DES Adopts New Wetlands Rules
May 10, 2005

The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) has adopted new wetlands rules and they are available on its website, through the Wetlands Bureau web page or on DES’s Recently Adopted rules page. Note that the rules are posted in two documents: the definitions are in Wt 100 and separate from the Wt 200-800 section.

NHDES revised the wetlands rules to provide for their timely readoption per state law. Most of the changes made are very minor. One notable change is that DES has adopted version 3 of the Field Indicators for Identifying Hydric Soils in New England. (2004). Specific language from that part of the rules has been inserted below.

Wt 301.01(c) The hydric soils component of delineations produced under (a) or (b) above shall be determined in accordance with the manual "Field Indicators for Identifying Hydric Soils in New England" (Version 3, April 2004), published by the New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission.

(d) For the purposes of determining the hydrology component of delineations produced under (a) or (b) above, the term "soil surface" shall be defined as follows:

(1) For Histosols and Histic Epipedons, organic soils, and soils with a thick organic surface horizon, the top of the uppermost soil horizon or the ground surface; and

(2) For all mineral soils, the top of the mineral soil horizons.

You can download an electronic copy of the new Field Indicators Guide (or purchase one) from the New England Interstate Pollution Control Commission: www.neiwpcc.org.  One addition to the new version of the Field Indicators Guide is a Supplement (also downloadable) that provides information about the process of making a hydric soil determination. The Supplement is presented in a manner that the non-experts may find informative.

For more information, contact Sandy Crystall, Senior Resources Manager
NH DES Wetlands Bureau, PO Box 95, Concord, NH 03302-0095, e-mail scrystall@des.state.nh.us.