scope:

Introduction and Background

The Hydrogeomorphic (HGM) Approach is a collection of concepts and methods used collectively to develop functional indices and apply them to the assessment of wetlands. The HGM approach was initially intended to be used in the context of the Clean Water Act, Section 404 Regulatory Program permit review, to analyze project alternatives, minimize impacts, assess unavoidable project impacts, determine mitigation requirements, and monitor the success of compensatory mitigation. However, a variety of other potential applications for the approach have been identified, including determining minimal effects under the Food Security Act, designing mitigation projects, providing wetland restoration design standards, and aiding in wetlands management.

In the HGM Approach, the functional indices and assessment protocols used to assess a specific type of wetland in a specific geographic region are published in a document called a Regional Guidebook. Guidelines for developing Regional Guidebooks were published in the National Action Plan (National Interagency Implementation Team 1996) developed cooperatively by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Federal Highways Administration (FHWA), and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). The Action Plan, available online at http://www.epa.gov/OWOW/wetlands/science/hgm.html outlines a strategy for developing Regional Guidebooks throughout the United States, provides guidelines and an explicit set of tasks required to develop a Regional Guidebook under the HGM Approach, and solicits the cooperation and participation of Federal, state, and local agencies, academia, and the private sector.

In the context of the current set of Federal rules, regulations, and policies, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has the mandate to assist and cooperate with Federal, state and local agencies to restore and maintain the physical, chemical, and biological integrity of the Nation's waters. NRCS responsibilities are especially important in the agricultural environments of our Nation. In working to achieve the statutory and policy goals set before it, NRCS often has the need to assess past, present, or potential impacts to wetlands that are associated with agricultural operations. The scope and direction of NRCS activities and responsibilities on agricultural lands are described, in part, in the Food Security Act of 1985, as amended by the Food, Agriculture, Conservation and Trade Act of 1990, the 1993 President's Federal Wetland Plan, 1996 Farm Bill, Federal Agricultural Improvement and Reform Act of 1996, 2002 Farm Bill, The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, and the third edition of the National Food Security Act Manual (NFSAM). For example, the current versions of the NFSAM require that NRCS assess wetland functions as part of the minimal effect procedures. Assessment of wetland functions is also a key step during NRCS analyses of wetland mitigation plans, and as a part of NRCS evaluation of restoration efforts in degraded wetlands. This Guidebook provides an additional tool for NRCS, COE, and others to conserve, restore, and manage prairie pothole wetlands.