Indiana's House Bill 1383 Sparks Concerns for Wetland Protection

[Nomad]

Indiana's House Bill 1383 is causing worry among state experts as it may reduce protections for wetlands. The bill has been passed by the House and it is being presented in the Senate soon. The bill could simplify processes for altering or building on these areas, raising alarms among environmentalists. Wetlands are crucial for water filtration and flood control, they play a cost-effective role in managing stormwater and erosion. Jeff Zavatsky, director of the Elkhart Environmental Center, highlighted the bill's potential impact on flooding issues and called for expert consultation. There are concerns about the lack of ecological expertise in the bill's development.

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[Winny]

Of course they are looking to take more protections, if anything we need more protections if these rules can be changes so easily. I am hopeful it does not pass the Senate floor and gets denied. Why change the rules if only but to start building on or near wetlands?

The wetlands are important, it's essential to the area for its water filtration, and I don't think anyone wants to see anything that could potentially cause issues with that.

 

[Jake]

I'd be concerned too as a citizen. I read deeper into the article, and it sounds like they want to be able to remove the rain/flood waters, or drain the area of said water. The point is for the water to run off into the wetlands, and I don't want to see them hurt the wetlands by removing that aspect of it. If they drain the rain water, what does that leave for the wetlands?

Leave it how it is, don't change what works.

 

[StrictlyUrban]

I don't believe we do enough to protect our wetlands as it is, so this bill is especially concerning to me. What are the odds that it will pass and that the governor will sign the bill if it does?