Wetland
Land that is designated a wetland is most commonly also a flood zone. However, wetlands can also develop away from a flood zone. The definition of wetlands includes swamps, marshes, bogs and similar areas.
Facts
According to the Clean Water Act, a wetland is "those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions." A flood zone is any area that is periodically subject to flooding.
Identification
According to FEMA, wetlands are usually situated next to the stream bank of a floodplain, in the flood zone.
History
The various government agencies with an interest in flood zones have different definitions on exactly what constitutes a wetland. However, all the definitions share the common ground that a wetland is an area that is saturated frequently enough to cause the evolution of a specific ecosystem.
Warning
For ecological preservation, as well as hazard mitigation, flood zones are subject to many classification systems. Wetlands do not exclusively form in flood zones. There are other situations, as in when poor soil drainage results in water-logged soil that develops into a wetland.
Significance
Wetlands play an important role in flood mitigation. According to The EPA, wetlands act as sponges, trapping and slowly releasing water.
Tags: flood zone, flood zones, area that
