Form Approved
REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE
OMB No. 0704-0188
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YOUR FORM TO THE ABOVE ADDRESS.
1. REPORT DATE (DD-MM-YY)
3. DATES COVERED (From - To)
2. REPORT TYPE
April 2001
4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE
5a. CONTRACT NUMBER
5b. GRANT NUMBER
Delineating Playas in the Arid Southwest: A Literature Review
5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER
6. AUTHOR(S)
5d. PROJECT NUMBER
5e. TASK NUMBER
William Brostoff, Robert Lichvar, and Steven Sprecher
5f. WORK UNIT NUMBER
7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES)
8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT
NUMBER
U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center
Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory
72 Lyme Road
ERDC TR-01-4
Hanover, New Hampshire 03755-1290
9. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES)
10. SPONSOR / MONITOR'S ACRONYM(S)
U.S. Army Dugway Proving Ground
U.S. Army White Sands Missile Range
11. SPONSOR / MONITOR'S REPORT
U.S. Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center
NUMBER(S)
Edwards Air Force Base
12. DISTRIBUTION / AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
Available from NTIS, Springfield, Virginia 22161.
13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES
14. ABSTRACT
Playas of the arid Southwest can be unambiguously identified in a geologic context. However, identifying those portions of playas that
are defined as "Waters of the United States" (WoUS) in the Clean Water Act (CWA) and thus under the jurisdiction of the Corps of
Engineers (Corps) and other Federal agencies charged with enforcing the CWA is sometimes problematic. While the WoUS definition
specifically includes playas, the guidance for playa delineation is not as highly developed as for wetlands. Delineating WoUS, as per-
formed by the Corps or by others to comply with Corps regulations, involves determining "Ordinary High Water" (OHW). However,
under certain circumstances, the indicators provided in Federal regulations and available technical information for determining OHW
have been found to be insufficient when applied to playas. Consequently, some delineations performed to date have involved the
development of local indicators by integrating observational data obtained during cyclical inundation, information available for delineating
wetlands, and inference based on technical knowledge. Examples of local indicators include small-scale cracks in the soil surface, soil algal
crusts, and phreatophyte mounds. This report summarizes the pertinent literature and provides examples of case studies in delineating playas.
This review, however, is not intended to provide protocols for delineating playas or to be interpreted as guidance provided by any Corps
District or Headquarters, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Rather, the scientific background and technical application needed for perform-
ing specific delineations are reviewed.
15. SUBJECT TERMS
Delineation
Playa
Dry lake
"Waters of the United States"
16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF:
17. LIMITATION OF
18. NUMBER
19a. NAME OF RESPONSIBLE PERSON
OF ABSTRACT
OF PAGES
19b. TELEPHONE NUMBER (include area code)
a. REPORT
b. ABSTRACT
c. THIS PAGE
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Standard Form 298 (Rev. 8-98)
Prescribed by ANSI Std. 239.18
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