A Supreme Court decision that came out in May of 2023 about the regulatory protections of wetlands changes and impacts wetlands throughout the country, including here in the Great Lakes, where some states have strong wetland protections in place, and others are lacking.
Zaria Johnson, a reporter and producer for Ideastream Public Media, said that regardless of size and continuous surface connection, wetlands provide filtered water. They help redirect some of the negative pollutants found in other bodies of water, and direct them elsewhere.
Pollutants like pesticides, fertilizer and storm runoff could potentially end up in larger bodies of water if the wetlands cannot actively do their job.
“And obviously, when we think about wetlands and regulating wetlands, there’s a tie-in to water quality and surrounding waterways and to the Great Lakes,” Johnson said. “So the story is really diving into how the decision might affect wetlands in Ohio and how Ohio might need to shift its regulatory practices in order to pick up the slack from the federal government.”
