring, reporting the state of sustainable urban drainage like water butts and rain planters to ensure optimum efficacy.
By reducing the amount of water entering the sewer system, the risk of CSOs polluting rivers and wetlands can be decreased. Our advanced modelling techniques involving proprietary technology and AI ensures a targeted approach, placing the best solution in an optimised location for greatest impact. Remaining solution agnostic and problem focused means we address challenges specific to a catchment area for effective outcomes.
Captured rainwater can be used for watering gardens and washing cars, reducing demand on mains water supply. This is especially important during periods of low rainfall and can even save you money on your bills if you're on a meter!
Case Studies: Community Rainwater Capture Initiatives
In areas like Southend and Thurrock, we will be working with Catchment to Coast and local residents to integrate rainwater management with broader environmental protection initiatives. Other communities have adopted the use of water butts to capture rainwater from residential roofs, reducing runoff and helping to protect nearby wetlands. These initiatives also contribute to reducing the risk of flooding and improving local water quality.
The catchment-to-coast approach being implemented in Southend and Thurrock emphasises the importance of managing water throughout the entire catchment area. By encouraging communities to adopt rainwater harvesting, these initiatives aim to reduce the cumulative impact of urban runoff and sewer overflows on wetlands and coastal ecosystems.
Multiple Benefits of Rainwater Management
Rainwater management doesn’t just protect wetlands - it offers a range of additional benefits, including:
- Improved water security
- Enhanced biodiversity
- Stronger community resilience
- Improve water quality
Reducing reliance on mains water through rainwater harvesting helps ensure a more sustainable water supply.
Protecting wetlands supports wildlife and plant species, creating healthier ecosystems.
By adopting rainwater management, communities are better prepared to handle heavy rainfall and reduce flood risks.
Capturing rainwater helps reduce surface water flooding, which in turn reduces surface runoff. This runoff often collects pollutants and harmful chemicals, carrying them into watercourses and compromising water quality, which can harm aquatic ecosystems. By storing rainwater, we also relieve pressure on both natural and manmade drainage systems, which, when overwhelmed, contribute to excess runoff.
Conclusion
Wetlands are invaluable natural resources that need our protection. Through community-driven rainwater management initiatives, we can help safeguard these ecosystems from pollution and urban runoff while providing multiple benefits to local communities. Efforts in areas like Southend and Thurrock demonstrate how catchment-wide approaches can make a real difference, ensuring that our wetlands remain healthy for all future generations.