EPA’s National Wetland Condition Assessment (North Carolina)
Project Summary
Every 5 years since 2011, the North Carolina Division of Water Resources Wetland Science Team has participated in the EPA’s National Wetland Condition Assessment, an intensive survey of wetlands across the nation. In North Carolina, at each wetland site randomly chosen by the EPA, the Wetland Science Team surveys each wetland in an intensive one-day process which involves data collection related to vegetation, soils, hydrology, water quality, and buffer characteristics. Multiple rapid assessments are also conducted. Analysis of wetland data from the whole nation is later performed by the EPA and results published in comprehensive reports describing the health of the nation’s wetlands. The very first of these surveys was conducted in 2011.
From 2011 through 2021, NC DWR wetland staff have intensively surveyed 90 North Carolina wetland sites as part of this national assessment.
Links to Results from the National Wetland Condition Assessment
Reports and Data from the 2011 National Wetland Condition Assessment
Reports, Data, and Exploratory Dashboard from the 2016 National Wetland Condition Assessment
Reports, Data, and Exploratory Dashboard from the 2021 National Wetland Condition Assessment
The National Wetland Condition Assessment is a statistical survey to address some gaps in our understanding of wetland health by providing information on ecological condition of the nation’s wetlands and stressors most commonly associated with poor condition.
This work was funded by the EPA under Section 106 of the Clean Water Act, Water Pollution Control