The connection between water and wetland is very profound as Wetlands act like giant sponges, absorbing and holding vast quantities of water, and releasing it slowly. Water gathers in wetlands from melting snows and spring rains, and flows gradually into nearby streams and rivers. The water held back by wetlands helps keep water levels up in rivers and ponds during the dry summer and early fall months. Thus, wetlands help maintain our surface water supplies by increasing the amount of water remaining in reservoirs during dry periods.

Wetland may  be defined as swampy, smelly, brown, stagnant water but do not go by its appearance Wetlands do indeed help maintain both the quantity and quality of our water supplies. Wetlands play an important role  in protecting water supplies for people as well as fish and wildlife.

Wetland has often been referred to as ?too wet to plow and too dry to swim?.

Benefits of wetlands are numerous. Some of them are-

1. Helping to control flooding and storm water. Wetlands help to stabilize soil and reduce erosion by soaking up excessive surface water runoff. They can then slowly release this excess water either into the groundwater or into the lake or stream.

 2. Protecting water quality by filtering and breaking down sediments, nutrients, and toxins and then slowly releasing the water to recharge the groundwater.

 3. Providing habitat for many different species of wildlife including fish, insects, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. This habitat is used for breeding, nesting, feeding and cover. Many threatened or endangered species depend on wetlands.

4. Providing numerous recreational opportunities for fishing, bird watching, canoeing, hiking and hunting. In addition, there are other economic benefits such as farming for blueberries, cranberries, wild rice and timber.

5. Treating pollution by serving as a biological and chemical oxidation basin. 6. Controlling erosion by serving as a sedimentation area and filtering basin for silt and organic matter.

Misuse of Wetland by uncontrolled human activities

Such alterations can affect the ability of the wetland to filter the excessive sedimentationand nutrients, which can result in deteriorated surface water quality. 

• Hydrologic alterations can significantly alter the soil chemistry and plant and animal communities. These alterations can be the results of: deposition of fill material, draining, dredging and channelization, diking and damming, diversion of flow and addition of impervious surfaces in the watershed, which increases water and pollutant runoff into wetlands.
• The input of pollutants, such as sediment, fertilizer, human sewage, animal waste, road salts, pesticides and heavy metals can exceed the wetland's natural ability to absorb such pollutants and cause degradation. Pollutants can come from urban, agricultural, silvicultural and mining runoff, air pollution, leakage from landfills and dumps, and boats stirring up pollutants around marinas.
• In addition to being impacted by hydrologic alterations and pollutants, wetland vegetation can be damaged by domestic animals grazing on them, non-native species that compete with natives and the removal of natural vegetation. 
• These activities affect the ability of the wetland to filter the excessive sedimentation and nutrients, which can result in deteriorated surface water quality. 

UAE truly believes that saving the world?s wetland will save the planet.

Organisations like the Emirates Wildlife Society working with the World Wildlife Fund are working to protect wetlands in the UAE.

With much of country arid desert, the mangroves that grow along the coasts are particularly precious – and fragile.

The UAE has seven designated as Wetlands of International Importance, also known as Ramsar sites, named after the Iranian city where the convention where international standards were agreed in 1971.

Abu Dhabi?s huge Bul Syayeef covers 14,500 hectares across the Mussaffah Channel and is home to nearly 3,000 breeding pairs of the greater flamingo and dugong. Its proximity to the city and the industrial area means Bul Syayeef is particular sensitive to man?s encroachment.

Dubai?s Ras Al Khor lies deep in the Creek and is hope to more than 20,000 migratory waterbirds. On the East Coast there are the mangroves at Khor Kalba and Wadi Wurayah National Park where fresh water flows through springs, pools and waterfalls.

But as the EWS-WWF points out, this is no reason for complacency. Khor Al Beida, in Umm Al Quwain is an important area for migratory birds – ?a jewel of the UAE coastal habitats? – and it currently well preserved. But the wetland has no formal protection ?and is regularly threatened by important development projects that can put the value and health of the whole ecosystem at high risk of disappearance?.

www.thenational.ae, maine.gov, Photo credit- The National