USA: EPA Protects Wetlands in California and Arizona

EPA Protects Wetlands in California

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the award of $1,565,140 in 2013 Wetland Program Development Grants to six tribes in California and Arizona and four California organizations to conduct research designed to prevent and eliminate water pollution.

EPA also announces it will begin accepting applications for the 2014 Wetland Program grant cycle.

Work under these grants, awarded annually, will range from enhancing computer programs that rapidly assess wetland conditions, to helping tribes develop programs to better monitor and protect their wetlands.

Wetlands are key to the vitality of local communities and wildlife — in an era of climate change, healthy wetlands act as natural buffers to floods and sea level rise,” said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. “Continued support for research and projects to improve water resources is critical in the arid West.”

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Press Release, February 19, 2014