Evan Grottenthaler

Lesson 4: Assignment 4.1

Explore and use National Wetlands Inventory

Area: The mouth of Millers Creek, Pennsylvania, USA. It runs through my property in Cecil
which is some 30 miles south-west of Pittsburgh.
Latitude-Longitude: 40.321 | -80.221 (center)
Classification Systems compared:
Cowardin (1979) preset on NWI, Wetlands Map
and,
Brinson (1993)

I decided to choose the stream that runs through my property

because I was curious to see what it classified as myself. I spent
my whole life on this land and always thought my stream made it
very disguisable and special. It starts as an underground aquifer in
my neighbors yard running through my lawn into a park which is
called Millers Creek. Millers Creek then perpetually flows into
Chartiers Creek, which is a big body of water, which you may
remember I covered last week.
I live in Washington County, just a 15-minute drive from the city
of Pittsburgh. Our township is on the fence of rural and country.
For example, we own 8 acres (most of it being fields as you can
see by the freshly taken picture on the left).

The stream is home to a happy family of ducks that seem to come

back each year. Whether they be the same two, Im not sure. My
family and I like to pretend so (Jake and Jenny). There is not
much aquatic life, being that it is the start of a stream. Although,
you may find crayfish, minnows, water spiders, and as it becomes
more plentiful, trout and bass.
The vegetation consists of tall grass, shrubs, plenty of trees (image above), and occasional wild
flowers. NWI classified it as unknown perennial. Luckily I have a one-minute walk and a
decent skill in geography to make the decision for myself. My best judgement points towards
low perennial.

The following table is a cross between my two classification systems, Cowardin 1979, and
Brinson 1993, for five freshwater habitats.

Cowardin Code

1. R2UBH

Cowardin Type

Riverine Lower Perennial

Unconsolidated bottom Permanent Flooding

Brinson (HGM) Code Brinson (HGM) Type

1. RIVERINE (TNW)

Overbank flow

from a channel Predominantly

unidirectional
TNW Traditional Navigable Waters

2. E1UBL

3. L1UBV

Estuarine Subtidal Unconsolidated

2. ESTUARINEF

Bottom Subtidal

& freshwater runoff Salinities

range 0.5 - 30 ppt

Lacustrine Limnetic Unconsolidated 3. LACUSTRINF (TNW)

Bottom Permanently Flooded Tidal

4. PUBHx

Palustrine Unconsolidated

Bottom Permanently Flooded Excavated

hydrodynamics

5. PUBHh

Mixed ocean

Palustrine Unconsolidated Bottom

Permanently Flooded Diked/Impounded

Dominant

water sources and Hydrodynamics

Total area exceeds 8 ha Depth in deepest
part exceeds 2 mile

4. DEPRESS

Return Flow from

groundwater Vertical

5. ISOLATE(RPWWN)
Pond Wetlands adjacent to but not directly
abutting RPWs

From what I gathered while making this table, the Cowardin system captures all
types of functions of water. The first category simply distinguishes what kind of

system (e.g. Marine, riverine, etc.). The second part of the code is a number ranging
1 to 4 measuring the amount of vegetation that consumes it. The third seems to be
what kind of ground is this water is lying on (rock bottom, unconsolidated bottom,
etc.). Lastly is the hydraulic modifier. These consist of the types of flooding.
Brinsons system seems to focus more on the wetland function. It focuses on its
source and how it flows. It loosely throws around the term TNW which stands for
traditional navigational waters. With this approach we are able to study wetlands
effect on Relatively Permanent Waters and TNW. For example, direct flows, adjacent
waters, or isolated watersheds.

Above is a zoomed out image of my selected area, Cecil, Pennsylvania.

(www.fws.gov) NWI

Above (prior page) is an aerial view of my property with the wetland layer.
(www.fws.gov) NWI

-The channel bottom is composed of stone, gravel, and mud.

-It meanders through flood plains.
-Consistently around 4-6 feet wide until it meets with Chartiers Creek.
-The area is Washington County.
-Originated near my property but the underground aquifer
has a few more sporadic surfacing for a few miles upstream.

Although I spent a great deal of time trying to figure out the

differences between all of the systems, this assignment
helped improve my knowledge of water. Obviously the
stream isnt the same as a lake and a lake isnt the same as
an ocean. With this new perspective I will be able to view a
piece of water and classify its aquatic characteristics.

Works Cited
http://www.usace.army.mil/Portals/2/docs/civilworks/regulatory/cwa_guide/jd_guideb
ook_051207final.pdf
https://www.fws.gov/wetlands/Documents/classwet/plate25.htm
https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/documents/wetlands_7classification.pdf
https://www.fws.gov/wetlands/Data/Mapper.html
https://www.fws.gov/wetlands/Documents/Dichotomous-Keys-and-Mapping-Codesfor-Wetland-Landscape-Position-Landform-Water-Flow-Path-and-Waterbody-TypeVersion-3.pdf#search=%22brinson%22
http://fwf.ag.utk.edu/mgray/wfs560/Hagy2011.pdf
http://www.spa.usace.army.mil/Portals/16/docs/civilworks/regulatory/Bulk
%20Upload/Bulk%20Data%20HGM.pdf
http://wwx.inhs.illinois.edu/private/intranet/idot/wetland-clearinghouse/forms-anddata/waters-types-hgm/
http://depts.washington.edu/ehuf475/outclassification.htm