Js. Wakeley, IDENTIFICATION OF WETLANDS IN THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN REGION AND THECERTIFICATION OF WETLAND DELINEATORS, Water, air and soil pollution, 77(3-4), 1994, pp. 217-226
According to the Corps of Engineers Wetlands Delineation Manual, wetla
nds are identified by the presence of field indicators of hydrophytic
vegetation, hydric soils, and wetland hydrology. In the southern Appal
achian region, situations that present problems for wetland delineator
s include (1) wetlands developed on recently deposited alluvial soils
that may show little evidence of hydric conditions, (2) areas occupied
by FAG-dominated plant communities, (3) wetlands affected by past or
present drainage practices, (4) man-induced wetlands that may lack cer
tain wetland field indicators, and (5) hydric soil units that are too
small or narrow to be delineated separately on soil survey map sheets.
In March 1993, under direction of Section 307(e) of the Water Resourc
es Development Act of 1990, the Corps of Engineers initiated a Wetland
Delineator Certification Program. A 1-year demonstration program has
recently ended in Maryland, Florida, and Washington, with nationwide i
mplementation scheduled for later in 1994. This voluntary program is d
esigned to increase the quality of wetland delineations submitted with
Section 404 permit applications, and reduce processing time by reduci
ng the need for extensive field verification of wetland boundaries.