Memorandum in Support of the Motion of the United States for Partial Summary Judgement on Liability

Pleadings from United States v. SFWMD, et al.,
Case No. 88-1886-CIV-HOEVELER

Memorandum in Support of the Motion of the United States for Partial Summary Judgement on Liability

Part I

Memorandum Part II
In Support of the Motion of the United States for Partial Summary Judgment of Liability

Motion of the U.S. for Partial Summary Judgement on Liability

Style

Table of Contents

Table of Authorities

Statutes

Glossary

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
MIAMI DIVISION

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff,

vs .

SOUTH FLORIDA WATER MANAGEMENT
DISTRICT; JOHN R. WODRASKA,
Executive Director, South Florida
Water Management District;
FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL
REGULATION; and DALE TWACHTMANN,
Secretary, Florida Department Of
Environmental Regulation,

Defendants.

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Case No
88-1886-CIV-WMH

FILED by SEC D.C.

Docket #:

MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF
THE MOTION OF THE UNITED STATES
FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT ON LIABILITY

TABLE OF CONTENTS

		Page
	TABLE OF AUTHORITIES ..............................................................	vi
	INDEX TO EXHIBITS ......................................................................	vii
	GLOSSARY ......................................................................................	xiv
I.	INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT ....................................................	1
II.	SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT ............................................................	2
III.	FACT ..................................................................................................	9
	A. Everglades National Park ............................................................	10
	B. The Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge ...............................................................................	14
	C. Development and Agricultural Water Use Have Significantly Damaged the Historic Everglades ................................	16
	1. The Everglades Ecosystem ....................................................	17
	a. The Native Everglades Ecosystem is Very Sensitive to Excess Nutrients ..........................................	17
	b. Drainage in South Florida Has Greatly Diminished the Historical Everglades ...............................	21
	2. District Water Management Is Irreversibly Damaging the Everglades .........................................................	23
	a. District Water Management Pollutes the Park and Refuge ................................................................	23
	i. Water Management in the EAA Causes Increased Nutrient Concentrations in Drainage Waters Which District Pumps Discharge to the Refuge, the WCAs and the Park ..................................................	23
	ii. The District's Interim Action Plan Has Increased Environmental Damage By Exacerbating Nutrient Loading to the WCAs ...............................................................	29
	iii. The Refuge Receives Excessive Nutrient Loads from the District's Pump Stations ...........................................................	31
ii
	iv. Nutrient-Polluted Water Moves Southward Through the WCAs to the Park ...........................................................	33
	b. District Nutrient Pollution Has Damaged the Everglades, Including the Park and Refuge...............................................................	34
	i. Nutrient Pollution Causes Imbalances at Every Level of the Everglades Ecosystem ..........................................................	36
	a) Phosphorous Loading of the Soil Column is One of the First Nutrient-Related Impacts on the Everglades Ecosystem .................................	38
	b) Adverse Impacts of Nutrients on Microbial Populations Are Another Early Indicator of Ecosystem Disruption ...................................	39
	c) Nutrients Also Adversely Impact the Periphyton Community .............................	40
	d) Nutrients Cause a Detrimental Lowering of Dissolved Oxygen .......................	43
	e) Nutrient Pollution Causes Imbalances in Everglades Macrophyte Communities ...............................	44
	f) The Altered Ecosystem Does Not Support Indigenous Wildlife Communities ...................................................	46
	ii. Nutrient-Polluted Agricultural Drainage Has Caused Damage in the Park and Refuge .....................................................	48
	a) Nutrient-Enriched Discharges From the Districts's Pumps Have Caused Harm to the Native Flora and Fauna of the Refuge ......................................................	49
	b) Nutrient-Enriched Inflows Have Already Caused Harm to the Park ...................................................	52
iii
	c) Further Environmental Damage to the Park Is Inevitable if Present Trends Continue .............................	55
	D. The Defendants Have Failed to Halt Environmental Damage to the Everglades ...........................................................	57
	1. SFWMD Has Substantial Discretion to Manage Water in South Florida and to Comply With State Water Quality Laws ....................................................	57
	2. The District and DER Have Known About Impacts of Nutrient-Polluted Drainage on Everglades Ecosystems for at Least Fifteen Years Without Taking Corrective Action .............................	61
IV.	ARGUMENT ..........................................................................................	68
	A. Count I - Defendants Have Breached Their Duty To Enforce Florida's Water Quality Statutes, Damaging the Park and Refuge ....................................................	70
	1. Defendants Have Failed to Enforce Water Quality Standards Applicable to the Refuge ..........................	73
	a. Water Quality in Loxahatchee Violates Class III Water Quality Standards ......................................	73
	i. Water Entering the Refuge Violates the Numerical Dissolved Oxygen Standard ......................................................	74
	ii. Concentrations of Nutrients which Result in the Dominance of Nuisance Species are Present in Water Entering the Refuge .................................................	75
	iii. The Biological Integrity of the Refuge is Being Impaired by Saturation with Nutrients ......................................	75
	iv. Nutrient Concentrations In Water Entering Loxahatchee are Causing an Imbalance in the Natural Populations of Aquatic Flora and Fauna ..............................................................	76
	b. Defendants Have Failed to Enforce the OFW Standard in the Refuge .............................................	77
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	2. Defendants Have Failed to Enforce Water Quality Standards Applicable to the Park ..........................	78
	a. The Defendants Allow Violations of Class III Water Quality Standards in the Park ...............	78
	b. The Steady Trend of Increasing Nutrient Concentrations in Park Inflows Violates the Park's OFW Anti-Degradation Standard ......................................................................	79
	B. Count II - Defendants' Intentional Diversion of Polluted Water Constitutes a Nuisance Under State Law ........................................................................................	80
	C. Counts I and II - Defendants Fail to Fulfill Their State Law Duty to Require and Obtain Permits ..........................	82
	1. Defendants Fail Adequately to Consider Everglades Environmental Impacts Before Issuing Permits For Use and Management of Waters .............................................................................	83
	2. Defendants Fail to Consider Everglades Environmental Impacts Before Issuing EAA Stormwater and Surface Water Management and Storage Permits ..........................................................	86
	3. The Defendants Fail To Require Adequately Protective Discharge Permits for EAA Discharges ........................................................................	89
	4. Defendants Fail to Require Permits for Current EAA Discharges So To Satisfy the State Antidegradation Water Quality Standard ............................................................................	91
	5. Defendants Fail to Require or Obtain Stormwater and Surface Water Management and Storage Permits for the Pumps that Discharge into the Refuge and South Toward the Park .............................................................................	92
	D. Defendants Are in Violation of the License Agreement with the United States .............................................	95
	1. The License Agreement Provides for Both Wildlife and Flood Control Uses .........................................	96
	2. SFWMD Violates Section Two of the Agreement by Polluting Wildlife Habitat .................................................	98
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	E. The District Has Violated the Memorandum of Agreement.................................................................................	100
V.	CONCLUSION ..................................................................................	101
	ATTACHMENT A Declaration of Dr. Ron Jones
	ATTACHMENT B Declaration of Dr. Mark Maffei
	ATTACHMENT C Declaration of Dr. William Walker
vi TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
	CASES:	PAGE
	Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317 (1986) ......................................................................	68
	Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574 (1986) ................................................	68
	Barnes v. Southwest Forest industries Inc., 814 F.2d 607 (11th Cir. 1987) .......................................................	68
	Florida Wildlife Federation v. State Department of Environmental Regulation, 390 So.2d 64 (Fla. 1980) ...............................................................	90
	Pensacola Gas Co. v. Pebley, 25 Fla. 381, 5 So. 593 (1889) ........................................................	79
	DeCarion v.-Department of Environ, Regulation, 445 SO.2d 619 (Fla. App. 1 Dist. 1984) .........................................	71
	Bunyak v. Clyde Yancey and Sons Dairy, Inc., 438 So.2d 891 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1983) .......................................	79
	Town of Surfside v. County Line Land Co., 340 So.2d 1287 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App.), cert. denied, 352 S.2d 175 (Fla. 1977) ............................................	71
	Wetzel v. A. Duda & Sons, 306 So.2d 533 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App.), cert. denied 316 So.2d 289 (Fla. 1975) ...........................................	79
	St. Regis Paper Company v. Pollution Control Board, 298 So.2d 217 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1974) ........................................	79
	State of Florida Department of Environmental Regulation v. Desert Ranches of Florida, Case No. 78-2040, (Fla. D.E.R. Sept. 13, 1989) .............................	89
	Zellwood Drainage and Water Control District v. St. John's River Water Management District, No. 88-5486 R, (Fl. Div. of Admin. Hearings, Feb. 27, 1989) .................................................................................	67,82
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	STATUTES:
	Everglades National Park Enabling Act of 1934 16 U.S.C. � 1 (1988) ....................................................................... 16 U.S.C. � 410c (1988) .................................................................	13 10,13
	Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act of 1934 (as amended) 16 U.S.C. �� 661-668ss (1985) ................................	14
	(Name of Statute) 16 U.S.C. �� 1131-1136 (1985) .....................................................	13
	Flood Control Act of June 30, 1948 24 Flood Control Act of September 3, 1954 (Modified in 1958, 1962, 1965, 1968 & 1979) ................................	25
	River Basin Monetary Authorization and Miscellaneous Civil Works Amendments Act of 1970, Pub. L. No. 91-282, � 2, 84 Stat. 310 .............................................	26
	Florida Air and Water Pollution Control Act of 1975 Fla. Stat. Ch. 403 ............................................................................	passim
	Florida Water Resources Act of 1972, Fla. Stat. Ch. 373 ..........................................................................	passim
	Florida Surface Water Improvement and Management Act, Fla. Stat. Ann. �� 373.451-373.503 (1988) ...................................	13
	Fla. Stat. Ann. Ch. 373 ....................................................................	passim
	Fla. Stat. Ann. Ch. 403 ....................................................................	passim
	Fed. R. Civ. P.: Rule 56 ........................................................................................	68
	50 C.F.R. Ch. 1, � 10.13 (1986) ..................................................... 50 C.F.R. Ch. 1, � 17.95(b) (1989) ................................................	15 15
	Florida Administrative Code: Section 17 ....................................................................................... Section 40E .....................................................................................	passim passim
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INDEX TO EXHIBITS

1. Cooperative and License Agreement Between the Central and Southern Florida Flood Control District and the United States of America (June 8, 1951).

2. Memorandum of Agreement Among the Army Corps of Engineers, the South Florida Water Management District and the National Park Service for the Purpose of Protecting the Quality of Water Entering Everglades National Park (February 10, 1984).

2a. Map of the Water Conservation Areas:
Small version
Larger version

3. Fl. Atty. Gen. Letter, from R. Butterworth, to Gov. Martinez (August 24, 1980).

4. SFWMD Draft Memorandum, from P. Rhoads to J. Garner (July 24, 1989).

5. SFWMD First Draft SWIM Plan, Vol. I, Executive Policy Summary (August 9, 1989).

6. SFWMD First Draft SWIM Plan, Vol. II, Planning and Implementation (August 9, 1989).

7. SFWMD First Draft SWIM Plan, Vol. III-A, Technical Report (November 8, 1989).

8. SFWMD First Draft SWIM Plan, Vol. III-B, Technical Report (November 8, 1989).

9. SFWMD Second Draft SWIM Plan, Vol. I, Executive Summary (April 11, 1989).

10. SFWMD Second Draft SWIM Plan, Vol. II, Planning and Implementation (April 11, 1990).

11. SFWMD Second Draft SWIM Plan, Vol. III-A, Technical Report, Key Technical Issues (April 11, 1990).

11a. SFWMD Final Draft SWIM Plan, Vol. I, Executive Summary (September 12, 1990).

11b. SFWMD Final Draft SWIM Plan, Vol. II, Planning and Implementation (August 9, 1990).

11c. SFWMD Final Draft SWIM Plan Vol. I, Executive Summary (September 28, 1990).

11d. SFWMD Final Draft SWIM Plan Vol. II, Planning and Implementation (September 28, 1990).

12. Comments of the United States on the April 11, 1990 Draft SWIM Plan. Cover Letter, from Richard B. Stewart, to John Wodraska (June 1, 1990).

13. Comments of the United States on the November 1989 Draft SWIM Plan). Cover Letter, from Richard B. Stewart, to John Wodraska (February 28, 1990).

14. Nomination of Everglades as a Wetland of International Importance (May 1987).

15. UNESCO, A Practical Guide to Man and the Biosphere, Appendix A (1987).

16. United States of America Nomination of the Everglades National Park for the UNESCO World Heritage List (1979).

17. Senate Treaty Document 99-28, 99th Cong., 2d Sess. (1986).

18. 78 Cong. Rec. H9501 (daily ed. May 24, 1934) (statement of Rep. Treadway).

19. H.R. Rep. No. 1455, 91st Cong., 2d Sess. (1970).

20. H.R. Rep. No. 99-535, 99th Congress, 2d Sess. (1986).

21. Map of the South Florida Water Management District.

22. SFWMD Everglades Nutrient Removal Management Plan (undated).

23. S. Davis, et al., Draft Statement Paper: An Assessment of the Potential Benefits to the Vegetation and Water Resources of Everglades National Park and the Southern Everglades Ecosystem Associated with the General Design Memorandum to Improve Water Deliveries to Everglades National Park (1987).

24. SFWMD Technical Memorandum, P. Millar, Water Quality Analysis in the Water Conservation Areas 1978 & 1979 (1981).

25. S. Davis, Sawgrass and Cattail Nutrient Flux: Leaf Turnover, Decomposition, and Nutrient Flux of Sawgrass and Cattail in the Everglades (undated).

26. H.R. Doc. No. 643, 80th Cong. 2d Sess. (1948).

27. H.R. Doc. No. 369, 90th Cong., 2d Sess. (1968).

28. S. Rep. No. 91-895, 91st Cong., 2d Sess. (1970).

29. Memorandum, from S.J. Niego, to S.A. Walker (August 5, 1987) (SWIM Bill, Section 6(2); Impact on District Operations).

30. Draft Memorandum, from J. Rader, to S. Walker and I.K. Quincey (July 29, 1986) (Operating Regulations for Pumping Stations within the Everglades Agricultural Area and Potential Liability for operating Outside Regulations).

31. 1973 Map of Soil Levels in the EAA.

32. 1988 Map of Soil Levels in the EAA.

33. Memorandum, from D. Gilpin-Hudson, to B. Adams (August 22, 1989) (Agricultural Water Use Projections for the Governor's Water Resource Commission).

34. SFWMD Technical Publication 83-4, Decomposition, Nutrient Uptake and Microbial Colonization of Sawgrass and Cattail Leaves in Water Conservation Area 2A (1983).

35. SFWMD Study, Water Quality and Nutrient Loading Analysis of the Water Conservation Areas 1978-1983 (1984).

36. Option, Interim Action Plan (November 16, 1987).

37. SFWMD Interim SWIM Plan for Lake Okeechobee (February 9, 1989).

38. Memorandum, from David Swift, to Walt Dineen (December 28, 1987) (Telephone Conversation with Dr. Paul Parks, LOTAC Committee Member).

39. Draft Memorandum, from J. W. Dineen, to P. Bidol (August 28, 1986) (Water Conservation Areas).

40. DER Interoffice Memorandum, from B. Hinkley, to P. McVety (February 17, 1987).

41. Letter, from J.W. Ault III., to Dr. J. Bransome (November 18, 1988) (Concerns Regarding SWIM Plan for Conservation Areas 1, 2, & 3).

42. P. Gleason, et al., The Impact of Agricultural Runoff on the Everglades Marsh Located in the Conservation Areas of the Central and Southern Florida Flood Control District (1975).

43. Draft Memorandum, from P. Rhoads to Files (August 23, 1989) (FSCL Presentation to Governing Board of 8/5/89).

44. SFWMD Technical Publication 81-5, Preliminary Investigation of Periphyton and Water Quality Relationships in the Everglades Water Conservation Areas (1981).

45. SFWMD Technical Publication 87-2, Periphyton and Water Quality Relationships in the Everglades Water Conservation Areas 1978-1982 (1987).

46. SFWMD Board Meeting Staff Briefing Overheads (May 6, 1989).

47. DER Report, Water Quality Data Assessment of South Florida Water Conservation Area (December 1987).

48. Everglades Symposium Abstracts, S. Davis, Phosphoric Inputs and Vegetation Sensitivity in an Oligotrophic Everglades Ecosystem, (October 1989).

49. SFWMD Action Plan to Protect Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades (1988).

50. D. Swift, Abstract: Effects of Nutrients on the Structure and Function of Everglades Periphyton Communities (1987).

51. F. Davis, Draft Evaluation, Option: IAP (June 30, 1986).

52. DER Interoffice Memorandum, from H.H. Zebuth, to P. Mathews (September 12, 1989) (Comments of Draft SWIM Plan for the Everglades).

53. SFWMD Memorandum, from J. Hall, to A. Hall, et al. (December 31, 1985) (Western C-51 Permit Application).

54. State of Florida, Resolution of Governor and Cabinet (February 23, 1988).

55. Attached Notes to Letter, from R.L. Armstrong, to T.K. MacVicar (May 18, 1990) (DER Completeness Review Summary for SFWMD Stormwater Management System Permit Applications for Structures S-5A, S-6, S-7, S-8 & S-150).

56. SFWMD Memorandum, from M.J. Maceina, to Distribution List (March 20, 1990) (Analysis of Water Quality and Hydrologic Data from Water Conservation Area 2-A).

57. SFWMD Memorandum, from J.W. Dineen, to D.O. Morgan (June 16, 1971) (Reply to Fourth Paragraph of 5/21/71 Letter From Bill Partington) .

58. USDA Letter from K.K. Steward, to W. Dineen (November 14, 1972) (Results of Plant Analyses).

59. Draft Summary of Findings and Recommendations from the Special Project to Prevent the Eutrophication of Lake Okeechobee (May 1976).

60. P. Gleason, et al., Preliminary Report on the Effect of Agricultural Runoff on the Periphytic Algae of Conservation Area 1 (1975).

61. SFWMD Memorandum, from W. Dineen, to B. Storch (April 10, 1975) (North Springs Improvement District).

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62. Administrative Decision: In Re: Ar)plication No. 23660 by Sucrose Growers & Rocrer Hatton for Permits for Water Use, Surface Water Management and Right of Way Occupancy, Docket No. 67 (October 20, 1975).

63. State of Florida Letter, from R.G. Whittle, Jr., to J.R. Maloy (August 30, 1978) (Comments and Recommendations to SFWMD's Draft Report on Water Quality in the EAA and the Impact on Lake Okeechobee).

64. SFWMD Executive Summary Addendum, Water Quality Management Strategy for Lake Okeechobee (November 1982).

65. SFWMD Memorandum, from J.W. Dineen, to P.B. Rhoads (November 18, 1985) (Agricultural Flow-Way Concept).

66. SFWMD Memorandum, from S.J. Niego, to S. Reel (September 8, 1982) (Financing Mechanism for Holeyland Project).

67. SFWMD, Draft Resource and Process Issues (November 1985).

68. SFWMD Memorandum, from S. Walker, to P. Rhoads (December 5, 1985) (Draft Strategy for Agricultural Area).

69. SFWMD Letter, to Dr. P. Parks, from R. Rogers (January 21, 1988) (EAA Regulatory Program).

70. SFWMD Letter, to Mr. E. Whitfield, from J. Wodraska (October 4, 1988) (DER Regulatory Programs for Problems Caused by EAA).

71. Administrative Decision: Zellwood Drainage and Water Control District v. St, John's River Water Management District (Fl. Div. of Admin. Hearings, Feb. 27, 1989).

72. DER Interoffice Memorandum to Pam McVety, from R. Frydenborg & L. Ross (November 24, 1987) (Projects - General; Everglades Water Conservation Areas).

73. Administrative Decision: state of Florida Department of Environmental Regulation v. Deseret Ranches of Florida, (Fla. D.E.R. Sept. 13, 1989).

74. DER Permit No. RT 50-15769 (Dec. 10, 1979).

75. DER Interoffice Memorandum, from J. Bottcher, to B. Hinkley (April 24, 1980) (Outstanding Florida Waters).

76. DER Letter, from D. Twachtmann, to J. Wodraska (January 9, 1990) (Permit Issues).

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77. SFWMD Report, Review of the Rules and Enforcement Programs of the South Florida Water Management District Pertaining to the Pollution of Surface Waters (1988).

78. Memorandum, from R. Rogers, to A. Hall (Oct. 5, 1981) (Everglades Agricultural Area Permits).

79. General Plan for the Use of Wildlife Conservation and Management of Water Conservation Area No. 1, Central and Southern Florida Flood Control District 1950).

80. SFWMD Final Draft SWIM Plan Vol. III, Technical Report (September 12, 1990).

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GLOSSARY

Aerobic Bacteria: bacteria requiring oxygen for metabolic functions.

Anaerobic: living or active in the absence of oxygen.

Aquatic Sloughs: a minor marshland or tidal waterway which usually connects other tidal areas; aquatic sloughs represent the lowest elevations of the Everglades marsh, having deeper water levels and longer inundations periods than other Everglades wetland communities.

Benthic Fauna: animal life living on the bottom or at the greatest depths of a large body of water, such as the Everglades marsh.

Detrital: a product of disintegration or wearing away such as leaf litter or decomposing plant life.

Ephemeropterans: insect commonly known as the Mayfly.

Eutrophication: process characterized by an abundant accumulation of nutrients that support a dense growth of plant and animal life, the decay of which depletes the waters of oxygen. In the Everglades, eutrophication is an unnatural process which is triggered by excessive nutrient pollution.

Facultative Bacteria: bacteria having the capacity to live under more than one specific set of environmental conditions.

Fauna: the animal life characteristic of a particular region or environment.

Flora: the plant life characterizing a specific geographic region or environment.

Gastropods: a mollusk of the class Gastropoda, such as a snail or slug, having a single, usually coiled shell and a ventral muscular mass serving as an organ of locomotion.

Hammocks: a fertile area, common in Everglades National Park, that is often somewhat higher than its surroundings and characterized by hardwood vegetation and soil of greater depth.

Hydroperiod: the duration and depth of surface water that covers an area.

Leaching: the process by which liquid percolates through soil or other medium.

Leaf Litter: organic debris that results from falling or decomposing plant life.

Macrophyte: a large plant, especially one in an aquatic habitat, such as sawgrass or cattail.

Microflora: the smallest unit of plant life characterizing a specific geographic environment; a small or strictly localized flora.

Mineralization: (for present purposes) biological process by which an organism converts an inorganic form of phosphorus that the organism cannot utilize into another inorganic form that it can utilize.

Mole Drain: a subsurface channel for water drainage formed by pulling a solid object, usually a solid cylinder having a wedge-shaped point at one end, through the soil at the proper slope and depth.

Nutrients: (for present purposes) phosphorus and nitrogen.

Nutrient (phosphorus) cycling: complex pathways and interactions that a nutrient such as phosphorus undergoes as a result of biological and nonbiological processes in an ecosystem.

Oligotrophic: characterized by species of microorganisms, periphyton and macrophytes that are adapted to low concentrations of dissolved nutrients; lacking plant nutrients and usually containing plentiful amounts of dissolved oxygen without marked stratification in the water column. The Everglades is an oligotrophic system.

Periphyton: community of microorganisms (primarily algae) that represents a major component of the marsh food chain and also influences dissolved oxygen concentrations, calcium carbonate deposition, and nutrient cycling in the marsh. Periphyton is recognized as an important component of the Everglades ecosystem.

Phosphatase: enzyme possessed by all organisms which is used to mineralize and remineralize forms of phosphorus so as to convert the phosphorus into a form that the organism can utilize.

Remineralization: (for present purposes) biological process by which an organism converts an organic form of phosphorus that it cannot utilize into an inorganic form that it can utilize.

Sheet Flow: a shallow moving expanse of water as occurred in the historic Everglades before development and still occurs in undeveloped portions of the marsh.

Tree Islands: isolated emergent trees surrounded by lower stature marshes, primarily comprised of swamp forest vegetation.

Turbidity: cloudy or hazy appearance in a naturally clear liquid caused by a suspension of liquid droplets or fine solids.

Water Table: the depth or level below which the ground is saturated with water; groundwater level.

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Wetlands: those areas that are inundated by surface or ground water with a frequency sufficient, under normal circumstances, to support a prevalence of vegetative or aquatic life that requires saturated or seasonally saturated soil conditions for growth and reproduction. Wetlands include marshes, bogs, sloughs, potholes, river overflows, mud flats, wet meadows, seeps and springs.

Wet Prairies: seasonally inundated wetland communities with intermediate hydroperiod and depth requirements.

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