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Wetlands: Characteristics and Boundaries
CONCLUSIONS
A system of wetland delineation must be administered consistently. Wetland delineation standards must be understood by properly trained delineators, and delineations performed by different persons should have similar results on the same piece of ground. Public confidence in wetland delineations can be enhanced by a system that includes appropriate training and certification of delineators and dissemination of general information to the public about the nature of wetlands and the need for protection of this resource.
RECOMMENDATIONS
All federal agencies involved in wetland delineations should participate in jointly managed delineation training and should be part of a continuing-education program.
All federal agencies should use a single delineation manual that provides clear technical guidance and includes all rules and guidance.
Training for federal and private delineators must be rigorous. Agencies and professional associations should consider ways of disqualifying the results from unqualified wetland delineators.
The USACE program for certification of wetland delineators should continue, and should be available to federal and nonfederal personnel. Lists of certified delineators should be made available to the public.
Rigorous programs for quality control and quality assurance should be used by all agencies that conduct wetland delineations.
Records of wetland delineations should be maintained in a usable, accessible format that will enable the agencies to develop and release annually an inventory of wetlands subject to regulatory programs and to facilitate research and data analysis.
Central repositories should be developed for scientific substantiation of all indicators, including reference wetland sites.
Wetlands delineation should be postponed when a short delay might improve the accuracy of the delineation.
Consolidation of all wetland regulatory functions into a single federal agency would improve the consistency of wetland delineations but should not be implemented without appropriate oversight and quality assurance.
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