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  Category: Wetland Assessments

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Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Program: Celebrating 20 years

Written on: May 14th, 2019 in Wetland Assessments

By Alison Rogerson, DNREC’s Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Program Our Roots In 1998 the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s (DNREC) Environmental Scientist, Amy Jacobs (now with The Nature Conservancy), took part in a grant project held by the Delaware chapter of The Nature Conservancy and the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. This project […]


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Seeing the Marsh through the Forest

Written on: December 3rd, 2018 in Wetland Assessments

By LeeAnn Haaf, Partnership for the Delaware Estuary Sea levels are rising in the Delaware Estuary– we’ve already observed its effects. Over the last couple decades, we have seen dramatic losses of tidal marsh acreage and documented the death of trees bordering those tidal marshes. We know that the last hope for a lot of […]


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Confessions of a Seasonal: The Things We Do for the Love of Wetlands

Written on: September 12th, 2018 in Wetland Assessments

Alex Thomas, DNREC’s Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Program When I got the call telling me that I had been offered the position of Wetland Field Technician for DNREC I was ecstatic. I would be working outside all summer, assisting on legitimate research projects and working with something I absolutely love. What I didn’t know at […]


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Watching the Tide Come In: Environmental Thermography Meets Tidal Wetland Hydrology

Written on: May 18th, 2018 in Wetland Assessments

By Tom McKenna, University of Delaware Delaware Geological Survey Working in tidal wetlands, we all know to watch the tide both for safety, sampling, and science reasons. But what do we really know about how tidal wetlands are inundated? The dynamics of the ebbing and flooding tide in deep (> 1 meter) tidal channels is […]


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When Saltwater Intrusion Meets Freshwater Wetlands…

Written on: March 7th, 2018 in Wetland Assessments

By Erin Dorest, DNREC’s Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Program As you might imagine, sea level rise can increase water levels and cause more flooding. As that happens, salt water starts to move further inland. It may start to creep into freshwater areas through a process called saltwater intrusion. Higher waters can endanger coastal communities, while […]


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Well Monitoring: Can Riverine Wetlands Reduce Downstream Flooding?

Written on: March 7th, 2018 in Wetland Assessments

By Kenny Smith, DNREC, Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Program Wetlands provide many vital benefits to the State of Delaware, like habitat for all kinds of plants and animals, improved water quality, and erosion control. Another benefit that wetlands provide is flood control. Wetlands have the ability to collect and store storm waters and lessen flooding […]


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Blue Carbon: A Benefit to Protecting Tidal Wetlands

Written on: September 19th, 2017 in Wetland Assessments

By Kari St.Laurent, DNREC’s Delaware National Estuarine Research Reserve Wetlands are more than just a beautiful photo opportunity. If you are a reader of this blog, you are probably aware that tidal wetlands can protect shorelines from storm surge, reduce nutrients, and provide habitat for critters like shellfish, crabs, and fish. These benefits are collectively […]


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Keeping an Eye on the Rising Tide: SSIM

Written on: May 24th, 2017 in Wetland Assessments

By Brittany Haywood, DNREC’s Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Program Coastal wetlands are a hallmark feature of the Delaware’s Bayshore, making up about 23% of all wetland types in the state. Because of the many beneficial services these wetlands provide, such as wave energy reduction, the survival of coastal wetlands is an important part of protecting […]


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Wetlands and State of the Bays Report

Written on: December 9th, 2016 in Wetland Assessments

By Katie Georger, Delaware Center for the Inland Bays In November, the Delaware Center for the Inland Bays (CIB) released the 2016 State of the Bays report, a 70-page compilation of environmental data about the Rehoboth, Indian River and Little Assawoman Bays and their watershed. In assembling this report, we considered thirty-five environmental indicators to […]


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Delaware Participates in the National Wetland Condition Assessment

Written on: September 7th, 2016 in Wetland Assessments

By Brittany Haywood, DNREC’s Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Program Did you know that 50% of wetlands in our coastal plains ecoregion are in good condition?  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) organized the National Wetland Condition Assessment (NWCA) in 2011 to get these data, and now our Program (Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Program) is again helping to assess more […]


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