The Value of Wetlands

In the last 150 years, ninety percent of California's wetlands have been drained or filled to support farmland. It is estimated that if the current rate of wetland "reclamation" continues, less than 20% of the origninal wetland areas of the U.S. will remain by the year 2000. The field between you and the sewage treatment ponds was once a tidal marsh that was diked and drained for the production of oat hay. The City has plans to buy this land and create a demonstration wetlands utilizing reclaimed water from the City's treatment system. The floods of winter 1998 breached the levees. This has started the return of seasonal wetlands to the upper field and tidal marsh to the lower field. The many functions and activities that take place in wetlands make them among the most productive and valuable ecosystems in the world. Wetlands absorb excess water from runoff to help prevent floods; are resting places for migratory birds; provide a nursery for young wildlife; strain silt and debirs; filter toxins from water; nutralize toxic substances like pesticides; provide food for wildlife and humans; provide important habitat for nesting waterfowl. Keep your eye on the field in front of you and you may see a Black-tailed Jackrabbit or a Northern Harrier Hawk who has an obvious white rump patch and a flight pattern of flying low to the ground, tilting from side to side.

Tour text from "Self Guided Tour of Shollenberger Park" available on site.