April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 8

P E R S P E C T I V E S A M E S S A G E F R O M N R PA' S L E A D E R S

Enhancing Our Ecosystems
I live in a river city. In fact, St. Louis is home to the confluence of the Missouri
and Mississippi rivers, two of the largest watersheds in the United States. My
daily job is to oversee the development of a large greenway system. We work in
watersheds. Flooding is a way of life - we are used to it. Well, we were used
to it. Rain started to fall this past Christmas through New Year's Eve on a scale
we had never seen before. The Meramec River, a mostly sleepy river by our
standards, came out of its banks in historic proportions. The Mississippi River
followed suit. The Missouri rose but, because of our great flood in 1993, is now
protected by a levee system, thus diverting flood waters to impact parts of the
region that had never experienced flood levels of this scale. Major interstates
closed due to high water and people were stranded in cars, homes, businesses.
Many lost their houses, and people died in the raging rivers. It was a scary, sobering experience. In March of this year, we watched a similar scenario unfold
in the state of Louisiana. If you have lived through this kind of experience,
your story serves as another reminder that nature makes its own plans.
As a steward of public lands, I have become deeply mindful of our responsibility to conserve and preserve our watersheds. Land use practices have
changed our lives, but the impact of watersheds is a constant. Levees only
move water downstream. Building in low lands and floodplains doesn't
change what happens to where water flows. As a park district with more than 100 miles
of greenways and amenities, we are continually forced to discern where and where not
to build. We have made some mistakes and learned hard lessons. The balance between
conserving land and connecting people to their rivers and open spaces is an unending
debate that many park departments near watersheds or coastal communities deal with
every day. Employing best-management practices, limiting development in wetlands and
floodplains and working in partnership with like-minded organizations is crucial.
We need floodplains, wetlands, prairies and forests integrated into our communities and land
use practices to provide an ecosystem that serves our communities, our economy and our
environment. Doing this gives us the long-term benefits of flood mitigation, improved water
quality, carbon sequestration and improved wildlife habitat. We learned through a recent
study on our Meramec Greenway by Margaret Wall (funded by the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Association) that there is great economic benefit from developing the greenway
system in watersheds. Property value increases and annual avoidance of flood damage costs
present a very strong economic argument for limiting development in floodplains.
This month's issue is focused on numerous conservation practices and programs. I hope
the articles challenge your thinking and encourage you to educate your community
about the value of enhancing our ecosystems. Collaborating to conserve has enormous
benefits - not only to our communities, but also to our nation.

SUSAN K . T R AU TM AN, CPR P
Chair of the Board of Directors
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Parks & Recreation

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April 2016 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of April 2016 - Parks & Recreation