Washington Scientists Use AI to Find Wetlands as Federal Protections Shrink
Washington state researchers have deployed a machine learning tool to locate wetlands that federal regulations increasingly fail to protect. The Wetland Intrinsic Potential tool, developed over the past eight years, identifies small and hard-to-spot wetlands across the state by analyzing terrain and vegetation data.
The tool arrives as the federal government narrows what counts as a protected wetland. The 2023 Supreme Court decision in Sackett v. EPA limited protections to wetlands with "continuous surface connections" to larger water bodies. In November 2025, the EPA further restricted this to wetlands with surface water during the local wet season or those touching year-round flowing water, removing protections from tens of millions of acres.
Finding What Satellites Miss
The National Wetlands Inventory, created in the 1970s from aerial images, remains the standard reference for wetland location. But it has a fundamental limitation: if wetlands aren't visible in photographs, they don't get mapped.
Washington's geography compounds this problem. Eastern Washington's semi-arid plains contain small wetlands that dry completely in summer. Western Washington's dense forest canopies hide wetlands beneath tree cover. Researchers call these hard-to-spot areas "cryptic wetlands."
The WIP tool works by training a machine learning algorithm on known wetland locations, then analyzing geospatial data about slope, terrain concavity, and vegetation. It calculates the probability that any given area contains a wetland, producing a zero-to-one-hundred percent likelihood score.
Meghan Halabisky, a University of Washington researcher and chief scientist at Tealwaters, which maps wetlands, collaborated with Dan Miller, a geomorphologist at TerrainWorks, to develop the tool. They began the project in 2018 with support from the Washington Department of Ecology, EPA, National Science Foundation, and NASA.
Different Uses, Different Regions
The tool has found practical application in two distinct ways across Washington.
In the Puget Sound region, cities like Tukwila have discovered new wetlands and updated old boundaries to strengthen conservation efforts. In agricultural Eastern Washington, the tool helps farmers and ranchers comply with state regulations through the Voluntary Stewardship Program, a non-punitive approach to watershed protection.
Jacob Taylor, who coordinates the program in Spokane County, said the WIP tool provides critical detail that the National Wetlands Inventory cannot. The federal inventory only maps wetlands larger than half an acre, too coarse for small farming operations. A farmer with a 300-acre property can now identify areas that could function as wetlands, converting portions to storage for floodwater, water quality improvement, and carbon sequestration.
The tool's property-scale data remains private, shared only with the landowner. This allows farmers to address wetland issues early without fear of regulatory penalties, Taylor said.
Housing Development and Flood Risk
The tool also informs decisions about where to build housing safely. Washington has the third-highest number of unsheltered people in the country, driving pressure to develop rural areas.
Some housing advocates have proposed filling or draining wetlands to create buildable land. But removing wetland vegetation does not redirect water elsewhere. Homes built on former wetlands may sit outside official flood insurance zones yet still flood.
Running the WIP tool without vegetation highlights areas where water naturally pools-former wetland locations with higher flood risk. Halabisky noted that much of Seattle's Rainier Valley neighborhood, where Lake Washington was lowered to enable development, shows as a former wetland under the model. That area has avoided major flooding so far, but she said building there still carries water risks.
Data Lag Limits Coverage
The tool's accuracy depends on regular lidar observations-airborne laser measurements that map terrain. In populated Western Washington, lidar updates occur every five years. In Eastern Washington, updates may come only once per decade.
This irregular schedule means full statewide coverage at higher resolution remains years away. Still, Amy Yahnke, senior wetlands scientist at Washington Department of Ecology, said the updated information already helps the state better protect wetlands, whether through state or federal regulation.
For AI for Science & Research professionals, the WIP tool demonstrates how AI Data Analysis can address gaps left by policy changes. Machine learning fills the space between regulatory definitions and ecological reality.
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