CRS-41 



Wetland Boundaries 



Setting wetland boundaries Is an especially critical Issue because they 

 determine who may be subject to regulation. Areas outside defined wetland 

 areas are generally subject to less stringent regulation and planning stan- 

 dards. Pressures to define wetland boundaries can be extensive. One author 

 noted that economic factors are extremely important: 



Although many boundary problems appear to be of a technical 

 nature, very few really are. Almost all difficulties are directly 

 caused by or relating to money, sometimes big money. 



The Problem. Three kinds of money are involved: 



1. The money which the land owner expects to gain by developing water- 

 front property and other wetlands. 



2. The money which each city or town must spend to define wetlands 

 under the Act. [Act refers to the Connecticut State wetlands law] 



3. The money which will be needed for the policing of the Act and 

 the defense of the wetlands. 9/ 



A major problem with determining where boundaries should be drawn for 

 purposes of regulation is that all areas included under a definition of wet- 

 land areas do not perform the same functions. From an ecological point of view, 

 the wetland communities with the greatest diversity and productivity are gen- 

 erally of highest value. Other points of view recognize other measures of 

 comparative value such as hydrologlc recharge /discharge potential, pollution 

 control, general economics, and aesthetics. Boundaries for each value may 

 differ. Federal regulations recognize a number of functions that can give 

 value to wetlands, but are silent on how these functions are to be measured 



9/ Greullch, Gunther. Problems in Delineating Wetlands Boundaries. In 

 Proceedings: Second Wetlands Conference. Report No. 24. Storrs, University 

 of Connecticut, Institute of Water Resources, 1974. p. 55. 



