Kidneys of the Bay

Wetlands are natural water purifiers.

Ecologist Danielle Kreeger says these “kidneys of the Bay” filter water runoff and trap contaminants.

"The scientists are looking to see what kind of vegetation there is. How high the plants have gotten, what's growing together and the diversity of the plants. It lets us know how healthy the wetland is," said scientist Angela P.

The marshes are a critical, first-line defense for Delaware's flatlands.

Without the Delaware Coastal Zone Act, Dr. Kreeger says industrial development may have stripped away may wetlands.

“You'd also lose the natural flood protection, because these are sponges when the water comes up with the storms, sea level rises, they absorb a lot of that," Kreeger said.

There's appropriate places for refineries we need them for modern day society. But if we had refineriers from say Wilmington to Odessa and across the C&D canal, we wouldn't have the wetlands system that's actually added to water quality in the Delaware Bay and Estuary.

The wetlands are a priceless to many fisherman and bird watchers.

But University of Delaware researcher Jerry Kauffman says says their value goes beyond beauty and recreation. He authored a new report that puts a price tag on the state's water resources.