Use of hydrogeomorphic concepts to design created wetlands in southeasternVirginia

Mitigation wetlands constructed in southeastern Virginia during the past de cade have experienced problems with inappropriate water levels, excessive e rosion and sedimentation, low levels of soil organic matter, overly compact ed substrates, and sulfidic soils. Most of these problems can be recognized in the future with adequate planning that permits sufficient study of the geomorphic and hydrologic processes active at the mitigation site, and if g reater attention is given to the history of geomorphic processes that creat ed natural wetlands in that area. New procedures of assessing wetland funct ions that use the "hydrogeomorphic" (HGM) classification of wetlands requir e examination of both surface and subsurface processes, if these HGM concep ts are expanded to include geomorphic evolution, they will greatly improve recent practices in the design and construction of mitigation wetlands. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.