Urban wetlands struggle to remove nitrogen during storm events, risking water quality.
Constructed wetlands in urban areas help clean up nitrogen pollution from wastewater, but they work better during normal flow than during storms. A study at SUNY Binghamton found that these wetlands removed 38% of nitrogen during regular flow, but during storms, they actually released 34% more nitrogen than they took in. This means that as climate change brings more storms, the wetlands may struggle to keep up with cleaning nitrogen from urban sources.