To make matters more confusing, each of these terms has a different meaning.

• Restoration is defined by the National Research Council as the "return of an ecosystem to a close approximation of its condidtion prior to disturbance." This usually involves reconstructing the physical features of the wetland, adjusting soil and water chemistry, and reintroducing native plants and animals.

• Creation is the construction of a wetland where one did not exist before. Also termed "constructed wetlands", this type of mitigation is usually difficult and has a low success rate. Wetlands are created in order to provide wastewater or stormwater treatment, or to replace or produce natural habitat.

• Enhancement is the alteration of an existing wetland to improve one or more specific functions. However, changing one wetland feature may negatively affect another.

Mitigation is a relatively new practice and most projects are less than twenty years old. A 1991 report by the Department of Environmental Regulation (now the DEP) assessed the effectiveness of mitigation wetlands in Florida. The report was to determine if the new wetlands were functioning properly (ecologically successful) and if they were in compliance with the regulations of the permit. Results ranged from minor problems such as reports not being submitted to major ones such as no mitigation being attempted at sites where wetland loss has occurred. Less than half of the created saltwater wetlands functioned naturally, and in some cases, only 10% of the created freshwater wetlands worked at all.

Attempting to recreate or replace what was lost sounds like a good idea in theory. In reality however, it is difficult to mimic the complex and connected systems that nature created the first time.