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Wetlands control flooding
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Wetlands are also really good at storing water. When the tide rises,
or when a big storm raises water levels, wetland plants and shrubs
help to slow the flow of water. That gives the water a chance to soak
into the ground, rather than to keep on flowing onto roads or into
yards and neighborhoods. As the tide drops again, extra water seeps
slowly out of the wetland soils and back into the Bay and its rivers
and streams.
This ongoing process reduces the amount of flooding that can happen in
low areas close to big bodies of water. In this way, a wetland is like
a sponge--soaking up and holding water and then squeezing it back out
again.
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Unfortunately, this is one value of wetlands that we have discovered
because we have lost large areas of wetlands. Many scientists have
shown that in places where lots of wetland areas have been destroyed,
we have experienced more flooding.
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