Constructed Wetlands

Wetlands are a source of fascination for artists and poets, hikers and naturalists, anglers and kayakers, and children.  They also have an incredible ability to ingest wastes from human activities while providing amenities to community residents. Until recently, most communities saw wetlands as wasted space-unclaimed land.  These days, communities are recognizing the value of wetlands as amenities, ecological services, wildlife conservation, and community identity.

Cities and developers generally treat stormwater as a flood safety issue without regard to regional water quality and ecological integrity.  New stormwater guidelines are being developed that treat stormwater as a resource and aim to capture and treat it before infiltrating it into the ground or releasing it into surface water systems.  Constructed wetlands play an important role in removing contaminated sediments, nutrients and other impurities related to urban land uses.

In this course, you will develop a basic understanding of constructed wetland components and functions.  You will see how wetlands are dependent on, and affected by, the regional context around them.  With this knowledge we will discuss how wetlands may be constructed to reduce contamination from urban runoff and function in much the same way as a local natural system.