This data set represents the extent, approximate location and type of wetlands and deepwater habitats in the conterminous United States. These data delineate the areal extent of wetlands and surface waters as defined by Cowardin et al. (1979). Certain wetland habitats are excluded from the National mapping program because of the limitations of aerial imagery as the primary data source used to detect wetlands. These habitats include seagrasses or submerged aquatic vegetation that are found in the intertidal and subtidal zones of estuaries and near shore coastal waters. Some deepwater reef communities (coral or tuberficid worm reefs) have also been excluded from the inventory. These habitats, because of their depth, go undetected by aerial imagery. By policy, the Service also excludes certain types of "farmed wetlands" as may be defined by the Food Security Act or that do not coincide with the Cowardin et al. definition. Contact the Service's Regional Wetland Coordinator for additional information on what types of farmed wetlands are included on wetland maps. In addition to updated NWI maps (2015) the Landscape Level Wetland Functional Assessment (LLWFA) has been added to these wetland areas. The Department of Environment Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) has been working since 2006 on refining and expanding the use of the LLWFA across much of the state. Each year, EGLE Nonpoint Source Unit is the main entity which distributes 319 watershed planning funds to local units of government, non-profit organizations, and numerous other state, federal, and local partners to reduce nonpoint source pollution statewide. Their yearly prioritization of watershed planning efforts directly influenced the completion of LLWFA efforts, and the scale at which they work is a perfect fit for this landscape level wetland information. This approach addresses both a current (2015) wetland inventory and a Pre-European Settlement inventory, to approximate change over time, and provide the best information possible on wetland status and trends from original condition through today. These watershed planning organizations have utilized these tools to help them better evaluate projects for preserving or enhancing their current wetland resources and planning for restoration of lost resources. Restoring lost wetland functionality shows great promise in addressing the systemic cause of much of the non-point source pollution occurring in the state. The 2015 NWI update is ongoing throughout the state.

Detailed Wetland Code Descriptions can be found using the link below. This provides a crosswalk from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) wetlands data, as defined by the Federal Wetland Mapping Standard, to the complete wetland definitions, as defined by the Federal Wetlands Classification Standard. The table can be joined with the NWI wetlands data using the 'Attribute' field. This will provide users with a full wetland or deepwater habitat description for each polygon.

https://maps-semcog.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/SEMCOG::wetland-code-definitions-2015

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