timber. The most easily overlooked is perhaps the Flood Control Act of 1928. 

 The passage of the swampbuster provisions of the Food Security Act of 1985 

 imposes stiff sanctions on farmers who drain on-farm wetlands and attempt to 

 participate in various Federal farm programs. The Federal Government has not 

 directly subsidized farmland conversion of wetlands since 1977, but these two 

 facts do not indicate a complete cessation of indirect Federal subsidization of 

 on-farm wetland drainage. The 1928 Flood Control Act authorizes Federal 

 expenditures for (on-going) river channelization projects that enhance the 

 effectiveness of private on-farm drainage investment. 



55. Stoecker, A., G.A. Mathia, H.T. Cardwell, and A. Knight. 1981. Economic 

 considerations of playa lake enhancements for wildlife. Pages 112-122 in 

 Playa lakes symposium proceedings. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 

 FWS/OBS-81/07. Washington, DC. 



Playa lakes are relatively shallow depressions located in the high plains 

 of Texas. Estimates of the number of playas range from a low figure of 17,000 

 to a high of 30,000. They are either periodically or permanently inundated by 

 collected rainwater. Most playa lakes are periodically inundated due to high 

 evaporation rates and irrigation pumping. As the high plains aquifers are mined 

 and pumping costs rise, these small --1-200 acres in areal extent--bodies of 

 standing waters are used more frequently and heavily to irrigate crops. They 

 have some other agricultural uses, and these uses are not complementary with the 

 socially beneficial nonmarket provision of habitat. Small playas are sometimes 

 plowed for weed control or as cropland, though crop yields on former playa 

 acreage are often low. Large areas are often modified and used for irrigation 

 water reserves or for livestock grazing after drainage. The playas provide 

 valuable nesting habitat for pheasant and overwintering migratory waterfowl. 

 No data seem to be available for estimating the public benefits lost due to playa 

 drainage. The authors suggest that government agencies engage in a playa 

 easement purchase program to preserve wildlife habitat. They also suggest that 

 these agencies facilitate the development of a leasing market in which hunters 

 could lease playas and adjacent farm sites for hunting purposes. 



56. Sutherland, J.C. 1981. Economic implications of using wetlands for 

 wastewater treatment. Pages 295-305 in B. Richardson, ed. Selected 

 proceedings of the midwest conference on wetland values and management. 

 Minnesota Water Planning Board, St. Paul. 



Unfortunately, this paper has no economic analysis. It does contain very 

 detailed data on the use of wetlands as wastewater treatment facilities. The 

 data could be used to make detailed comparisons between the use of wetlands and 

 other types of wastewater treatment approaches. More specifically, the costs 

 are for using Michigan riverine wetlands for treatment of pond-stabilized 

 municipal wastewaters from small, rural populations. The cost estimates were 

 simulated by a model in 1976-77 and are updated in the present paper. The 

 capital costs are closely approximated by the simple linear relation 



C - 117D + 262 



where C is the cost in thousands of dollars, and D is the distance from the ponds 

 to the wetlands. 



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