Wetlands/BufferPreservation

SOLA3 Water Water Everywhere - 9/17/2022

Wheare are the Wetlands in  Delaware:

• 47% in  Sussex County

• 38% in Kent County

• 15% in New Castle County

‘Ghost forests’ are spreading across US coastal regions

Encroaching saltwater is turning forests near the coast into haunting landscapes.

BY ELLIE SHECHET APRIL 09, 2021

https://www.popsci.com/story/environment/ghost-forests-east-coast-us/

The area the researchers were studying is protected, which makes the tree deaths all the more nerve-wracking. “We’ve worked really hard through legislation and protection to hold on to these remaining coastal forested wetlands, and now they’re threatened by something that doesn’t respect those boundaries,” says Bernhardt. 

And these results aren’t necessarily unique to North Carolina, says Kirwan. This pattern is being observed all over the U.S. Atlantic coast, particularly in the mid-Atlantic and the Southeast. 

“The findings that they’ve observed historically are only going to intensify,” he said. “In the future, marshes are going to replace coastal forests at ever-faster rates.” The marshes themselves, of course, are not endlessly resilient.

“If there’s not room for the marshes to migrate, if there’s cities or infrastructure in the way, then the ongoing loss of the existing marsh might exceed the ability of marshes to migrate inland.” 

Future Buffer Discussion Language Change - Sussex Council Meeting of 11/13/2018

Sussex Code on Buffer/Wetlands - current code

This is expected to be replaced by new ordinance that is in discussion as of Feb. 2022.

§ 115-193  Buffer zones for wetlands and tidal and perennial nontidal waters.

Regulatory Enforcement Agencies:

• DNREC Subaqueous Lands Section handles state level wetland permitting in the state of Delaware (https://dnrec.alpha.delaware.gov/water/wetlands-subaqueous/) 

• the Philadelphia District Office of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers handles federal wetland permitting in Delaware (https://www.nap.usace.army.mil/). 

Wetland Health Report Card

CIB Inland Bays 2009-2010

http://www.dnrec.delaware.gov/Admin/DelawareWetlands/Documents/Final%20Indicator%20Report%20Card%20spread.pdf 

Town of Lewes - New 50-foot Wetland Buffer Zone in Lewes

• Oct. 13, 2020

http://www.wboc.com/story/42761797/new-50ft-wetland-buffer-zone-in-lewes