On Fri, 12 Sep 2003 11:56:25 -0500, J Kolenovsky
wrote:

Wetlands are
nature's kidneys and home to the seafood industry at large. That is a
fairly large economic impact for Ala, Ms and FLA.

You mentioned asphalt.

snip

Not just in terms of toxic runoff (although it's going to be hard to
tell people to give up cars and driving!), but in paving over the
'sponge' wetlands and even dampish spaces provide. A local Bayfront
surburb here is laced with streams and marshes, and was rather prone
to flooding when mostly a semi-rural fishing and agricultural area. In
the past 25 years, it's become "developed" with housing, commercial
strips, and widened roads. That is, a substantial area of 'sponge' has
been paved over. And now there's a *terrific* flooding problem there,
and all kinds of plans to drain, re-tool, control, manage, etc. My
dentist is there, and the office called a year or 2 ago to cancel an
app't because the main road was under water after a nor'easter.

If I had it to do over again, I'd like to study hydrology. Both
interesting statistical analysis and groovy field trips. :-) And I'd
like to know why builders clear trees from a fairly damp area next to
a reservoir/lake, leaving ground on which, before construction, water
pools and stands for days, and then build a score of houses. And what
are city/municipal planners *thinking* when giving them permits?