Nature + Humans = Smart Wetlands

The Wetlands Initiative (TWI) is an Illinois 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation that began regular operations in 1995. TWI's mission is to design, restore and create wetlands. TWI envisions a world with plentiful healthy wetlands improving water quality, climate, biodiversity, and human well-being.

The Smart Wetlands, a program of TWI, works with farmers and cropland owners to reduce the flow of fertilizer from farm fields into local waterways by installing constructed wetlands. These wetlands are precisely placed along ditches or small streams on a farm. They intercept and remove nutrients through a combination of physical, biological, and chemical processes—in the case of nitrogen, transforming it into a harmless gas.

The goal of this project is to combine human resources with the natural world to create a highly effective system of nutrient removal. The team does this by using the social-ecological systems (SES) approach. This concept asserts that social (human) and ecological systems cannot be viewed separately from each other. The actions in one system are impacted by actions in the other. Therefore, our team members have expertise and experience in a variety of fields.

The Smart Wetland staff are just a small fraction of the Smart Wetlands program’s human component. Our farmers and landowners, project partners, and funders, the Smart Wetland program would not be possible.