Pages Tagged With: "ocean"
Meet the winners of DNREC’s Haiku Poetry Contest, which celebrates June’s Ocean Month.
DNREC’s Delaware Coastal Programs is developing an Ocean and Bay Plan to protect Delaware’s marine resources, ecological functions and ocean and bay uses. Developing the plan will include public input and review by stakeholders, residents and the public at large.
Questions and Answers
Water runs through our lives and sustains us in many ways, from the most basic physical functions of our bodies to our mental and psychological well-being. We depend on water. We need it to be clean and plentiful.
Nearly 40% of of the US population lives in a coastal county. In Delaware, everyone lives in a coastal county and many of us find ourselves on or near the shore on a daily basis.
Delaware is a coastal state. Most of the land in Delaware is flat and close to sea-level. Our underlying water table is generally high. As a result, drainage and the management of stormwater are important considerations in land use planning, construction, and agriculture.
Climate change is happening now and it affects our everyday lives. We are seeing increased frequency and strength of coastal storms. Rainfall events are becoming more severe. Heat waves are affecting human health and our valuable agricultural sector. And, as a coastal state, we must pay attention to changes in sea levels.
A wetland is simply an area of land that is wet during the growing season. All true wetlands have three characteristics: typical wetland plants, wetland soils, and evidence that water is or can be at or near the surface. Our wetlands provide valuable service to Delaware. Wetlands purify our water. They provide habitat for rare and commercially important plants, fish and animals. And they protect us from flooding.
DNREC’s Division of Fish & Wildlife manages nearly 50,000 acres of land that provides habitat for a multitude of wild plants, animals, fish, insects and rare species of all kinds. And it spearheads several important wildlife and habitat conservation and education initiatives, including the Wildlife Species Conservation and Research Program and the Delaware Shorebird Project.
Delaware is rich in natural beauty. Its landscape ranges from the rolling hills of New Castle County, through the coastal marshes and river systems of Kent County, to the woodlands and beaches of Sussex County.
