Due to the cranberries new found popularity as either a dried fruit (craisin) or a juice, the demand for cranberries exploded during the 1980's and 1990's. Prices and production increased steadily, peaking around $65 per barrel (a barrel equals 100 pounds or 45.4 kg.) in 1996, dropping sharply to $18 per barrel in 2001 due to an oversupply of berries. More recently, the average price per barrel has swung between $48 in 2012 to $32 in 2014. As a benchmark, the break even point is in the $30/barrel range according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Wisconsin, the largest cranberry producing state, has approximately 18,000 acres under cultivation tended by 250 growers. Massachusetts with 14,000 acres is second, followed by New Jersey with 3,000 acres as a distant third.
The parallel trends of the cranberry’s surging popularity requiring more cranberry beds and the tightening of regulations governing wetlands, frequently put cranberry growers and the EPA at loggerheads, due to the crackdown on the conversion of wetlands to cranberry bogs.
Farming has enjoyed many exceptions to regulatory requirements under both the Federal Clean Water Act and many state laws.
In past decades, a farmer would covert an existing wetland into a cranberry bog and alter the hydrology to better suit the needs of the cranberry fields with little trouble, but this began to change in the 1980's.
One of the longest running EPA enforcement actions in history, dragging on for over 22 years, revolves around a farmer, Charles Johnson, who converted over 50 acres of wetlands into cranberry bogs and was sued by the EPA. In 2011, he conceded and signed a consent decree requiring him to restore 26 acres of wetlands and pay a $75,000 in fines.
The appeal here hits on many the salient wetland law topics including the definition of navigable waters, United States v. Riverside Bayview, SWANCC) etc.
Today, regulatory restrictions governing the development of new cranberry bogs in wetlands has changed considerably. The renovation of existing wetland cranberry bogs is permitted, but the creation of new acreage is largely constrained to upland sites only, which must be engineered to mimic the natural hydrology and soil characteristics necessary to grow cranberries.
It is important to not overlook the majority of cranberry growers understand the importance of bogs and wetlands, they work in them daily. Their farms serve as a hedge against urban sprawl, and in Massachusetts, they maintain around 60,000 acres of open space for watershed recharge since cranberry farming is so water intensive, requiring upto an inch a week of fresh water per week.
In part Three, I'll review restoration and some additional current issues next week.
One of the worst hurricanes to hit the East coast, Hurricane Sandy was estimated to have caused $65 billion in damages and was responsible for the deaths of 182 people in the United States.
A little over two years later, the important role wetlands play in buffering storm surge and absorbing storm water is being rediscovered by municipalities in the Mid Atlantic and New England. There have been many proposals, some great, many less so, on building resilient shorelines to better withstand stronger, more frequent hurricanes and tropical storms due to global warming.
The Hurricane Sandy Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2013, set aside $360 million to restore coastal marshes, restore damaged beaches and dunes and improve aquatic connectivity in streams and rivers in the Northeast.
Of the $360 million, a little more than $161 million has been awarded for a total of 31 projects. These projects include 14 Coastal Marsh Restoration proposals and 9 dam removals and culvert replacements, totalling $10,448,150.
The 4 projects in Connecticut are as follows:
Pond Lily Dam Removal, West River, New Haven, CT - $661,500
Hyde Pond Dam Removal, Whitford Brook, Groton, CT - $551,250
Flock Process Dam Removal, Norwalk River, Norwalk, CT -$970,000
Norton Mill Dam Removal, Colchester, CT - $727,650
As you can see there hasn’t been any coastal marsh restoration projects approved which is sorely needed in many parts of Connecticut, but dam removal does allow natural sediment movement downstream, important for replenishing the soils in tidal marshes.
Sources and Additional Information:
Hurricane Sandy Photos - before and AfterFunded Sandy Resiliency Project SummariesHurricane Sandy Coastal Resiliency Competitive Grant Program
Every year on February 2nd, the signing of the Ramsar convention on Wetlands is celebrated. For readers unaware of Ramsar, it is a worlwide organization cooperating to protect wetlands through a nongovermental, nonbinding agreement. Member countries, over 160, share best practices and strive towards better international working relationships to protect and preserve wetlands.
Every year has a new theme, and this years theme is "Wetlands for Our Future" - which in the face of global warming and sea level rise, has become more important. Check out Ramsar and worldwetlandsday.org for World Wetlands Day information and materials.
Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I cover global and domestic health care and conservation. Unique Wetlands Ecosystems Protect Us from Flooding, Filter Our Drinking...
