The Wetland Center provides opportunities for research, education, wildlife observation, and community gatherings within a comfortable, environmentally-conscious building. The Center partners with area school districts, wildlife and conservation organizations, and research institutions. The Wetland Center resides in the middle of the East Fork Wetland Project which was designed to filter treated wastewater and supplement the water supply for 1.7 million people living in north Texas. It is one of the largest constructed wetlands on the United States and is located along the banks of the East Fork of the Trinity River, 25 miles southeast of Dallas, TX. An additional 1,200 acres of bottomland hardwood forest with seasonal shallow wetlands are located on the opposite side of the river and is dedicated as a wetland mitigation bank in honor of John Bunker Sands called the Bunker Sands Mitigation Bank.