President Joe Biden’s administration has launched a programme to restore and protect 3 million hectares of wetlands and 160,000 kilometres of rivers in the US by 2030, with over 100 NGOs, tribes, and local governments joining the initiative as early members.

Announcing the America the Beautiful Freshwater Challenge, the White House called on all states, cities, and local communities to advance their policies and strategies for conserving and restoring the US’s freshwater bodies.

“Federal agencies, states, and Tribal and local communities all have a major role to play in conserving these vital resources,” said the US administration.

“Water, and everything in it, moves without regard to geopolitical boundaries, so we must work together across governments to conserve and restore the freshwater bodies that protect and support us.”

Under the initiative, signatories committed to ramp up conservation efforts, including developing policies that encourage private investments, providing data to improve a nationwide map of freshwater resources, and establishing incentives to restore wetlands and rivers.

The US administration also urged states and local governments to draw from existing regulations to boost the conservation of wetlands and freshwater bodies.

North Carolina recently established a goal of preserving 400,000 ha of natural lands, with a particular emphasis on wetlands, while New York state amended its Freshwater Wetlands Act to protect nearly 500,000 ha of wetlands.

New York and North Carolina are among the states that joined America the Beautiful Freshwater Challenge, along with California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, Oregon, and Washington.

Last year, a unanimous US Supreme Court ruling narrowed the ability of the federal government under the Clean Water Act to protect wetlands and freshwater resources.

NO NET LOSS TARGET

“The Biden-Harris administration has worked to build upon and improve our country’s long-standing policy of no net loss of wetlands. Even still, freshwater resources are at risk,” said the White House.

Globally, wetlands are disappearing three times faster than forests, with devastating effects on threatened and endangered species.

Over one-third of the US federally threatened and endangered species live only in wetlands, and nearly half rely on such ecosystems at some point, the public agency Fish and Wildlife Service estimated.

“Despite the vital role healthy rivers, lakes, and wetlands play in water security, they continue to disappear at a shocking rate. The Freshwater Challenge comes at a crucial time,” said Melissa Ho, senior vice president of freshwater and food at WWF, among the members of the initiative.

“Doing more requires that we work together – NGOs, companies, federal and state agencies, Tribal nations, and local communities – to protect and restore these systems. This is what America the Beautiful Freshwater Challenge is all about,” added Jennifer Morris, CEO of The Nature Conservancy, which also joined the programme.

The US administration’s commitment is part of a global initiative, the Freshwater Challenge, launched by the governments of Colombia, DR Congo, Gabon, Mexico, and Zambia at the UN water conference in March 2023.

Under the Freshwater Challenge, 46 countries worldwide, including the US, committed to restoring 300,000 km of degraded rivers and 350 mln ha of wetlands globally by 2030.

By Sergio Colombo – sergio@carbon-pulse.com

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