The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources determined that it costs $300.00 to replace each acre-foot of floodwater storage. In other words, if a wetland is destroyed that is 1 acre in size and that holds 1 foot of water during a flood, the cost to replace the wetland with something else to hold the floodwater would be:

     $300.00 x 1 acre x 1 foot = $300.00

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 100,000 acres of wetlands are lost each year.  If these wetlands can hold 1 foot of water during a flood, what would it cost to replace them?  Try plugging 100000 acres and 1 foot of water storage into the formula below (you can also experiment with other numbers):

Alt | Win

EXPLORE:

Find out other ways that wetlands save us money.