How to determine if property is wetlands?

Wetland delineation via a trustworthy environmental consultant. I'd recommend C-K in BR.

Can also check USFWS National Wetlands Inventory Map to get a maybe. NRCS Web Spil Survey will tell if soils are hydric or not but the soil survey won't necessarily tell you if wet. The delineation will tell you if it's wet or not based on USACE/EPA guidelines.

I've always understood it's if the area retains water naturally all the time except for periods of extended or extreme drought

A consultant is going to be your best option. Do you have access to the property? Most consultants use plant life to determine wetlands. I don't know that area well, but in Florida I always used saw palmetto as a key indicator I was in the transition area between wetland to uplands. It's kind of an art, one palmetto might not mean much but if you get in an area with several you know your probable on the edge of what would be considered a wetland. Also if you can get access to infrared aerials the wetland areas will generally stand out.

Call NRCS and get them to check a map for you, or go here, click "start wss", and find the property

Those are quick ways to check before getting a consultant out there. They check for presence of present or past water, look at the soil type, and check out vegetation to determine if it is a wetland or not. If it doesn't hold water, the soil is the main qualifier.

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So if you are interested in a property they will check it out for you before the close?

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Believe it or not, almost all of the continental US has been walked and soil samples have been taken pretty much everywhere. That data was written down and NRCS has these big paper maps in the local offices. Those maps were recently put into the Web Soil Survey. It really is amazing to think that a couple of good ol baws walked around the entire country and dug holes every couple of yards

You will pay a pretty penny to have a consultant do a delineation.

Best bet is to find someone that used to do it that will do a preliminary look for free. I do those every now and then.

As for NRCS, that depends on the property. If it was ever in AG production, it will hage a determination. Depending on how old it is, it may be valid, it may not for Corps of Engineers purposes. NRCS determinations are for food security act compliance, so it could be 15 years old and still be good in their eyes.

With the Corps, that isn't the same story. A jurisdictional determination is only valid for 5 years.

Also, anyone that just looks at a map or soils map and tells you its wet or nonwet is doing you a disservice. There are very few instances where you can make a determination based on maps and soils solely, and those are typically things like marshes, swamps, etc. At best, they SHOULD only be telling you if it potentially has wetlands.

That's just my opinion, but that is the way I always worked with customers. Maps only tell you so much, and even NRCS will tell you field data should be taken to confirm soils. You can expand that to plants and hydrology as well. You need all 3 for a wetland.

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