Coalition was formed in 1992 with 14 Counties (now 19) in NY and PA

Total area - 7,500 sq. mi.

Headwaters of the Susquehanna River

All USC counties signed a memorandum of understanding to “work on water quality projects of mutual interest”

Definition. The CE (Federal Register 1982) and the EPA (Federal Register 1980) jointly define wetlands as: Those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or ground water at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions.

Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas.

Wetland Benefits

- Flood Water Detention

- Water Quality Improvements

- Diverse Habitat

- Decrease in Stream bank Erosion

The 10% Solution

1.00

RELATIVE 0.80

0.60

FLOODFLOW

0.40

0.20

0.00 10 20 30 40

PERCENT WETLANDS

Novitski, R.P: Hydrologic characteristics of Wisconsin's wetlands and their influence on floods, stream

flow, and sediment. American Water Resources Association, 1978.

Nearly half of all endangered

and threatened species in the

United States depend on

wetlands for some portion of

their life-cycle.

Wildlife

USC Wetland program is a vertically integrated program that incorporates wetland restoration, protection, education, and outreach with staff that implement every stage of the process.

In 2002 the USC Wetland program expanded to include Vernal Pools, eventually targeting VP Mapping, Education, Construction, and Monitoring.

…Since 2002 Construction

We consider Vernal Pool Construction an excellent educational tool, and find pool-ownership promotes Vernal Pool appreciation more than any other outreach efforts.

Shortly after entering the world of vernal pools we began constructing pools for habitat and evaluation purposes.

Between 2002 and 2009 we constructed over 400 pools. These pools are located throughout the watershed in many different landscape settings, landuse cover types, soil types, and were built using different construction techniques to address different issues.

…Since 2002 Education We began outreach efforts to watershed residents

through various forms of media and printed publications as well as group outreach to targeted organizations.

We created resources including signs, brochures, posters and an interactive website with a VP Field Guide

…Since 2002 Mapping We built a database of over 500 pools that provide

habitat to vernal pool obligate species.

Recent updates to the mapping program include an online google-based map and web-form that allow users to pan to their vernal pool or road crossing site, acquire lat-long coordinates, and submit to our database with a click.

…Since 2002 Monitoring We developed a series of mapping and monitoring

data collection forms that feed an ArcGIS geodatabase.

This database combines and catalogues the best surface hydrological data available with any number of user-entered fields.

Geodatabase at a glance

71 pools constructed in two arrays

32 pools to evaluate pool-level design criteria

39 pools to evaluate landscape-level effects

• surface area: 5 vs. 10 m diameter • basin depth: 0.25 vs. 0.50 m deep • organic matter amendment: added vs. not • canopy cover: deciduous forest vs. open field

• cluster size: 1, 3 or 9 pools per hexagon; three replicates of each cluster size • pools vary with regard to size, depth, shape • distance from known breeding sites of wood frogs and spotted salamanders

N

250 m

hydroperiod gradient

canopy cover gradient

Keep the water on the land

Don’t build wetlands on top of a wetland

Slow the water down

Promote plant diversity

Establish wildlife habitat

Remove drainage features

Create a berm to hold the water on the land

Excavate “potholes” and compact the bottom to keep water from infiltrating

Breeds- March- June

Habitat- Damp deciduous forests. Migrate to vernal pools to breed then return to forest

ID- Dark gray, brown, or black on dorsal and lighter on anterior. Range in size from 11-18cm

Breeds-March to June

Habitat- Damp Deciduous forests. Migrate to vernal pools for breeding.

ID- Can reach 10in long and has yellow spots on back