Header link June 22, 2020

LinkedIn

  • Read more
Header link September 15, 2014

Cart

  • Read more
Header link November 3, 2015

Donate Now

  • Read more
Header link May 15, 2014

Twitter

  • Read more
Header link May 15, 2014

Facebook

  • Read more
Instagram
Header link May 15, 2014

Instagram

  • Read more
Header link May 15, 2014

Contact Us

  • Read more
More options
Water Education Foundation
Home

Water Education Foundation

Everything about California water that matters
  • Water Academy
    • Agriculture
      • Agricultural Conservation
      • Agricultural Drainage
    • Background Information
      • Legislation — California and Federal
      • Regulations — California and Federal
      • Water History
      • Water Rights
    • Bay-Delta
      • Bay Delta
      • Bay Delta Conservation Plan
      • Delta Issues
      • Delta Smelt
      • Sacramento San Joaquin Delta
      • San Francisco Bay
      • Suisun Marsh
    • Dams, Reservoirs and Water Projects
      • California Aqueduct
      • Central Valley Project
      • Folsom Dam
      • Friant Dam
      • Hetch Hetchy
      • Hoover Dam
      • Infrastructure
      • Lake Mead
      • Lake Powell
      • Oroville Dam
      • San Luis Dam
      • Shasta Dam
      • State Water Project
    • Environmental Issues
      • Anadromous Fish Restoration
      • Ecosystem
      • Endangered Species Act
      • Invasive species
      • Lake Tahoe
      • Mono Lake
      • Public Trust Doctrine
      • Salmon
      • San Joaquin River Restoration
      • Watershed
      • Wetlands
    • Leaders and Experts
    • Regions
      • Central Coast
      • Central Valley
      • Mexico
      • Nevada
      • North Coast
      • Pyramid Lake
      • Sacramento Valley
      • Salton Sea
      • San Joaquin Valley
      • Sierra Nevada
      • Southern California
      • Tulare Lake Basin
    • Rivers
      • Carson River
      • Colorado River
      • Klamath River
      • New River
      • North Coast Rivers
      • Russian River
      • Sacramento River
      • Truckee River
      • San Joaquin River
    • Water Issues
      • Climate Change
      • Coronavirus
      • Drought
      • Earthquakes
      • Energy and Water
      • Flood Management
      • Fracking
      • Growth
      • Hydropower
      • Levees
      • Tribal Water Issues
      • Water Conservation
      • Water Equity
    • Water Quality
      • Drinking Water
      • Nitrate contamination
      • Pollution
      • Stormwater
      • Wastewater
      • Water Quality
    • Water Supply and Management
      • Acre Foot
      • Aquifers
      • California Water Plan
      • Conjunctive Use
      • Desalination
      • Grey water
      • Groundwater
      • Integrated Regional Water Management
      • Recreation
      • Surface Water
      • Water Marketing and Banking
      • Water Rates
      • Water Recycling
      • Water Supply
      • Water Transfers
  • Tours & Events
    • Water Tours
      • 2023 Tour Sponsors
    • Events
    • Event Calendar
    • Past Tours & Events
      • Anne J. Schneider Fund Lecture Series
  • Specialized Programs
    • Water Leaders
      • Class Rosters
      • Yearly Class Reports
      • Your Alumni Network
      • Alumni Profiles
    • Project WET
      • Workshops
      • Special Workshops & Events
      • Supplementary Materials
      • California Content Standard Correlations
      • Facilitator's Trainings
      • Foundation School Programs
        • Elementary Programs
        • Secondary Programs
      • Water Kids
      • California Project WET Gazette
      • Gazette Archives
    • Colorado River Project
    • GRA Scholastic Fund Program
  • Maps & Guides
    • Maps & Posters
    • Layperson's Guides
    • Map & Guide Bundles
    • Books
    • Colorado River Materials
    • California Runoff Rundown
    • Other Publications
    • Water Awareness Materials
    • Downloadable Publications
    • Videos and DVDs
      • Video Clips
    • School Age Publications
    • Stickers
    • Free Programs and Publications
  • Newsroom
    • Western Water News
    • Aquafornia
      • About Aquafornia
    • Information Desk
    • Western Water Magazine Archive
      • Full Print Edition
      • Print Edition Excerpts
    • River Report Archive
  • Aquapedia
    • Alphabetical List of Subjects
      • A
      • B
      • C
      • D
      • E
      • F
      • G
      • H
      • I
      • J
      • K
      • L
      • M
      • N
      • O
      • P
      • Q
      • R
      • S
      • T
      • U
      • V
      • W
      • X
      • Y
      • Z
    • Historical Water People
    • Where Does My Water Come From?
      • Northern California
      • Sacramento
      • North Bay
      • South Bay
      • Central Valley
      • Los Angeles
      • Inland Empire
      • San Diego
      • All California Water Sources
    • Timelines
    • Videos
    • Image Gallery
    • Water Directory
      • Federal Agencies
      • State Agencies in California
      • Environmental Organizations
      • Other California Organizations
      • State and Federal Legislative Committees
      • Water Associations and Groups
      • Western States Water Agencies and Districts
    • Online Resources
    • Useful Acronyms
    • About Aquapedia
  • About
    • About Us
      • Board of Directors
      • Staff Biographies
      • Job Openings
    • Announcements
    • Support Our Mission
      • Become a Member
      • Donate in Honor/Memory
      • Donate to Aquapedia or Aquafornia
      • Shop Amazon
      • Planned Giving
    • Contact Us
Aquapedia background February 11, 2014 Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Map

Wetlands

Sacramento National Wildlife RefugeWetlands are among the most important and hardest-working ecosystems in the world, rivaling rain forests and coral reefs in productivity of life. 

They produce high levels of oxygen, filter toxic chemicals out of water, sequester carbon, reduce flooding and erosion, recharge groundwater and provide a diverse range of recreational opportunities from fishing and hunting to photography. They also serve as critical habitat for wildlife, including a large percentage of plants and animals on California’s endangered species list.

As the state grew into one of the world’s leading economies, Californians developed and transformed the state’s marshes, swamps and tidal flats, losing as much as 90 percent of the original wetlands acreage—a greater percentage of loss than any other state in the nation.

While the conversion of wetlands has slowed, the loss in California is significant and it affects a range of factors from water quality to quality of life.

Wetlands still remain in every part of the state, with the greatest concentration in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and its watershed, which includes the Central Valley. While wetlands in all areas of the state are important, the Delta and related wetlands take on special significance because they are part of the vast complex of waterways that provide two-thirds of California’s drinking water.

Suisun Marsh at the edge of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.Suisun Marsh at the edge of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.Vic Fazio Yolo Wildlife Area  within the Yolo Bypass near Sacramento.A wetlands area in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.A wetlands area within the Prado Basin area in inland Southern California. A vernal pool at Sacramento County's Mather Field. 

Wetlands Overview

In general, California’s wetlands are the bogs, swamps, estuaries and marshes connected to streams, groundwater, rivers, lakes and coastlines. The majority of California’s wetlands are semi-aquatic links in a water-based chain extending from the Sierra Nevada mountain range to the Pacific Ocean.

Wetlands have their own unique ecosystems, which typically include specific types of soils supporting plants adapted to the soils and a watery environment. Despite their name, wetlands are not always wet, though characteristically, they experience periodic saturation.

Wetlands can be permanent or seasonal. Permanent wetlands tend to stay saturated with water, and in the case of tidal wetlands are flooded or drained twice each day. Seasonal wetlands such as tule fields and vernal pools experience saturation or flooding only part of the year. Even though water may be present only a few weeks out of every year, seasonal wetlands nonetheless share the soils, plants and animal life characteristic of permanent wetlands.

The vast majority of California’s wetlands are freshwater and found in bogs, marshes and swamps. The state also has significant coastal and tidal wetlands, and along lakes and rivers (known as riparian wetlands).

One acre of wetlands can filter 7.3 million gallons of water a year. You can see an example of a wetland in this video shot at San Luis National Wildlife Refuge in the San Joaquin Valley.

Many Californians are aware only of coastal and tidal wetlands, yet the majority of California’s wetlands lie in freshwater environments. Freshwater marshes occur in ponds and slow moving water.

In the Central Valley, wetlands — partly or seasonally saturated land that supports aquatic life and distinct ecosystems — provide critical habitat for a variety of wildlife. In 2021, new research reported by the National Audubon Society revealed that tens of millions of migratory birds depend on riparian and wetland habitat of the Central Valley as well as the Colorado River Delta.

Benefits of Wetlands

Essentially acting as a kidney system for the landscape, wetlands’ soil and vegetation filter water and absorb nutrients and contaminants. Other benefits of wetlands include:

  • controlling floods
  • recharging groundwater 
  • controlling erosion 
  • helping to stabilize shorelines
  • mitigating the intrusion of salty seawater
  • providing habitat for fish, waterfowl and other wildlife
  • absorbing oxygen and carbon (and seen as a key carbon sink to help address climate change)

Looking Ahead

Wetlands are essential in fostering biodiversity within a broad ecosystem, and loss of wetlands has resulted not only in a loss of this diversity, but also in the extinction and endangerment of numerous species. Half of all animals and a third of all plants listed as endangered depend on wetlands.

Sacramento National Wildlife RefugeScience has shown that California’s wetlands are part of a large, interconnected system and can be a tool in helping the state meet its carbon reduction mandate. To protect one element in it, all must be addressed. While protection of wetlands is a continuing emphasis, so are acquisition and restoration of wetlands. 

The state of California and the federal government have been at odds over how widely to define wetlands protections. The federal government and the U.S. Supreme Court have tended to narrow the definition of waters of the United States that are subject to the Clean Water Act.

In response, the State Water Resources Control Board sought to protect California’s non-navigable wetlands under the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act. However, a 2021 Sacramento Superior Court ruling found that the state is not authorized to take such an action for wetlands that do not meet the federal definition of waters of the United States.

  • Print-friendly

Referring Pages

Share this page

  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Sent to a friend.
Print-friendly

Related Links

Aquapedia background February 11, 2014 Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Map
Delta Map for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
Maps & Posters March 5, 2021 Layperson's Guide to the Delta Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Education Bundle

Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Map
Published March 2021

This beautifully illustrated 24×36-inch poster, suitable for framing and display in any office or classroom, highlights the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, its place as a center of farming, its importance as an ecological resource and its vital role in California’s water supply system. 

The text, photos and graphics explain issues related to land subsidence, levees and flooding, urbanization, farming, fish and wildlife protection. An inset map illustrates the tidal action that increases the salinity of the Delta’s waterways. 

  • Read more
Back
This item appears in:
  • Topic: Wetlands
  • W
Footer pod May 20, 2014

Water Education Foundation

Copyright © 2023 Water Education Foundation. All rights reserved.

The Water Education Foundation is a nonprofit, tax-exempt, 501(c)3 organization, federal tax ID #942419885.

Privacy Policy

Donor Privacy Policy

  • Read more
Footer pod May 20, 2014

Contact Information

2151 River Plaza Drive, Suite 205
Sacramento CA 95833

Telephone (916) 444-6240

Contact Us via email

  • Read more

Quicklinks

Footer quicklink May 20, 2014

Contact Us

  • Read more
Footer quicklink May 20, 2014

Donate Today

  • Read more
Footer quicklink May 20, 2014

Tours

  • Read more
Footer quicklink May 20, 2014

Newsletter Signup

  • Read more
Footer quicklink May 20, 2014

Foundation News

  • Read more
Footer quicklink May 20, 2014

Calendar

  • Read more

Log in

  • Create new account
  • Request new password

Commands

  • Support portal
  • Log in