PRELIMINARY DATA 



GATHERING AND SYNTHESIS 



PART IV, SECTION B 



SELECT METHOD 

 PART IV, SECTION C 



r» 



ROUTINE 



DETERMINATION 



PART IV, SECTION D 



COMPREHENSIVE 



DETERMINATION 



PART IV, SECTION E 



JURISDICTIONAL 

 DETERMINATION 



Figure 1, General schematic diagram of activities leading 

 to a wetland/nonwetland determination 



routine determination procedure, comprehensive determination procedures will 



not be employed. 



Premise for use of the manual 



18. Three key provisions of the CE/EPA definition of wetlands (see 

 paragraph 26a) include: 



a. Inundated or saturated soil conditions resulting from permanent 

 or periodic inundation by ground water or surface water. 



b. A prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in 

 saturated soil conditions (hydrophytic vegetation) . 



£. The presence of "normal circumstances." 



19. Explicit in the definition is the consideration of three environ- 

 mental parameters: hydrology, soil, and vegetation. Positive wetland indi- 

 cators of all three parameters are normally present in wetlands. Although 

 vegetation is often the most readily observed parameter, sole reliance on 

 vegetation or either of the other parameters as the determinant of wetlands 

 can sometimes be misleading. Many plant species can grow successfully in both 



( 



f 



10 



