Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Here’s how you know

Dot gov

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

HTTPS

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock (LockA locked padlock) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

    • Environmental Topics
    • Air
    • Bed Bugs
    • Cancer
    • Chemicals, Toxics, and Pesticide
    • Emergency Response
    • Environmental Information by Location
    • Health
    • Land, Waste, and Cleanup
    • Lead
    • Mold
    • Radon
    • Research
    • Science Topics
    • Water Topics
    • A-Z Topic Index
    • Laws & Regulations
    • By Business Sector
    • By Topic
    • Compliance
    • Enforcement
    • Laws and Executive Orders
    • Regulations
    • Report a Violation
    • Environmental Violations
    • Fraud, Waste or Abuse
    • About EPA
    • Our Mission and What We Do
    • Headquarters Offices
    • Regional Offices
    • Labs and Research Centers
    • Planning, Budget, and Results
    • Organization Chart
    • EPA History

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. Regional Monitoring Networks (RMNs)

Regional Monitoring Networks - Wetlands

  • Wetland RMNs
  • Protocols
  • Site selection criteria
  • Data management
  • Data analysis
  • Publications

Wetland RMNs

EPA is currently working with its regional offices, states, tribes, and other entities to establish Regional Monitoring Networks (RMNs) for wetlands. Current efforts focus on the Mid-Atlantic and can expand into other regions. Figure 1 shows the current proposed Wetland RMN sites.

Locations of top candidate Wetland RMN sites in EPA Regions 2 and 3 as of 12/16/2022. Five of these sites (Cranberry Glades, WV, Hickory Run, PA, Bruce Lake, PA, Dennis Creek Tidal Marsh, NJ, and Canary Creek, DE) are collecting data through wells and sensors.
Figure 1. Locations of top candidate Wetland RMN sites in EPA Regions 2 and 3 as of 12/16/2022. Five of these sites (Cranberry Glades, WV, Hickory Run, PA, Bruce Lake, PA, Dennis Creek Tidal Marsh, NJ, and Canary Creek, DE) are collecting data through wells and sensors.

Building the capacity of states, tribes, and other entities to assess the biological, chemical, and physical integrity of wetlands is an EPA National Wetlands Program priority. A National Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Workgroup was established in 1999. The Mid-Atlantic Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Work Group (MAWWG) is a subgroup of the national effort and assisted with starting the first wetland RMNs. 

Wetland RMN monitoring includes both freshwater and tidal wetland locations. For tidal wetlands, The Virginia Institute for Marine Science, Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, and Maryland Department of Natural Resources have been working together on development of a multi-level (Level I, Level II and Level III) tidal wetland inventory and assessment methodology for the Delmarva peninsula (Delaware, Maryland and Virginia).

Efforts to date related to monitoring both freshwater and tidal wetlands are several:

  • Landscape level delineation of wetlands, which can be viewed for Virginia using the Wetland Condition Assessment Tool (WetCAT)
  • “Nanticoke River Watershed Wetland Study” in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
  • The “Mid-Atlantic Tidal Wetland Rapid Assessment Method (PDF)(40 pp, 2.3M , About PDF).

Other sates contributing to the Mid-Atlantic wetlands monitoring efforts include Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New York, North Carolina, and Ohio. The Chesapeake Bay Program Office is another partner.

Part of wetland monitoring that will be unique is measuring the areal (spatial) extent of wetland areas in watersheds that are subject to different hydrogeological patterns. Wetland vegetation can be diagnostic of the areas that can be classified as wetlands.

In addition to the RMN data uses described on the About page, Wetland RMN data Uuses include:

  • Determining the capacity of wetlands to buffer nutrient and pesticide runoff from agricultural areas
  • Tracking primary productivity of wetlands and suitability as carbon sinks
  • Understanding the role of wetlands are ‘nurseries’ for fisheries

Importantly, the data will allow tracking of decoupling of hydrologic conditions and plant community composition through time, an outcome that is missed when a site is only sampled once as part of a larger survey.


Wetland protocols

Wetland RMN sites use consistent sampling methods to the extent feasible. Some measures and indicators, however, will be unique to wetlands, specifically for different types of soil hydrology and vegetation. Similar to stream and lake RMNs, participants can collect data at different levels of effort based on available resources.

Wetland RMN sites with active data collection deploy a variety of equipment, including wells and barometer, and time-lapse cameras. Time-lapse cameras capture changes in water level and vegetation parameters, such as invasive species encroachment and spring leaf out.

Sampling protocols to monitor wetland vegetation, soil condition, and hydrology continue to be refined as more sites join. Indicators of particular interest to partners include timing of seasonal inundation, soil organic matter, and plant species composition.


Wetland site selection criteria

Wetland RMNs leverage existing wetland monitoring locations and current wetland mapping efforts where feasible. General characteristics for selecting locations for primary and secondary wetland RMN sites are similar to those for streams and lakes. Site selection uses the wetlands classification from EPA’s National Aquatic Resource Surveys. Additional characteristics to consider include areas that are along hydrogeological gradients and near the center and edges of important wetlands. Wetland monitoring locations may extended into floodplains at strategic locations.

Detailed site screening criteria are under development for the Wetlands RMNs. Table 1 lists desired characteristics of candidate sites that will be used in the screening process. 

Table 1. Main site selection considerations.

Consideration

Desired characteristics at wetland RMN sites

Existing monitoring network

Located in established monitoring network(s).

Sites with lengthy historical sampling records are preferred.

Disturbance

Low level of anthropogenic disturbance is preferred (but is not required)

  • High quality sites are the standard against which other sites are compared; it is important to track whether benchmarks are shifting in response to changing environmental conditions.
  • Help understand natural variability
  • Help fill data gaps
  • Better chance of isolating climate change effects

Potential for future disturbance

Wetlands that are protected from future development are preferred.

Accessibility

Able to make multiple site visits per year to download camera images and water level sensor data. Main considerations include travel distance for field crews and ease of access. Potential hurdles include: field crews needing to carry heavy equipment over long distances, needing to obtain special permits for each visit, needing to borrow a special boat (or other equipment) to access the site, or not being able access the site certain times of the year due to hunting or other restrictions.

Equipment

Co-locating with existing equipment where feasible. If sites do not have existing sensors, consider their suitability for installation of new wells. Considerations include level of human and bear activity (the less likely the chance of vandalism, the better) and ground heaving during freeze/thaw cycles. Proximity to weather stations, USGS surface water gages, ground water wells, and stream and lake RMN sites are pluses.

Shared workload

Opportunities to partner with outside agencies or organizations. Need hydrology, soil, and botany experts to advise on the sampling plan/layout of survey plots and assist with surveys as needed.

Significance

Some sites are highly valued for ecological or cultural reasons (e.g., exemplary biodiversity, presence of threatened and endangered (T&E) species).

Managing both discrete and continuous data collected from RMN sites is similar across the different types of RMNs and is described on a separate Data Management page. The Data Analysis page describes how RMN data are analyzed, summarized, and visualized to explore a variety of endpoints. 

Regional Monitoring Networks (RMNs)

  • RMNs Home
  • RMNs Background
  • RMNs Tools
  • Lake RMNs
  • Stream RMNs
  • Wetland RMNs
  • Data Analysis
  • Data Management
  • Publications and Resources
Contact Us About Regional Monitoring Networks (RMNs)
Contact Us to ask a question, provide feedback, or report a problem.
Last updated on January 21, 2025
  • Assistance
  • Spanish
  • Arabic
  • Chinese (simplified)
  • Chinese (traditional)
  • French
  • Haitian Creole
  • Korean
  • Portuguese
  • Russian
  • Tagalog
  • Vietnamese
United States Environmental Protection Agency

Discover.

  • Accessibility Statement
  • Budget & Performance
  • Contracting
  • EPA www Web Snapshot
  • Grants
  • No FEAR Act Data
  • Plain Writing
  • Privacy
  • Privacy and Security Notice

Connect.

  • Data
  • Inspector General
  • Jobs
  • Newsroom
  • Regulations.gov
  • Subscribe
  • USA.gov
  • White House

Ask.

  • Contact EPA
  • EPA Disclaimers
  • Hotlines
  • FOIA Requests
  • Frequent Questions
  • Site Feedback

Follow.