Opinion: Wetlands essential for sustainable urban future

This past weekend marked World Wetlands Day, an opportunity to recognize one of the most under-appreciated environmental resources in our region — urban wetlands.
Urban wetlands are areas flooded with water, either seasonally or permanently. They are found in and around cities or their suburbs, and include rivers and their plains, lakes, swamps, as well as their coastal variants, such as tidal and salt marshes.
These natural resources provide several critical yet often over-looked function