Three Oaks Engineering employs a full complement of accredited wetland scientists and biologists with decades of experience delineating wetlands and streams.
Not all delineators are the same! Three Oaks Engineering understands how to get projects approved while navigating the regulatory wetland and stream issues. This is where experience matters.
Jurisdictional Streams
According to regulatory guidance, streams are identified as ephemeral, intermittent, or perennial, which requires an experienced and trained eye to identify them. The identification of streams involves investigating the presence of stream indicators such as alluvial deposition, levees, channel head cuts, and channel morphology as well as biological indicators such as aquatic insects, crayfish, and fish.
Jurisdictional Wetlands
Current wetland regulations require an analysis of soils, vegetation, and hydrology in order to determine the boundaries of a jurisdictional wetland. According to the Army Corps of Engineers guidance, the three criteria below must be present for a site to meet the definition of a wetland.
Hydric Soils form under conditions of saturation, flooding, or ponding long enough during the growing season to develop anaerobic conditions near the soil surface.
Hydrophytic Vegetation is defined as community of plant species that tend to grow and thrive in conditions where inundation or soil saturation is either permanent or of sufficient frequency or duration to influence plant occurrence.
Wetland Hydrology is evidence that a site has a continuing wetland hydrologic regime and that the hydric soil and wetland plants are not relicts of a past hydrologic regime. The most common examples are surface water and/or saturated soils..