Why wouldn't that be a violation of the Wetland's act. The EPA will crucify any homeowner it can catch if they try to fill in a puddle in their back yard.
It makes you wonder, doesn't it? If they turn the pumps off, New Orleans fills up with water. Is there anywhere else in the country where anybody is allowed to pump all the water out of a wetland and build houses?
In Virginia, we are fighting over a law which is now being interpreted as calling drainage ditches through people's yards tributaries of the Chesapeake, which means people can't fertilize their yards or build a deck or put up a shed without approval.