WEDNESDAY 4 MARCH 2020Wetlands – worth a small
fortune in storm protection
Swamps and marshes defend people and property from harsh weather (Bloomberg)
ERIC ROSTON
Protection of America’s wetlands has expanded and contracted dramatically over the last five years, as
Democratic and Republican administrations rewrote Clean Water Act rules to their constituencies’ liking.
The lack of high-quality economic analysis has been a recurring theme in debates over how much protection
wetlands deserve. Without a dollar figure that could stand up to scrutiny, politicians and regulators were
sceptical of the benefits.
Two economists from University of California, San Diego, set out to fix that. Their answer: on average, a
square kilometre of wetlands is worth about $1.8m (£1.4m) a year in storm protection alone.
Wetlands are valuable in part because they protect people and property from hurricanes. This well-known