UNDERSTANDING THE PROPOSED REVISIONS 



TO THE WETLANDS DELINEATION MANUAL: 



A BACKGROUNDER 



INTRODUCTTON - The following discussion of the proposed revisions to the 1989 

 "Federal Manual for Identifying and Delineating Jurisdictional Wetlands" (1989 Federal 

 Manual) provides a brief overview of the history and current status of the proposed 

 revisions. The 1989 Federal Manual describes how to delineate vegetated wetlands for 

 the purpose of determining areas regulated as "waters of the United States" under 

 Section 404 of the Qean Water Act as well as for the purpose of implementing 

 Swampbuster provisions under the Conservation Title of the Food Security Act of 1985, 

 as amended. Major revisions to the 1989 Federal Manual have been proposed to 

 address technical concerns identified in implementing the Federal Manual over the past 

 two years, to reduce misinterpretations and the possibility of erroneous wetland 

 determinations, and to better explain the 1989 Federal Manual's usage. Public 

 comments on the proposed revisions will be accepted through October 15, 1991. 



WETLANDS - Simply put, 

 wetlands are the areas on the 

 landscape where land and water 

 meet. In general, they are lands 

 that are either inundated with 

 surface water or saturated with 

 groundwater long enough during 

 the growing season to make it 

 necessary for the vegetation to 

 adapt to growing in saturated 

 soil conditions. This periodic or 

 permanent wetness is the 

 fundamental factor that makes 

 wetlands different from uplands. 

 While most people picture 

 wetlands as marshy areas with 

 lush aquatic plants, there are 

 actually many more kinds of 

 wetlands. In fact, in certain 

 seasons, many ecologically 

 important wetlands may be dry 

 or lack signs of plant life. 



The term wetlands 

 describes a broad spectrum of 

 plant communities. Wetlands 

 can range in size from tens of 

 thousands of acres in extent to 



EXAMPLES OF WETHLAhfDS TYPES 

 BOGS typically have a thick layer of floating root masses or peat oo the 

 surface and are higjily acidic They may have no regular inlet or outlet of 

 water, thus they are dependent upon precipitation for water. Most 

 floating bogs are found in the northern United States. Pocosins, also a 

 type of bog, are described below. 



BOTTOMLAND HARDWOODS are deciduous forested wetlands, found 

 along rivers and streams generally in the broad floodplain of the southeast 

 and south central United States. 



EMERGENT WETLANDS are characterized by free-sUnding, noowoody 

 plants. They can be either freshwater or saltwater. Emergent wetlands 

 are found throughout the United States particularly in coastal areas, 

 adjacent to major lakes, and in the West. 

 FENS have a defined outlet and are supported by mineral rich 

 groundwater that has seeped to the surface. Like bogs, fens have large 

 amounts of peat. They are found Jn the northern United States. 

 MANGROVE SWAMPS are coastal saltwater shrub or forested wetlands 

 that may be flooded with water all year around or only during high tide. 

 Mangroves are found along the coast of the southern United Sutes. 

 MARSHES are emergent wetlands typically with a regular inlet and outlet 

 of water. They can be either salt or freshwater, inland or coastal They 

 are dominated primarily by nonwoody vegetation. Marshes are found 

 throughout the United States. 



SWAMPS are dominated primarily by trees or shrubs and are found 

 throughout the United Slates. 



PRAIRIB POTHOLES arc depressional wetlands found in the Upper 

 Midwest, especially North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota. They 

 are major waterfowl breeding and migration resting areas. 

 PLAYA LAKES are periodically flooded wetland basins that are common 

 In parts of the Southwest and Plains States. 



PCkX)SINS are broadleafed cvei^grcen shrub bogs found in the Southeast. 

 They may not be readily apparent because the thick underlying peaty soils 

 dry out rapidly after the early part of the growing season. 

 VERNAL POOLS are natural^ occurring depressional wetlands that are 

 covered by shallow water for variaWe periods from winter to spring, but 

 may be completely dry for most of the summer and fall. 



