U.S. Army Corps Wetland Delineator Methods

USING THE CORPS MANUAL

REGIONAL SUPPLEMENT TO THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS WETLAND DELINEATION MANUAL: NORTHCENTRAL AND NORTHEAST REGION (VERSION 2.0)

IDENTIFYING AND DOCUMENTING WETLANDS WITH HYDROPHYTIC VEGETATION INDICATORS, HYDRIC SOIL INDICATORS, AND WETLAND HYDROLOGY INDICATORS

Since the introduction of the regional supplement in 2012, the Corps Manual has been adopted, formally or informally, across the New England area as the standard wetland delineation procedure. This 5-day workshop will cover the identification and documentation of wetlands. Instructors will be James Gove and Dr. Susan Romano.

The first day will be both inside the classroom and in the field. Mr. Gove will focus on the hydrology and soil sections of the Wetland Determination Data Form and will conduct in the field transects to document the presence or absence of hydric soils and wetland hydrology.

 The second day will be both inside the classroom and in the field. Mr. Gove will detail the hydric soil indicators (including the Field Indicators for Identifying Hydric Soils in New England, Version 4.0), and the wetland hydrology indicators. 

 The third day is a detailed introduction to the guidance provided by the Corps Manual identifying hydrophytic vegetation indicators and wetland hydrology indicators. Dr. Romano will provide guidance for documenting the vegetation plots and what constitutes dominance of hydrophytic vegetation. This will be both inside the classroom and in the field.

 The fourth day will be both inside the classroom and in the field. Dr. Romano will focus on the vegetation section of the Wetland Determination Data Form and will conduct in the field transects to document the presence or absence of a dominance of wetland vegetation.

For field work, students need to bring field gear. Dress appropriately for field work. Given this is the Seacoast, poison ivy and ticks are common. Bring your field supplies, such as shovel, auger and color books. The field work will occur rain or shine unless a thunderstorm is present.