Engineers framed preserved wetlands as natural flood-control infrastructure

Evidence

By 1960, a number of civil engineers and conservation officials were arguing that open space had a “functional” value as a check against flooding. Floodplains and wetlands were natural sponges, soaking up runoff after storms, and communities could reduce the need for expensive public works by preserving both types of land as open space. Woodlands served a similar function – by slowing runoff, trees allowed more water to soak into the ground. In part, the conservation argument for open space was a refashioning of the New Deal concept of watershed planning. As the New Dealers recognized, the way people used the land had direct effects on the hydrological system of a region. — Adam Rome, The Bulldozer in the Countryside, 510

Categorization

• XREF: Ecosystem-services framing of wetlands as infrastructure directly links to the ADDENDUM trees-as-infrastructure essay and to Reading the Landscape’s land-use history. — connects to: Floods, not engineering foresight, saved the marsh from drainage — Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac: With Other…, 42; Contradictory engineered water management signals the loss of flood equilibrium — Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac: With Other…, 424; Wetlands buffer floods more cheaply than engineered flood control. — Adam Rome, The Bulldozer in the Countryside:…, 645 (+2 more)
• ADDENDUM: Supports the trees-as-infrastructure essay: preserved wetlands absorbing storm runoff as natural public works fits that essay’s case for green infrastructure over gray.
• DEEPTHINKING: Only a top-tier passage in the rare case that one is weighing the book WHY it took decades for ecological balance to leave professional circles — as it stands this is strong but not top 5%.
• recurring: this claim recurs 2 times within its source

Broader Connections

• Wetlands buffer floods more cheaply than engineered flood control. #corroborates (0.85) — Adam Rome, The Bulldozer in the Countryside, 645
• Federal flood engineers chose to buy wetlands instead of building reservoirs. #expands (0.75) — Adam Rome, The Bulldozer in the Countryside, 646