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Wetland Assessment

Updated 12/05/2008

The National Wetland Team provides States with support on all technical issues pertaining to wetland functional assessments. The Wetland Team is in the process of developing a formal training/workshop on functional assessments, hydrogeomorphic (HGM) wetland classification, HGM functional assessments, development of rapid functional assessment models, use of data inputs into functional assessment to determine minimal effect, and use of data inputs and time/function calculations to determine appropriate minimal effect thresholds, mitigation requirements, and mitigation ratios.

Hydrogeomorphic Approach to Wetland Assessment

Policy

Hydrogeomorphic Wetland Classification System: An Overview and Modification to Better Meet the Needs of the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
This technical note provides a brief review of Brinson’s original concepts and provides additional structure to the HGM wetland classification system.
The National Action Plan To Implement the Hydrogeomorphic Approach To Assessing Wetland Functions
National Food Security Act Manual, Fourth Edition

Classification

Brinson, M. M. (1993). "A hydrogeomorphic classification for wetlands," Technical Report WRP-DE-4, U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg, MS. NTIS No. AD A270 053.
Smith, D. R., Ammann, A., Bartoldus, C., and Brinson, M. M. (1995). "An approach for assessing wetland functions using hydrogeomorphic classification, reference wetlands, and functional indices," Technical Report WRP-DE-9, U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg, MS. NTIS No. AD A307 121.

Regional Guidebooks

Low Gradient, Riverine Wetlands in Western Kentucky (1999). http://el.erdc.usace.army.mil/wetlands/pdfs/wrpde17/wrpde17.pdf
Wet Pine Flats on Mineral Soils in the Atlantic & Gulf Coastal Plain (2002). http://el.erdc.usace.army.mil/wetlands/pdfs/trel02-9.pdf
Intermontane Prairie Pothole Wetlands in the Northern Rocky Mountains (2002). http://el.erdc.usace.army.mil/wetlands/pdfs/trel02-7.pdf
Low Gradient Riverine Wetlands in Western Tennessee (2002). http://el.erdc.usace.army.mil/wetlands/pdfs/trel02-6.pdf
Northwest Gulf of Mexico Tidal Fringe (2002). http://el.erdc.usace.army.mil/wetlands/pdfs/trel02-5.pdf
Selected Regional Wetland Classes, Yazoo Basin, Lower Mississippi River Alluvial Valley (2002). http://el.erdc.usace.army.mil/wetlands/pdfs/trel02-4.pdf
Northern Rocky Mountains (2002). http://el.erdc.usace.army.mil/wetlands/pdfs/trel02-21.pdf
Flats Wetlands in the Everglades (2002). http://el.erdc.usace.army.mil/wetlands/pdfs/trel02-19.pdf
Low Gradient, Backwater Riverine Wetlands in Peninsular Florida (2003). http://el.erdc.usace.army.mil/wetlands/pdfs/trel03-3.pdf
Rainwater Basin Depressional Wetlands in Nebraska (2004). http://el.erdc.usace.army.mil/wetlands/pdfs/trel04-4.pdf
Depressional Wetlands in Peninsular Florida (2004). http://el.erdc.usace.army.mil/wetlands/pdfs/trel04-3.pdf
Forested Wetlands in the Delta Region of Arkansas, Lower Mississippi River Alluvial Valley (2004). http://el.erdc.usace.army.mil/wetlands/pdfs/trel04-16.pdf
Forested Wetlands in the West Gulf Coastal Pain Region of Arkansas (2005). http://el.erdc.usace.army.mil/wetlands/pdfs/trel05-12.pdf
Prairie Potholes (2006). http://el.erdc.usace.army.mil/wetlands/pdfs/trel06-5.pdf
Depressional Wetlands in the Upper Des Plaines River Basin (2005). http://el.erdc.usace.army.mil/wetlands/pdfs/trel06-4.pdf
Wetland & Riparian Forests in the Ouachita Mountains and Crowley’s Ridge Regions of Arkansas (2006). http://el.erdc.usace.army.mil/elpubs/pdf/trel06-14.pdf

Other Assessment Methods

California Rapid Assessment Method http://www.cramwetlands.org/
Uniform Mitigation Assessment Method (Florida) https://www.flrules.org/gateway/ChapterHome.asp?Chapter=62-345
Minnesota Rapid Assessment Method http://www.bwsr.state.mn.us/wetlands/mnram/MNRAM_fulltext.doc
Review of Rapid Assessment Methods for Assessing Wetland Conditions. http://www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/monitor/RapidMethodReview.pdf

Technical Notes

Wetland Assessment Information Series, Number 1: The NRCS Interim Hydrogemorphic Approach to Functional Assessment: What Should it Entail?

Wetland Assessment Information Series, Number 2: Assessing Habitats Created by Installation of Drop Pipes

Wetland Assessment Information Series, Number 3: Pesticide Reduction in Constructed Wetlands for Agricultural Non-point Source Runoff Treatment

Wetland Functional Assessments: Rapid Tools Used to Meet the Mandates of the 1985 Food Security Act and NRCS Wetland Protection Policy

State Interim Functional Assessment Procedures

The following are procedures for interim functional assessment are intended as examples for those in the process of developing their own procedures and to help bring about needed consistency between states and regions for interim functional assessment. Most of the procedures are draft or in early stages of development and should not be referred to or cited as final. Other examples are invited at this web site simply by contacting any one of the Wetland Science Team (WLI) staff.