Wetlands perform a number of functions that are critical for sustaining New York’s environment. They reduce erosion and help prevent floods by slowing surface runoff, filter sediment and chemicals out of water before it enters streams and reservoirs, and are instrumental in recharging groundwater. There are a number of different wetlands habitats in New York: Tidal Wetlands, such as tidal marshes and swamps; and Non-tidal Wetlands, such as marshes, wet meadows, kettle shrub pools, hardwood swamps, and vernal pools. Riparian corridors include wetlands that are located next to next to rivers and streams.
There are a number of agencies (chiefly the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation), permitting processes and and regulations concerning wetlands protection. While these various overlapping elements may appear to be a tangleof unneeded bureacracy, federal and state wetlands regulations are critically important to the preservation of important wetlands in the face of increasing development pressures.
