US Army Corps
of Engineers
Recognizing
Wetlands
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This brochure describes, in nontechnical terms,
ways an individual can determine whether an area
may be a wetland for purposes of the Corps of
Engineers permit program. It also tells who to contact
if you think an area to be filled is a wetland.
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What Is A Wetland?
The US Army Corps of Engineers and the US
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) jointly
define wetlands as follows:
Those areas ihat are inundated or saturated by
surface or ground water at a frequency and
duration sufficient to support, and that under
normal circumstances do support, a prevalence
of vegetation typically adapted for life in
saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally
include swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar
areas.
Wetlands are areas covered by water or that have
waterlogged soils for long periods during the growing
season. Plants growing in wetlands are capable of
living in soils lacking oxygen for at least part of the
growing season. Wetlands such as swamps and
marshes are often obvious, but some wetlands are not
easily recognized, often because they are dry during
part of the year or "they just don't look very wet"
from the roadside. Some of these wetland types
include, but are not limited to, many bottomland
forests, swamps, pocosins, pine savannahs, bogs,
marshes, wet meadows, potholes, and wet tundra. The
information presented here usually will enable you to
determine whether you might have a wetland. If you
intend to place dredged or fill material in a wetland
or in an area that might be a wetland, contact the
local Corps of Engineers District Office identified on
the back cover for assistance in determining if a
permit is required.
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Why Is It Necessary to Consider Whether
An Area Is A Wetland?
Section 404 of the Clean Water Act requires that
anyone interested in depositing dredged or fill material
into "waters of the United States, including wetlands,"
must apply for and receive a permit for such activities.
The Corps of Engineers has been assigned respon-
sibility for administering the Section 404 permitting
process. Activities in wetlands for which permits may
be required include, but are not limited to:
• Placement of fill material.
• Ditching activities when the excavated material is
sidecast.
• Levee and dike construction.
• Landclearing involving relocation of soil material.
• Landleveling.
• Most road construction.
• Dam construction.
The final determination of whether an area is a
wetland and whether the activity requires a permit
must be made by the appropriate Corps District
Office.
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How Can Wetlands Be Recognized?
The Corps of Engineers uses three characteristics
of wetlands when making wetland determinations -
vegetation, soil, and hydrology. Unless an area has
been altered or is a very rare natural situation,
wetland indicators of all three characteristics must be
present for an area to be a wetland. Each
characteristic is discussed below. However, there are
some general situations in which an area has a strong
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probability of being a wetland. If any of the following
situations occurs, you should ask the local Corps
office to determine whether the area is a wetland:
• Area occurs in a floodplain or otherwise has low
spots in which water stands at or above the soil
surface for more than 7 consecutive days during
the growing season. Caution: Most wetlands lack
both standing water and waterlogged soils during
at least part of the growing season.
• Area has plant communities that commonly occur
in areas having standing water for part of the
growing season (e.g., cypress-gum swamps,
cordgrass marshes, cattail marshes, bulrush and
tule marshes, and sphagnum bogs).
• Area has soils that are called peats or mucks.
• Area is periodically flooded by tides, even if only
by strong, wind-driven, or spring tides.
Many wetlands may be readily identified by the
above general situations, but there are numerous
wetlands in which it is unclear whether the above
occur. In such cases, it is necessary to carefully
examine the area for wetland indicators of the three
major characteristics of wetlands - vegetation, soil, and
hydrology. The following are wetland indicators of
these characteristics.
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Vegetation Indicators
Nearly 5,000 plant types in the United States may
occur in wetlands. A list of the types that occur in
your area can be obtained from the local Corps office,
the US Army Engineer Waterways Experiment
Station (WES), ATTN: CEWES-EP-D, PO Box 631,
Vicksburg, MS 39180-0631, or from the US Fish and
Wildlife Service, National Wetlands Inventory, 9720
Executive Center Drive, Suite 101, Monroe Bldg., St.
Petersburg, FL 33702. You can usually determine if
wetland vegetation is present by knowing a relatively
few plant types that commonly occur in your area.
For example, cattails, bulrushes, cordgrass, sphagnum
moss, bald cypress, willows, mangroves, sedges,
rushes, arrowheads, and water plantains usually occur
in wetlands. Other indicators of wetland plants can
exist as trees having shallow root systems, swollen
trunks (e.g., bald cypress, tupelo gum), or roots found
growing from the plant stem or trunk above the soil
surface. Several Corps offices have published pictorial
guides of representative wetland plant types. If you
cannot determine whether the plant types in your area
are those that commonly occur in wetlands, ask the
local Corps office or a local botanist for assistance.
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Soil Indicators
There are approximately 2,000 named soils in the
United States that occur in wetlands. Such soils, called
hydric soils, have characteristics that indicate they
were developed in conditions where soil oxygen is
limited by the presence of saturated soil for long
periods of the growing season. The US Soil
Conservation Service (SCS) has published a list of
hydric soils. This list is available from the local SCS
office, WES, or the local Corps office. If the soil in
your area is listed as hydric, the area might be a
wetland.
If the name of the soil in your area is not known,
there are several indicators of hydric soils that may
be determined by examining the soil, including:
• Soil consists predominantly of decomposed plant
material (peats or mucks).
• Soil has a thick layer (8 inches or more) of
decomposing plant material on the surface.
• Soil has a bluish gray or gray color at 10 to 12
inches below the surface, or the major color of
the soil at this depth is dark (brownish black or
black) and dull.
• Soil has the odor of rotten eggs.
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• Soil is sandy and has a layer of 3 inches or more
of decomposing plant material at the soil surface.
• Soil is sandy and has dark stains or dark streaks
of organic material in the upper layer 3 to 12
inches below the soil surface. These streaks are
decomposed plant material attached to the soil
particles. When soil from these streaks is rubbed
between the fingers, a dark stain is left on the
fingers.
Hydrology Indicators
Wetland hydrology refers to the presence of water
either above the soil surface or within the soil for a
sufficient period of the year to significantly influence
the plant types and soils that occur in the area. The
most reliable evidence of wetland hydrology is
provided by gaging station or ground water well data.
However, such information is limited for most areas
and, when available, requires analysis by trained
individuals. Thus, most hydrologic indicators are
those that can be observed during field inspection.
Most do not reveal either the frequency, timing, or
duration of flooding or the soil saturation. However,
the following indicators provide evidence of the
periodic presence of flooding or soil saturation:
• Standing or flowing water is observed on the area
for 7 or more consecutive days during the growing
season.
• Soil is water-logged. This can be determined by
digging a hole to a depth of 12 inches and
examining the soil. If water stands in the hole, if
the soil glistens with water at any depth to 12
inches, or if water can be squeezed from the soil,
the soil is waterlogged.
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Water marks are present on trees or other erect
objects. Such marks indicate that water period-
ically covers the area to the depth shown on the
objects.
Drift lines, which are small piles of debris oriented
in the direction of water movement through an
area, are present. These often occur along
contours and represent the approximate extent of
flooding in an area.
Debris is lodged in trees or piled against other
objects by water.
Thin layers of sediments are deposited on leaves
or other objects. Sometimes, these become
consolidated with small plant parts to form
discernible crusts on the soil surface.
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Wetland Determination
One or more indicators of wetland vegetation,
hydric soil, and wetland hydrology must be present for
an area to be a wetland. If you observe definite
indicators of one or two, but not all three
characteristics, you should seek assistance from either
the local Corps District Office or someone who is an
expert at making wetland determinations.
What To Do If Your Area Has
Wetlands That You Propose to Fill
Contact the Corps District Office that has
responsibility for the Section 404 permitting process
in your area. The address and telephone number of
this office are provided on the back of the brochure.
This office will accurately define the boundary of any
wetlands on your property, and will provide
instructions for applying for a dredge and fill permit,
if necessary.
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