Assessing Functions and Values of Kenai Peninsula Wetlands Handouts - - PDF document

SLIDE 1

Assessing Functions and Values of Kenai Peninsula Wetlands

Handouts referenced by Homer Soil and Water Conservation District in its presentation to the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly September 20, 2011

Wetlands along Beaver Creek, an anadromous tributary to the Anchor River (photo: Devony Lehner)

Reduces flood peaks by storing stormwater and releasing it slowly Filters pollutants and sediments in runoff Provides many kinds of habitats for fish and wildlife Provides clean water to streams and stabilizes discharge

Examples of wetland functions and values

Exam pIes of wetland functions and values (adaDted from: htto:llbenchwood

historic~llllll

ia nee,wQI'dpress,com/2009/03/0S/)

SLIDE 2

Handout 1: Homer Soil and Water Conservation District mission, boundaries, and key staff working on wetland assessment project

HOME~ SOIL AND WATE~ CONSE~VAT'ON

DIST~'CT

4014 Lake St. Homer, AK 99603; 907­235­8177, ext 106; www.homerswcd.org/ The mission of Homer Soil and Water Conservation District is to provide education and leadership in the conservation and sustainable use ofsoiJ­ and water­related resources through cooperative programs that protect, restore, and improve our environment.

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Homer Soil and Water Conservation District

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Key Homer Soil and Water staff working on this project:

Karyn Noyes is Homer Soil and Water's Ecologist and GIS

• Technician. She's compiled existing

GIS information useful in assessing peninsula wetlands and is tailoring that information to assessment

• methods. She will then develop and

run the GIS­data­based assess-

• ments. Karyn helped map and

classify Kenai Peninsula wetlands

and has done extensive wetland mapping and determinations across Alaska.

Devony Lehner is Homer Soil and Water's Special Projects Coor-

• dinator. Coordinating this project

includes conducting outreach and developing interim and final reports and educational material. One of her responsibilities is to assemble and provide information that can help landowners, managers, and others who are interested to understand their wetlands, including which "best management practices" can help maintain wetland functions and

• values. Devany has coordinated

numerous projects. While working for the Natural Resources Conserva- tion Service, she developed the

• riginal Kenai River Landowner's

Guide. Tara Schmidt is Manager of the Homer Soil and Water Conservation District. She ensures that Homer Soil and Water staff work together in efficient and productive ways. She also manages project budgets. Tara has been District Manager since May 2007 and previously worked for the NRCS.

SLIDE 3

SLIDE 4

Factsheet 3:

What do we mean by wetland functions and values?

i,

• The Homer Soil and Water Conse17Jation Disl1ict (HSWCD) is leading a collabo1't1tive project to assess functions and values ofKenai Peninsula

}}Jet/ands. This is Factsheet 3 in a series describing that project. For more information, visit }/!!!JI/!.hQJJlursjJJfr!.0'1, 01' call 235­8177, ext. 106.

Defining wetland "functions" and "values" is not straightforward... For many wetland scientists and regulators, the term "wetland functions" means natural processes in wetlands­the things that wetlands do, independent of how much society cares about them. Such functions include, for example, storing rainfall and snowmelt, filtering waterborne sediments, and supporting wetland plants. However, "function" is also used in many statutes, regulations, policies, and reports to refer to ways that wetlands benefit society­that is, the "values" or "goods and services" that wetlands provide us. Such values or services include, for example, reducing flooding of human developments like roads, buildings, and farms; supporting salmon harvested by sport and commercial fisheries; or providing areas for education or for recreation like skiing or

• birdwatching. Ambiguity in what is meant by wetland functions and values is due in part to the complex roles

wetlands play­both ecologically and in meeting society's needs. It also stems from lack of agreement about how to determine and value these roles. As a result, it's important to be as clear as possible about what we mean when we talk about assessing wetland functions and values on the Kenai Peninsula. In a nutshell, wetlands do a variety of things (wetland functions), some of which society values (wetland values). In this project, we will assess both. We will look at which wetlands do which things and, in general terms, to what extent. Some things are easier to assess and some more difficult; some are related to natural processes and others to human activities; and some occur within a wetland itself, while others

• ccur because of how wetlands connect to lands and waters beyond their boundaries.

Four kinds of factors come into play in assessing wetland functions and values.

• 1. Natural processes occurring within wetlands

These represent basic wetland functions, including processes such as water storage, streamflow modulation, biomass production (both plant and animal), and denitrification. These processes can be at least partially measured and objectively described given adequate time and funding. The challenge is that thousands of natural processes occur within even a single wetland, and these processes change seasonally and from year­to-

• year. It's therefore impossible to fully describe or assess all of these wetland functions, even those that society
• values. And simply identifying functions may not reflect their importance to society.
• 2. Offsite conditions and processes that affect onsite functions and values

It's not just onsite wetland functions and values that must be considered, offsite and regional conditions and processes (both natural and manmade) affect what happens within a wetland and, therefore, need to be considered too. Such conditions and processes include rainfall, snowmelt, and groundwater collecting and flowing throughout the watersheds where wetlands are located; local and regional climate and geology; the ways each wetland connects to other wetlands and to nearby waterbodies and uplands; the rarity of different kinds of wetlands in a watershed or region; and other landscape­level contexts. Many of these conditions and processes can be assessed with a fair amount of objectivity, others are more difficult to address.

• 3. Cultural features and activities

Cultural features and activities­roads, buildings, logging, mining, ditching, fill, culverts, and the like­can alter the ability of a wetland to perform its functions or provide values to society. Such features also determine where a society might most need wetland functions like flood reduction, sediment removal, or groundwater recharge. Many cultural characteristics can be measured with a fair amount of objectivity, particularly given digital geographic information systems (GIS). But cultural features and activities can change, both incrementally and rapidly, so assessments represent just a brief moment in time.

• 4. Attitudes of society to wetlands and what they do

The value of any wetland depends on society's attitude towards it. Who values flood storage or salmon production or moose habitat, and how much? How strongly do they feel? What actions are they willing to take to maintain this value? The terms values, benefits, opportunities, and social significance are all used for this fourth kind of factor, as are goods and services and green infrastructure. The attitudes of society to various wetlands and what they do can be measured to some extent, but usually with some difficulty. And attitudes can change over time, often dramatically.

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SLIDE 5

Factsheet 3:

What do we mean by wetland functions and values?

Why do wetlands have more significant functions and values than many upland areas? Most wetlands are considered to have more critical functions and values than uplands. This is because, as transition areas between land and water, wetlands provide functions and values of both upland and aquatic ecosystems, as well as providing critical connections between the two. For example, like uplands, wetlands provide wood, wildlife habitats, areas for hunting or berry picking, and recreation; like aquatic areas, they support fish populations, clean water, and water­related recreation. But wetlands also provide a variety of unique, transitional ecosystems with great diversity. Many different types of plants and animals are associated with the various zones created by the differing depths of watet and periods of saturation

In this project, we'll use the terms "functions and values" for what Is being assessed.

I .

found within even a single wetland. These plants and animals may be found nowhere else. In addition, wetlands do things important for society, like store floodwaters, recharge groundwater, and filter sediments and pollutants that would otherwise reduce water quality. Understanding wetland functions and values helps us make decisions that will protect what we value. In addition, understanding wetlands is useful because these areas of frequent wetness are usually poorly suited for many kinds

• f land uses. Wetland soils, for example, tend to have low bearing strength for structures and low percolation

rates for septic systems, not to mention high water tables that can cause problems like flooding of crawlspaces and

• basements. (These kinds of limitations are discussed in the Western Kenai Peninsula Soil Survey (NRCS 2005),

see http://soilda t:ltuart.OJcs.usda,gov/Maousctipts/A 1<652101.) In addition, filled wetlands tend to undergo "liquefaction" during major (and not so major) earthquakes, at which point land that seemed solid becomes fluid. This can cause the collapse of structures built on these soils. Because of these kinds of site limitations, structures placed in wetlands often suffer damage, and wetland development can increase problems on nearby properties. For example, filling wetlands for industrial, commercial, or residential uses can cause flooding on nearby

• properties. The more we know about wetlands, the more informed our decisions can be, and the more we can

benefit from these unique areas.

Factsheet by Devony Lehner and Karyn Noyes (HSWCD) and Mike Gracl (Kenai Watershed Forum) For more information on the topic of this factsheet, see Common Questions: Definition of the Terms Wetland "Function" and "Value" (undated;

• J. A. Kusler, ASWM, Inc. in cooperation with International Institute for Wetland Science and Policy). Kusler's article­and other useful publications on

this topic­can be found online from the Association of State Wetland Managers website, hltp://www.aswm.org. For more information about wetlands on the Kenai Peninsula, see Wetland Mapping and Classification of the Kenai Lowland, Alaska (2008, M. Gracl, K. Noyes, P. North, and G. Tande; EPA, CIK, KPB, NRCS, and KWF), hltp:/Iwww.kenaiwetlands.nel.

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Page 2 of 2

SLIDE 6

Handout 3: Example of the suitabilities and limitations of hydric soils in terms of: dwellings without basements, dwellings with basements, and small commercial buildings; limiting features are identified (from Western Kenai Peninsula soil survey)

482 Soil Survey of

Table 18. Building Site Development: Structures­Continued I I

I

I Map symbol I Pet. I Dwellings without basements I Dwellings with basements

I Small commercial buildings

and soil name I of I (Standard criteria) I (Standard criteria) I (Standard criteria) Imap I I

1_­­,,­­­­­,­­­­­­,­­­­__­­,­­­­ _

lunit I Rating class and IValue I Rating class and IValue I Rating class and IValue I I limiting features I

1

limiting features I I limiting features I ­

1_1

1

__ 1

1

__ 1

I__

I

I I I I I

I

676

I

I I I

1

I I Starichkof •................. / 60 IVery limited I IVery limited I IVery limited I

I I Ponding

11.00 I Ponding 11.00 I Ponding 1100 I Subsidence 11.00 I Subsidence 11.00 I Subsidence 1 1 00

I Depth to saturated zone 1100 1 Depth to saturated zone 11.00 I Depth to saturated zone 11.00 I Organic matter content POO I Organic mailer content 1100 I Organic mailer content 1100 I I I 1 I I

Doroshin···················· 35 IVery limited

I

IVery limited I IVery limited I I Subsidence 11.00 I Subsidence 11.00 I Subsidence 1100 I Depth to salurated zone p.OO I Depth to saturated zone 11.00 I Depth 10 saturated zone 11.00 I Organic matter content pOD I I I Organic mailer content pOD I I I

I

I I

677

I I I I I 1

Starichkof ••.•.......•...... 75 IVery limited

I

IVery limited

I

IVery limited

I

I Ponding 1100 I Ponding 1100 I Ponding 11.00

I Subsidence

11.00 1 Subsidence 11.00 I Subsidence POD I Depth to saturated zone 11.00 I Depth to saturated zone 1100 1 Depth to saturated zone 1100 I Organic mailer content 11.00 I Organic mailer content 11.00 I Organic mailer content 11.00 I I I I I

I

678 I I I I

I

I Starichkof 82 IVery limited

1

IVery limited

I

IVery limited I

I I Ponding

11.00 I Ponding 1100 I Ponding 11.00

I

1 Subsidence 11.00 I Subsidence 11.00 I Subsidence 11.00

I

I Depth to saturated zone /100 I Depth to saturated zone 1100 I Depth to saturated zone 11.00

I

I Organic matter content 11.00 1 Organic matter content 11.00 I Organic mailer content 11.00

I

I 1 I I I Slope

10 12

I I I I I I I

679

I I

I

I I I

• Starichkof. forested -....­ 85 IVery limited

1

IVery limited

I

IVery limited

1

I Ponding

1100 I Ponding 1100 I Ponding 11.00 I Depth to saturated zone p.OO I Depth to saturated zone 11.00 I Depth to saturated zone 11.00 I Organic matter content 11.00 I Organic mailer content 1100 I Organic matter content 11.00 I Subsidence 11·00 I Subsidence 11·00 I Subsidence 1100 I

I

I I

I

I 680 I

I I I I I

Slarichkof 45 IVery limited I IVery limited I IVery limited I I Ponding 11.00 I Ponding 11.00 I Ponding 1 1 00 I Subsidence 1100 I Subsidence 11.00 I Subsidence 11.00 I Depth to saturated zone POO I Depth to saturated zone 11.00 I Depth to saturated zone 11·00 I Organic matter content p.OO I Organic mailer content 11.00 1 Organic mailer content 1 1 00

1 I I I I I

Slikok······­­·­­­­­·­··­····­ 30 IVery limited I IVery limited

1

IVery limited I

I Ponding

11.00 I Ponding 11.00 I Ponding 11.00

I Flooding

1100 I Flooding 1100 I Flooding 1100 I Depth to saturated zone 1100 I Depth to saturated zone 1100 I Depth to saturated zone 1100

I

1 Organic matter content 1100 I Subsidence 11.00 I Organic mailer content 1100

I

1 Subsidence pOD I Slope 10.16 I Slope 11.00

I

1 I I 1 1 I Naptowne ­ I 25 INot limited

I

INot limited I ISomewhatlimited

I I

I I

I

I

I Slope

10 12

I I I I I I I

SLIDE 7

SLIDE 8

611

Handout 4. Example of information about hydric soils from Western Kenai Peninsula Soil Survey

Western Kenai Peninsula Area, Alaska

Table 23. Hydric Soils List­Continued

I I

Map symbol and soil name Hydric

I I

Locallandlorm (percent composition) soil I

I

____________ ­­­1­­­­­­­­­­-

6~

Spenard (67%) ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­.­­­ Yes Mutnala (15%)­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­1 No

I

Outal (15%) ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­.­­­­­­­­­­­, I

I

Doroshin (3%) ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­1 I

I

675

I

Spenard (87%) ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­····­­­·­·1

I

Mulnala (10%)­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­··­­­­···­1

I

Doroshin (3%) ­­­..­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­1 I

I

676:

I

Starichkof (60%) ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­1

I

Doroshin (35%) ....­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­..·1 I

I

Slikok (5%) ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­..­..­­..­·­­­··......··1

I

677:

I

Slarichkol (75%) ­­­­­­..­....·..­­­­­­­­­­..···1

I

Doroshin (15%) ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­..•··•..·1 I

I

Slikok (5%) ­..­­..­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­..•..­..­­1

I I

No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

I I

Idepressions on till plains

I

Imoraines on till plains

I

Idepressions on till plains. I moraines on till plains

I

Ifens on till plains, I depressions on till plains

I I

Imoraines on till plains

I

Imoraines on till plains

I

lIens on till plains.

I

depressions on tilt plains

I I

Ifens

I

Idepressions on till plains.

I

lens on till plains

I

Idepressions on till plains

I I

Ifens

I

Idepressions on till plains, I fens on till plains

I

jdepressions on lill plains. I flood plains

I

• Water. fresh (5%)­­­­­­­­­­­..­­­­­­­....·..­­­IUnranked INO DATA

I I

678

I I

Starichkof (82%) ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­....·..­­­1 Yes Ifens Doroshin (15%)

I

·­..­­­­­­­­­­­·­­­­··­­­­­­­..·1 Yes

I

[depressions on lill plains.

I

I fens on till plains

I I

• Waler. Iresh (3%)­­­­­­­·­­­­..­·­­···....·•..­IUnranked INO DATA

I I

679

I I

Starichkof, forested (85%) ­­....··....­..­­­1 Yes Ifens Doroshin (10%) ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­·....

• Water. fresh (5%)­­­....­......­­­­·

I

··..·­­­­­­1 Yes

I

Idepressions on till plains. I I fens on till plains

I I

....­­­­­­­IUnranked INO DATA

I I

I

I I I Hydric

I criteria

I code I

I

I I 2B3

I I

I

I

I I

I 1 I I I

I 2B3 I I I

I 1

I

I

I I

1

2B3 2B3

t

1

I I

1

I I I I I I

1

I I 1

I I I

I

Hydric soils criteria I Meets

I Meets

I Meets Isaturation Iflooding Iponding I criteria criteria criteria

I

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No

Hydric criteria code I = soils that are Histels except Folistels, and Histosols except for Folists (these are soil taxonomic categories). Other codes are based on drainage, depth to water table, and the frequency or duration of flooding.

SLIDE 9

SLIDE 10

Handout 5. Wetland map downloaded from the Kenai Peninsula Borough's interactive parcel viewer

WETLAND

l>H'""'i-:'-!:+~~-_"~"""'f=--,.-7

.ECOSYSTEMS

Disturbed Depression Discharge Slope . Drainageway Floating Island Headwater Fen Kettle Lakebed Tidal Weiland Upland Complex Late Snow

Maps like this can be downloaded from the Kenai Peninsula Borough's GIS interactive parcel viewer (http://mapserver.bo(Qugh.kcnai.ak.uslkpbmapvjewer/). For step­by­step instructions on how to find and identify particular wetlands, go to Illlp://WW\ .h mcrswcd.org/projects/wellands.php and select Factsheet 2.

SLIDE 11

SLIDE 12

Assessing the Functions and Values of Wetlands on the Kenai Peninsula

A presentation to the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly

Devony Lehner, Homer Soil and Water Conservation District September 20, 2011

Tonight I'll familiarize you with our project to assess the functions and values of Kenai Peninsula wetlands. Homer Soil and Water is conducting this assessment with help from partners like Kenai Watershed Forum and state and federal agencies. This project is scheduled to take 2 years and we're just ending year one. Funding is through an EPA Wetland Program Development Grant (WPDG), which the Assembly helped us get by passing Resolution 2010­033. On behalf of Homer Soil and Water, thank you again for your support of this project. In the folder you have, you'll find the handouts I'll mention. Everything mentioned here will be on our website, which you can find by googling "Homer Soil and Water."

Firs .. little ba 'I~gf"o

IUd 01 .0'1 and ,~ater

'ODSCI vatiof distril'ls

Homer Soil and Water is one of a dozen conservation districts in Alaska, and districts are unlike any other entities in the state. Soil and water districts go back to the Dust Bowl era of the 1930s, when soil erosion got so bad that dust storms from the Great Plains actually blackened skies in Washington, D.C. The damage and heartache caused were incalculable. To reduce soil erosion, Congress created the Soil Conservation Service­­now the Natural Resources Con- servation Service or NRCS. Next, President Roosevelt sent all US states a template for a state law to create conservation districts. The goal was to encourage every state to create its own districts. Conservation districts would be local but state-authorized

• rganizations. They'd work in partnership

with the Soil Conservation Service, the state, and other groups and individuals. They'd empower farmers, ranchers, and others having knowledge about local resources to improve the management of natural resources in their district. The Territory of Alaska adopted its version of Roosevelt's standard district law in 1947. That law is now A giant dust storm blackens the sky of Goodwell, Okla., during the Dust Bowl. http://cience.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green- cience/dust-bowl-cause.btm Chris lohnslNational Geographic/Getty images AS 41.1 O. Homer Soil and Water was created a few years later, in the early 1950s. Handout 1 shows the mission and boundaries of Homer Soil and Water and introduces District stafffocused on this project. Our website describes other projects we're working on or have completed. Dust storms buried everything in their path. www.aUno .washington.edu/-dennis/dust car gs.jpg

SLIDE 13

No\\ 10 O\lr" tland asseSSllle.l Many folks need good information about wetlands because wetlands are a fact of life we have to deal with. To do this well, we need to know some key things about wetlands. The goal of this project is to provide anyone who deals with wetlands some clear, useful, and easy­to­access information about what peninsula wetlands do, that is, theirfunctions, and ways that those wetlands benefit us, their values. Rondout 2 is a factsheet we developed to provide background on what we mean by wetland functions and values, which I'll get to in a bit. But to understand wetland functions and values, we need to understand what wetlands are­the conditions that define them. And it's also useful to understand how those conditions affect wetland use and management; which is what I'

lJ talk about first.

Snit: I iliries ,11 d IImi atit II .

Understanding wetland management means understanding wetland suitabilities and limitations. These are two terms that pragmatic land managers get real familiar with. Suitability refers to how well or poorly suited a parcel is for a particular land use. Picture a steep hillside; it's obviously poorly suited for a ballfield that needs to be big and flat. For any land use, a parcel can be poorly suited for lots of reasons, called site limitations. In the ballfield example, "steep slope" is a site limitation. Along with environmental site limitations, there are also political site limitations, like zoning or permitting requirements.

Wetlands h \C hydl ic soils

To understand wetland suitabilities and limitations, we need to understand what wetlands are. First we'll look at wetland soils. Wetland soils are "hydric. I" Soils become hydric when they're flooded or saturated so often or so long that oxygen in the root zone, and just below it, gets used up by microorganisms and chemical processes. This causes the soil to become oxygen deprived, or anaerobic. Hydric soils are often also organic, that is, largely made of peat or muck. Generally, hydric soils have severe limitations for land uses that need to be built on a stable, dry, strong bearing surface­uses like roadbeds or building foundations. Hydric soils are also limited for land uses that require water to drain well­like standard septic system leach fields. By the way, putting a roadbed, building pad, or leach field on a hydric soil can cause problems not only at the site being developed, but also on neighboring lots. For example, filling a wetland can flood adjacent properties because the water that was stored by the wetland, or that moved through it, is now forced to go some­where else. This occurred along Kachemak Drive in Homer when it was upgraded, and it's costing a lot of money to address the problems caused. A good way to learn about soil suitabilities and limitations is from a soil survey. Handout 3 illustrates how the Western Kenai Peninsula soil survey shows suitabilities and limitations of our hydric soils. You can find the Western Kenai Peninsula Soil Survey online by googling it, but be sure to search for WESTERN Kenai Peninsula soil survey. Handout 4 shows how that soil survey identifies hydric soils.

Olhef wt'tland ..it 'ria

Hydric soil is one of three features that define a wetland. To be a classified as a wetland, a site needs to have (1) hydric soil (2) water at or near the ground surface for a significant part of the growing season, and (3) plant communities dominated by species that grow well in wet, oxygen­poor soil. If all three are present­hydric soils, wet hydrology, and a predominance of what are called hydrophytic plants­then, by definition, a site is a

• wetland. I mentioned that hydric soils limit wetland suitability for many land uses, so does the presence of

water at or near the ground surface.

Here's a little more background on hydric soils: When soils are saturated by water, the water displaces the air­and more importantly, the oxygen­present in soil pores, forcing it out. In order for the soil to become anaerobic, the water in the soil must not contain any oxygen. This occurs when soil water is slow­moving or stagnant. Slow­moving water provides adequate time for soil organisms and microorganisms to consume oxygen by respiration, and that's how the soil becomes oxygen depleted.

2

SLIDE 14

\Vt'thliHI maps

Obviously it's useful to know where wetlands occur. So just as the NRCS mapped Kenai Peninsula soils at a scale of 1:25,000 and described them in a soil survey, Kenai Watershed Forum mapped peninsula wetlands at the same scale and described them in a publication you can find online by googling Kenai Peninsula wetlands. Our ecologist and GIS technician, Karyn Noyes, was very involved in that project. Those wetland maps can be viewed on the borough's website, and a factsheet on our website tells you how to do that. Handout 5 shows a wetland map printed from the borough's website.

I'll nthmd assesslt 'ut

So now we've seen what wetlands are and that problems can occur if we ignore wetland suitabilities and

• limitations. And we've seen that the Western Kenai Peninsula Soil Survey gives us useful information about

these suitabilities and limitations. But wetlands aren't just about limitations and problems, they also provide beneficial functions and values. Currently, however, there's no source of information, like the soil survey, that can tell us the functions and values of our wetlands. So that's where this assessment comes in­just as NRCS assessed soil suitabilities and limitations using data from soil mapping, we're assessing wetland functions and values using data from the wetlands mapping done by Kenai Watershed Forum. We're also using information from other sources and tailoring it to our assessment. We're using the same assessment method used in Anchorage and Homer, but we're adapting it to the less detailed scale of peninsula wetland maps, which is I:25,000. This scale leads to what's called a "landscape­level" assessment, rather than a more detailed site- specific assessment.

F n 'tion.' , nd "alues

As we've mentioned, functions are what wetlands do, and values are the benefits and services wetlands provide us, We're assessing these things in terms of three categories: hydrology, biology, and social/community.

» Hydrology functions and values are the things wetlands do with water. These include storing runoff,

reducing flood peaks, filtering pollutants, recharging wells, and maintaining water levels in streams,

» Biology functions and values are the things wetlands do for animals and habitats. These include

protecting salmon spawning and rearing areas or winter moose forage, as well as supporting overall plant and animal diversity;

» Social/community functions and values are the places and experiences wetlands provide us. These

include places to hunt, fish, recreate, and explore, as well as places associated with cultural history, heritage, and education. But not all wetlands do all of these things, and not all wetlands do these things to the same degree, Our assess- ment will identify which things are done by which wetlands and to what degree. We'll link our assessment results to the wetlands maps

Reduces flood peaks by storing stormwater

found on the borough's website

and releasing it slowly

to make those results easy to find and use. As I said at the start, the bottom- line of this project is to give anyone interested in peninsula wetlands some useful information about the functions and values of these wetlands, and to do so in a context that makes sense. The goal is to help us all use, manage, and enjoy wetlands in ways that are suitable, successful, and sustainable, and hopefully that save money in the process. Examples of wetland functions and values