The lack of communication between agencies has a large impact on allowing wetlands to be converted. Looking back at New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina we see how unstable the land and manmade levees were, which shows the desperation in developing high earning communities without looking at the consequences and safety of the residents. This is an insight into the future that will happen should a large storm hit the coast of Southern California. With the realization of global warming, deforestation, and industrialization we now see the detrimental impacts on our environment.
Southern California has some of the highest population dense coastal areas in the country and the world ranging from 3,000-60,000 persons per square mile between Los Angeles and San Diego. California has the second highest profit margin based on land which entices developers to fill in these wetlands and create invasive buildings and residences, second only to New York. With houses being built directly on beaches and coastal wetland areas, many ecosystems are affected and destroyed in natural disasters because of the race to build instead of looking at the ecological impacts and safety of its inhabitants. Even when wetlands aren't being directly built on, they are affected from urbanization with issues like runoff that can ruin their water quality, and kill the entire population. Especially important is the presence of wetlands to help secure and stabilize the shorelines, which is essential due to the fact that urbanization is increasing in coastal areas. Without that stabilization, erosion and susceptibility to washing away during storms and erosive waves and currents would increase exponentially. According to the Department of Ecology in California, "The wetland plants act as a buffer zone by dissipating the water's energy and providing stability by binding the soils with their extensive root systems" (Godt 1998).
