One application of ecological engineering, the creation and restoration of wetlands continues to be done on a small scale, with much attention paid to habitat replacement in the United States.

There are several cases in the United States where wetland and watershed restoration is being proposed or carried out on a very large scale. These project may be an indication of what will be more common in the 21st century to restore the hydrologic integrity of watersheds, coastlines, and rivers.

Projects include the restoration of the Everglades, coastal restoration on the Delaware Estuary, Louisiana delta restoration, and, the largest of all, a proposed restoration of 10 million hectares of wetlands and riparian ecosystems in the Mississippi River Basin to minimize hypoxia conditions in the Gulf of Mexico.

Suggestions as to the direction that we need to take in the 21st century to repair the hydrologic conditions of the planet are given.

About Professor William Mitsch
William J. Mitsch is Professor of Natural Resources and Environmental Science at The Ohio State University where he has been for 15 years.

He is founder and Director of the Olentangy River Wetland Research Park, 12-hectare wetland research facility at the University. His research and graduate teaching has focused on wetland and aquatic ecology, wetland biogeochemistry, wetland creation and restoration, ecological engineering, and ecosystem modelling.

He completed in July 2000, with James G. Gosselink of Louisiana State University, a third edition of the textbook "Wetlands," a book referred to as the "wetland bible." Dr. Mitsch was President of the Society of Wetland Scientists (SWS) and is founder and Editor-in-Chief of the journal, Ecological Engineering - The Journal of Ecotechnology.