Wetlands are places where land and water meet. Throughout the Mississippi River watershed, wetlands store floodwater, improve drinking water quality, and serve as homes for millions of birds and other animals. But this special ecosystem is facing growing threats from development, pollution, climate change and recent court rulings that leave them vulnerable to destruction.
Against this backdrop, the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk published a landmark reporting project exploring the wonder of and threats to these landscapes, “Down the Drain: A watershed moment for America’s greatest wetlands.”
This reporting arrives at an important political moment. Last year, the Supreme Court’s decision in Sackett v. EPA significantly limited the agency’s power to regulate wetlands, resulting in more than half the nation’s wetlands potentially losing federal protections. A March 2024 report from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service noted an approximate 50% increase in wetland loss from 2009 to 2019 compared to the previous decade. Further, President Trump’s EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has heralded a new era for wetlands under the administration.
Down the Drain examines how these many legal and policy changes affect wetlands in the basin and what the changes mean for the health of the river and the people and wildlife that rely on it. The Mississippi is the nation’s largest watershed, home to 70 million Americans in 31 states.
A new era dawns for America’s disappearing wetlands as feds retreat from oversight
By Madeline Heim, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
For sport or food, love of birds is saving grace for America’s wetlands
By Greg Stanley, Minnesota Star Tribune
Delta duck hunting offers conservation solutions, but the ducks are disappearing
By Lucas Dufalla, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, and Phillip Powell, Arkansas Times
Wetlands protections built an industry for mitigation banking. Rollbacks could erode it.
By Cassandra Stephenson, Tennessee Lookout, and Delaney Dryfoos, The Lens NOLA
“A living laboratory”: How an accidental delta taught Louisiana scientists how to rebuild wetlands
By Elise Plunk, Louisiana Illuminator, and Eva Tesfaye, WWNO
Pitching wetlands as a solution to flooding wins bipartisan support in Wisconsin
By Madeline Heim and Caitlin Looby, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
By Illan Ireland, Mississippi Free Press
One Iowa landowner fights to farm a designated wetland. Others could face consequences downstream
By Jared Strong, The Gazette; Jess Savage, WNIJ and Illan Ireland, Mississippi Free Press
For hidden wonders, visit wetlands near you
By Dean Klikenberg, author of The Wild Mississippi: A State-by-State Guide to the River’s Natural Wonders
As part of the collaborative reporting project, Down the Drain, the Ag & Water Desk published an interactive story with the Minnesota Star Tribune exploring the history of wetland loss in the United States and our relationship with these landscapes.
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