Description

Identification of soils as "hydric" is critical to the protection of wetlands under the Clean Water Act (CWA) (Federal Water Pollution Control Act, 2008). According to the "Corps of Engineers Wetlands Delineation Manual" (hereafter referred to as the "Delineation Manual") (Environmental Laboratory, 1987), the presence of a hydric soil is one of three factors that must be met in order for an area to meet the definition of a jurisdictional wetland. The other two are the presence of hydrophytic vegetation and wetland hydrology. The use of the Delineation Manual and Regional Supplements (U.S. Army, COE, 2010) is required for all Federal agencies involved in identification of wetlands that may be jurisdictional, as well as most states that have environmental programs to protect wetlands. The Delineation Manual generally is used on all lands not classified as agricultural lands. The National Food Security Act Manual (USDA, NRCS, 2008) is used on agricultural lands.