Ocean View May Adopt Ordinance
Protecting Water Resources

The town of Ocean View has seen increasing development over the past few years, and would like to provide for some degree of resource protection.  On May 27, the Ocean View Town Manager, Town Council, and Planning Commission met with Mark Biddle of DNREC’s Division of Water Resources and Joe Farrell from the University of Delaware Sea Grant Program to discuss the possibility of developing an ordinance that protects water bodies within the town, potentially including tax ditches and freshwater wetlands.  This meeting provided the forum for educating members of the Town Council about the importance of wetlands, water quality, and the function of buffers along aquatic systems.

Although this was an initial fact finding process for Ocean View, the intention is to continue to work toward and understand what impact protecting these areas brings.  The town first needs to scope out the information available within the town limits before proceeding.  Mark and Joe agreed to work with Ocean View further by providing examples of ordinances developed in other regions, geospatial data including wetlands, water corridors, and tax parcels, along with guidance for protecting resources.

Wetlands are the link between water and land or the collective term for areas between dry land and bodies of water.  The two major types of wetlands in Delaware are tidal and freshwater wetlands.  Delaware has 132,000 acres of freshwater wetlands and almost 90,000 acres of tidal wetlands.  These are some of the most productive environments we have, providing a host of benefits, including filtering pollutants from the water, helping to protect drinking water, providing protection from flooding, and supplying wildlife habitat.  Loss or degradation of wetlands often leads to increased flooding or declining water quality.