Hot Topics Webinars

The National Association of Wetland Managers (NAWM) offers a Hot Topics Webinar Series that focuses on timely issues and studies such as new and emerging wetland policy and law, innovative tools and technology and state-of-the-art practices. These webinars are advertised through our website, newsletters, social media and emails.

For more information and/or to join our email list for notices about upcoming events, please contact Laura Burchill at laura@nawm.org.

If you haven’t used Go To Webinar before or you just need a refresher, please view our guide prior to the webinar here.

View Past Hot Topics Webinars Here

View a List of Past Hot Topics Webinar Recordings Here

Long-Term Management at Mitigation Sites: Overview & Best Practices Part II

Tuesday, March 4, 2025 - 3:00-4:30 p.m. EST

More information available soon.

National Wetland Condition Assessment: Federal and State Perspectives on the 3rd Collaborative Survey of Wetlands in the U.S.

Tuesday, March 25, 2025 - 3:00-4:30 p.m. EST

PRESENTERS

Joanna Lemly, Colorado Natural Heritage Program
Mike Bourdaghs, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

ABSTRACT

The National Wetland Condition Assessment (NWCA) is an EPA, State, and Tribal partnership to assess the condition of wetlands across the United States. Surveys are conducted every 5 years and use multiple indicators to evaluate biological, physical, and chemical wetland condition. EPA recently released a report with results from the third iteration of the NWCA, conducted in 2021. Key findings from this newest report, representing the condition of 81,694,381 acres of wetland area, include:

Less than half of wetland area was rated good, based on an analysis of plant communities.
Nonnative plants are a widespread concern.
Physical alterations to wetlands are the most widespread stressors measured.
Nutrient levels are elevated for some wetlands.
Microcystins, a type of cyanobacteria toxin, were present, but at very low levels, posing minimal recreational human health concerns.

Several states have conducted studies in conjunction with the NWCA to assess wetlands at statewide and regional scales. The Minnesota Wetland Condition Assessment (MWCA) broadly monitors wetland vegetation quality trends and compliments another state effort that monitors wetland quantity. Colorado sampled additional NWCA sites during the 2021 survey to evaluate wetland condition statewide.

Panelists will share federal and state perspectives on the NWCA 2021 survey and broadly discuss how the data is being used or combined with other wetland assessment efforts to further wetland resource management.

BIOS

Joanna Lemly, Colorado Natural Heritage Program at Colorado State University Joanna Lemly is a wetland ecologist with the Colorado Natural Heritage Program at Colorado State University where she leads CNHP’s work on wetland mapping, monitoring, and assessment. Joanna has worked with partners at the federal, state, and local levels to assess the condition of wetlands using both quantitative and qualitative methods, including EPA's National Wetland Condition Assessment (NWCA) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)'s Riparian & Wetland Assessment, Inventory, and Monitoring (R&W AIM) program.

Michael Bourdaghs is an environmental research scientist with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency where he has led wetland monitoring program development and implementation for the past twenty plus years.