Form Approved
REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE
OMB No. 0704-0188
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this burden to Department of Defense, Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports (0704-0188), 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington, VA 22202-4302.
Respondents should be aware that notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information if it does not display a currently valid
OMB control number. PLEASE DO NOT RETURN YOUR FORM TO THE ABOVE ADDRESS.
1. REPORT DATE (DD-MM-YY)
2. REPORT TYPE
3. DATES COVERED (From - To)
January 2004
Technical Report
4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE
5a. CONTRACT NUMBER
5b. GRANT NUMBER
Review of Ordinary High Water Mark
Indicators for Delineating Arid Streams
5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER
in the Southwestern United States
6. AUTHOR(S)
5d. PROJECT NUMBER
5e. TASK NUMBER
Edited by Robert W. Lichvar and James S. Wakeley
5f. WORK UNIT NUMBER
7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES)
8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT
U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center
Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory
72 Lyme Road
ERDC TR-04-1
Hanover, NH 03755-1290
9. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES)
10. SPONSOR / MONITOR'S ACRONYM(S)
Office of the Chief of Engineers
Washington, DC
11. SPONSOR / MONITOR'S REPORT
NUMBER(S)
Environmental Protection Agency
Washington, DC
12. DISTRIBUTION / AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
Available from NTIS, Springfield, Virginia 22161.
13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES
14. ABSTRACT
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) delineates the jurisdictional extent of wetlands and other "Waters of the United States"
(WoUS) under Corps and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations implementing Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C.
1344). As part of this responsibility, Corps districts in the southwestern United States and elsewhere must delineate the extent of WoUS in
arid areas, including arid-land stream channels. In non-tidal waters lacking adjacent wetlands, Corps jurisdiction extends to the ordinary
high water mark (OHWM). Unlike wetlands, for which there are criteria for hydrology, soils, and vegetation specified in a national wetland
delineation manual, there is no hydrologic definition of ordinary high water (OHW), and the identification of WoUS relies entirely on
physical features of stream channels. This literature review investigates the climatic and regional conditions controlling hydrologic dis-
charges in arid-land streams and the resulting physical features that develop within channels and floodplains. The review covers three main
features associated with arid stream systems that might be useful for delineation purposes: hydrology, fluvial geomorphology, and vegeta-
tion. Based on the reviews, certain physical features were selected as potential OHWM indicators and were categorized by location above,
at, or below the OHW line. To support the identification of OHW, these potential indicators are intended to be tested in selected locations
across the Southwest to identify consistent and reliable indicators of the OHWM.
15. SUBJECT TERMS
Arid regions
Ordinary High Water Mark
Waters of the United States
Desert hydrology
Southwestern United States
16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF:
17. LIMITATION OF
18. NUMBER
19a. NAME OF RESPONSIBLE PERSON
OF ABSTRACT
OF PAGES
a. REPORT
b. ABSTRACT
c. THIS PAGE
19b. TELEPHONE NUMBER (include area code)
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138
Standard Form 298 (Rev. 8-98)
Prescribed by ANSI Std. 239.18
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