The Wetlands Initiative

Through the "smart wetlands" project, twi is working to spread the use of small tile-treatment wetlands on private farmland as a natural solution to the critical issue of nutrient runoff into local waterways and ultimately, the gulf of mexico. The organization pursues this goal through collaborative partnerships with agencies and peers in the agricultural sector, outreach to raise awareness with landowners and their trusted advisers, and technical assistance to farmers to build wetlands in new counties and watersheds. In 2024, twi executed the first steps in a new business plan to expand the project's reach, including filling a new engineer position to assist in designing and implementing more wetland sites. This added capacity led to five new smart wetland designs in process across five new counties by the end of the year. Meanwhile, twi formalized several existing and new partnerships to begin a three-year, statewide coordinated effort to increase the use of on-farm practices for water quality improvement in illinois, including tile-treatment wetlands. Finally, during 2024, twi began forming new partnerships to explore deploying the smart wetlands concept and practice in indiana's extensive farming region.twi is also exploring other innovative ways that wetlands can be integrated into the farm landscape for clean water. In the lake springfield watershed, in 2024 twi worked with the city of springfield's city water, light, and power utility to pursue the use of larger, specially designed treatment wetlands on public and private properties to address drinking water impairments. Funding through the state revolving loan fund could help make this a reality, with potential for implementation elsewhere in illinois to provide cleaner drinking water. The wetlands initiative is increasingly planning and implementing its work with a focus on the powerful role that wetland restoration can play in ecological and societal adaptation and resilience to climate change. The midwest's climate is already shifting to more-intense rainfall events, longer dry spells, and irregular seasonal precipitation patterns. Restored freshwater wetlands provide resilience functions that include storing precipitation and runoff, mitigating local flood risks, recharging groundwater supplies during droughts, filtering and processing nonpoint source pollutants, and providing habitat refuges for diverse species, as well as sequestering some atmospheric carbon in highly organic soils. Twi's vision is for these natural "sponges" to be once again scattered across the flat midwestern landscape.