Links to learn more about Wetland Functions and Values

The benefits society derives from wetlands functions are often referred to as wetland values. Some widely applicable wetland values include: flood attenuation, water purification, and wildlife habitat. When wetlands store water along a larger waterbody, they often serve to attenuate periodic flood waters. The process of storing water also slows water to trap sediment and pollutants caused by over land or upstream water flow. As wildlife habitat, wetlands provide hunting and fishing opportunities. 

An exceptional diversity of wetlands is found across the Virginia landscape.  Swamps, tidal marshes, wet meadows, bogs, pocosins and sinkhole wetlands are some of the many types of wetlands found here. The Commonwealth has five physiographic regions each with specific elevation, geologic, and hydrologic influences.  Extending from the eastern coast to the western state-line, and exhibiting increasing elevation, Virginia’s physiographic regions are the Coastal Plan, Piedmont, Blue Ridge Mountains, Valley and Ridge, and Appalachian Plateau. In the Coastal Plain, wetlands are predominantly tidal marshes and tidal forests. In the Piedmont region, isolated or stream-side freshwater forests are the dominant wetland type. In the Blue Ridge Mountains, Valley and Ridge, and Appalachian Plateau; most wetland forests or marshes are associated with streams. 

Virginia’s landscape also is commonly categorized by seven ecoregions.  According to the U.S. EPA, “Ecoregions reflect areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources, they are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components”(Woods et al. 2003). The seven ecoregions in Virginia include:Piedmont, Middle Atlantic Coastal Plan, Northern Piedmont, Southeastern Plains, Blue Ridge, Ridge and Valley, and Central Appalachian. Each ecoregion contains a characteristic, geographically distinct assemblage of natural communities and species. The biodiversity of flora, fauna, and ecosystems that characterize an ecoregion tend to be distinct from that of other ecoregions. 

Sinkhole or Karst Depressional Wetlands. In Virginia, the karst, or swiss cheese topography of eastern Augusta, Rockingham, and PageCounties in the central Shenandoah Valley exhibit ancient sinkhole wetlands. Sinkhole wetlands are a type of Montane Depression Wetland.  Because they are largely impermeable, many sinkhole wetlands store rainwater long into the drier seasons.  Karst regions contain caves and other openings formed from the dissolution of rock such as limestone. They provide unique wildlife habitat and are often linked to aquifers capable of holding large volumes of groundwater.

Vernal Pools. As the name suggests vernal pools are areas that are accumulate water during the spring months. They provide safe breeding habitats for frogs and salamanders. Because they become completely dry in the fall, they lack predators such as fish and bullfrogs. During drier seasons, vernal pools may be difficult to identify as a wetlands making them very vulnerable to development. Vernal pools are found throughout the state in forests and meadows.  Coastal Plain Depression Wetlands are one type of vernal pool described by the The Natural Communities of Virginia.

Pocosins. Found in the southeastern coastal plain, pocosins typically sit on hillside plateaus and accumulate acidic peat like northern bogs. Pocosins experience occasional fires and therefore exhibit a diversity of shrubby evergreens. Like so many wetlands in the Coastal Plain, pocosins serve as important migratory and over-wintering habitat for birds. Pond Pine Woodlands and Pocosins, and Streamhead Pocosins are differentiated in The Natural Communities of Virginia

A key aspect of the Commonwealth of Virginia’s nontidal wetlands program is ensuring that there is no net loss of wetland acreage and function through permitted impacts. DEQ and Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) were awarded several grants by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to conduct a Wetland Monitoring and Assessment model to assess the current conditions of Virginia’s wetlands. Virginia is one of 3 states nationally to perform this work for EPA.

The overarching goal of the wetland monitoring and assessment strategy is to develop a long-term implementation plan for a wetland monitoring and assessment program that protects the physical, chemical, and biological integrity of the Commonwealth’s water resources, including wetlands. In order to accomplish this goal, it is critical to first know the status of wetland resources in Virginia, in terms of location and extent of wetlands in each watershed, and have a general knowledge of the quality of these wetland resources. Secondly, the functions of wetland resources impacted through our permitting program must be accurately evaluated to determine those functions to be replaced through compensatory mitigation. It is also important to assess the degree to which the required compensatory mitigation is performing in relation to those impacted functions.

The hierarchical nature of Virginia’s wetland monitoring and assessment strategy allows for both general reporting on status and trends, as well as providing for more intense analysis of select watersheds for assessment of cumulative impacts to wetland condition and water quality. This assessment approach will generate data that will be used to conduct biannual reporting on status and trends of wetlands as part of Virginia's Integrated 305(b)/303(d) report, and to evaluate the effectiveness of regulatory and voluntary programs in meeting Virginia's mandate of no net loss of wetland resources through regulatory programs, and a net resource gain through voluntary programs. Further, our interactive database and Wetland Quality Status and Trends Report will provide the general public, resource agencies, land use planning entities, and conservation groups general information on the health and condition of the Commonwealth’s wetland resources. 

The following questions will be used to guide the performance measures for the wetland monitoring program objectives:

1.       What is the overall quality of wetlands in Virginia? 

2.       To what extent is wetland quality changing over time?

3.       What are the wetland problem areas and areas needing protection? 

4.       What level of wetland protection is needed?

5.      How effective are wetland programs in protecting the resource?