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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