Better Understanding of Wetland Benefits Will Help Water Bank and Other Federal Programs Achieve Wetland Preservation Objectives

In response to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the opportunities available to agencies which have management responsibilities related to wetland preservation.

The review found that the Department of Agriculture's Water Bank Program could be made more effective by changing the Water Bank Act to increase the Secretary of Agriculture's flexibility in administering the program. This should help preserve some wetlands and enhance their value. Further improvement should result from better information about the program's operation. Traditionally, emphasis has been on the value of wetlands to waterfowl and other wildlife; other wetland values such as flood control, pollution and sediment control, and groundwater supply have been neglected. Other federal wetland protection programs also suffer from a lack of information. This hampers congressional decisionmaking on funding priorities among the programs. A coordinated data collection effort between the several responsible federal agencies is required.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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