 One
minute!
 Hydric

soils
Anaerobic; grey in color (lacks O2 to turn Fe
particles red)
 Hydrophilic


plants
Bladderwart
Sedges, rushes, reeds
 Hydrology

Standing water at least two weeks of the year
 Wetlands
vs.
rivers –
Slower water
 More plant life
 More shallow
 May be
seasonal/ephe
meral

•
•
•
•
•
•
•
bogs and fens of the northeastern and northcentral states and Alaska
wet meadows or wet prairies in the Midwest
prairie potholes like the Katy Prairie
playa lakes of the southwest and Great
Plains
bottomland hardwood swamps of the south
tundra wetlands of Alaska.
Coastal salt marshes or tidal marshes
 Louisiana's
coastal
marshes produce
an annual
commercial fish
and shellfish
harvest that
amounted to 1.2
billion pounds
worth $244
million in 1991.
•
More than half of all
U.S. adults (98
million) hunt, fish,
birdwatch or
photograph wildlife.
They spend a total of
$59.5 billion annually.
Painters and writers
continue to capture
the beauty of
wetlands on canvas
and paper, or through
cameras, and video
and sound recorders.
 Historically,
they
were considered
“wastelands”
 Development
 Agriculture
Half of the original wetlands have been
destroyed!
 Restoration
projects in our area.
Sediment
 Oxygen demanding wastes
 Acids
 Plant nutrients (nitrates/phosphates)

Wastewater is initially treated in an
underground primary and secondary
treatment system (SANTEC Model SC26K) before being pumped to the
tertiary system. Eight of the treatment
cells were planted with a variety of
broad- and narrow-leaved emergent
plants, and six of the cells were planted
with three species of woody
plants. Capacity of the system in 1994
was 6,800 galloons per day and, when
plants matured, final capacity was
13,800 gallons per day.
 The
Katy Prairie