January Message from the Executive Director

rick.savage • January 23, 2023

Happy New Year Wetlands Supporters: 


I hope that if you made any new year's resolutions, they are going well! We are almost at the end of January, and I want to reflect on our accomplishments from last year and look toward the future. 


After releasing the State of the Wetlands report last month, the Science Committee continues to work on white papers dealing with wetland values and research.  They also hosted a well-attended webinar given by the State of the Wetlands Report lead author Ginny Baker, co-chair of the Science Committee.  For the future, the Science Committee wants to recruit new members and define new projects such as helping communities install rain gardens and other similar endeavors.  The Program Committee continues to manage the Wetland Treasures on the Carolinas program and attended outreach events such as the Good Hope Farm Fall Festival in Cary.  For the future, the Program Committee wants to recruit new members and increase their educational outreach and other similar efforts.  The Development Committee has managed the transition of our webpage (yes, it is a wonderful new webpage for the Association, so please take a look).  A huge thanks goes to Kim Matthews who managed the transition.  The Development Committee also produces the newsletter and leads our annual fundraising campaign (all the infrastructure of the organization). They could use new members and are in desperate need of a Chair. 


We start the year with four part-time staff. We have a wonderful grant administrator, two project coordinators, and an executive director.  The Association is truly in good hands with this staff and our volunteers.   We have three funded projects: 

  • The ongoing Volunteer Wetlands Monitoring Program (coordinated by Chase Bergeson) funded by the US EPA Wetlands Program Development Grant (with NC State and RTI International) 
  • The Stony Run Walkable Watershed project (coordinated by Marilyn Mayer) and funded by the NC Land and Water Fund (with Wetland Solutions, Inc. And Skeo) 
  • The Winyah Bay Watershed Project (managed by Rick Savage) where Carolina Wetlands Association is a subrecipient of a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant acquired by the Center for Heirs Property.   


The future looks very good for projects as we have several more in the works.  The purpose of these projects is to work with vulnerable communities who are experiencing flooding and to restore their wetlands and watersheds to reduce flooding. 

We also spent a lot of time keeping up with wetland policy at the federal level and the state level (both NC and SC).  This is a very time-consuming activity and can get very complicated, but it is critical that we do everything we can to keep wetland protection as strong as possible.


Financially, the Association is in pretty good shape due to our grant funding.  We need to increase our sponsorships and our general donations to better establish base funding.  So if you have not donated to the year end fundraiser, please do so, every dollar helps.   

Personally, I want to do everything to make sure the Association is strong and stable.  One of the most important assets we have is our volunteers.  There are lots of opportunities to volunteer so please contact us if you are interested. 

Donate Now

So, with the new year, find a new wetland to explore and remember that your wetlands organization is working hard to ensure they stay protected. 


Rick Savage

Email

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Federal Rollbacks Threaten Wetland Protections: What You Need to Know About Senate Bill 5653

By rick.savage • November 3, 2026
The U.S. Congress is poised to weaken federal protection of wetlands. To understand why these changes matter, it helps to know how wetland permitting actually works. How Wetland Permitting Is Supposed to Work Whether the permit goes through the State agency (e.g. NC DEQ or SC DES which reviews water quality impacts) and/or the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) and EPA (which review the physical, chemical, and biological impacts), every application is supposed to follow a three-step mitigation sequence: avoid, minimize, and compensate. Avoid. The reviewer works with the applicant to determine whether the impact can be avoided altogether. Often, it can. Minimize. If the impact can’t be avoided, the reviewer and applicant look for ways to reduce it. Compensate. If the remaining impact is large enough, the applicant must compensate for the loss using a formula provided by the ACOE. Mitigation normally takes place in the same watershed and provides the same function as the wetland that was lost. This process takes time, but it is essential. It ensures that applicants don’t overlook options that could spare valuable wetlands. What Senate Bill 5653 Would Change Senate Bill 5653 , the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act (BAAJA),aims to speed up federal and state regulatory decisions on housing and other development projects. But the bill would increase environmental degradation and undermine the federal-state partnerships that protect clean water. Here is the core problem: when permitting is rushed, reviewers can’t carry out the avoid, minimize, and compensate process. More wetlands will be damaged, and there will be no way to make up for the lost wetlands and the benefits they provide. A Weak Answer to the Housing Shortage BAAJA does little to address the real causes of the national housing shortage and construction challenges. Instead, it increases pollution and works against the central goal of the Clean Water Act: to restore and maintain the physical, chemical, and biological integrity of the nation’s waters, including wetlands. The bill is an assault on the nation’s rivers, wetlands, estuaries, and lakes. It also looks like a deflection from Congress’s inability to pass legislation that meaningfully tackles the lack of available housing. Undercutting State Authority Over Water Quality BAAJA also limits the authority states hold under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act, making it harder for them to meet the water quality standards they have set for their own waterbodies. That would set back five decades of progress toward cleaner water, progress to which every sector of society has contributed, and it would affect generations to come. Fewer Wetlands Protected, and Weaker Review for the Rest This is yet another attack on wetland protection, and it affects all of us. Even those wetlands that remain regulated after recent jurisdictional retreats by EPA and the ACOE would not receive the normal permitting review. In practice, that means they aren’t truly protected either. What You Can Do Contact your representative. Ask your senators to oppose Senate Bill 5653 . You can find and contact your U.S. senators here , or look up your U.S. representative here to share your concerns with the House as well. Support Carolina Wetlands Association. We are your organization fighting to protect wetlands. The next time you explore a wetland or pour a clean glass of water, consider making a donation to help us keep up this work.

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Federal Rule Would Strip Protections from Many Wetlands and Streams

By kim.matthews • October 7, 2026
On September 9, 2026, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (SNPRM) offering additional ways to define “waters of the United States” (WOTUS). Why this definition matters The WOTUS definition determines which water bodies the federal government can protect under the Clean Water Act. In November 2025, the agencies proposed revisions to bring the definition in line with the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Sackett v. EPA. After taking public comments, they have now put forward further options. The new proposal narrows federal jurisdiction even more, potentially stripping protections from the vast majority of U.S. wetlands and seasonal streams. What our comment letter says The Carolina Wetlands Association is submitting comments opposing the proposal. Our main concerns: It would undermine the Clean Water Act’s purpose. The law’s goal is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation’s waters. This proposal would severely undercut that goal. The “days of water” test is a poor measure. The proposal decides jurisdiction by how many days a year water is present. That number correlates poorly with a waterway’s ability to carry pollution downstream to the rivers, lakes, and estuaries that would stay protected. Streams dry for as few as 30 days a year could lose protection, and polluters would have an incentive to discharge into them rather than into protected waters. Drinking water is at risk. About 56% of North Carolina’s stream miles feeding public drinking water systems are intermittent, ephemeral, or headwater streams. In South Carolina the figure is 51%. These systems serve 6.6 million people, who would bear higher health risks and treatment costs. Wetlands do critical work. They filter pollutants and nutrients that cause algal blooms, dead zones, and fish kills. Losing that function would also degrade groundwater, which many people drink untreated. The legal reasoning is flawed. We argue the agencies misread the Supreme Court’s language. “Relatively permanent” describes geographic features such as streams with defined beds and banks. The word “continuously” modifies “flowing” and doesn’t limit what counts as relatively permanent. It would be hard to implement. Many affected streams have no data showing how many days they lack surface water. That makes the rule difficult for agencies to administer and leaves landowners unable to tell whether the Clean Water Act applies to their property. The impacts haven’t been analyzed. The agencies should not finalize a rule before measuring the added pollution flowing from newly unprotected waters into those that supply drinking water, or projecting the resulting damage to downstream uses. What you can do Read the SNPRM Submit your comment by October 9, 2026, under Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–OW-2025-0322 . Personal stories about the streams, wetlands, and drinking water you depend on are especially effective. Learn more: read the comments we submitted on the November 2025 version of the rule, many of which still apply.