WETLANDS (NEVADA)

(State Wildlife Management Areas) Wetlands are those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or groundwater at a frequency or duration sufficient to support, and that under normal conditions do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands typically include swamps, marshes, bogs, playas, springs, seeps, and similar areas. Wetlands are land transitional between terrestrial and aquatic systems where the water table is usually at or near the surface, or the land is covered by shallow water. For the purpose of this classification wetlands must have one or more of the following attributes: (1) Hydrophytic Vegetation: At least periodically, the land supports predominantly water-loving plants (hydrophytes), such as cattails, rushes, or sedges; (2) Hydric Soil: Contains undrained, wet soil which lacks oxygen in the upper region; (3) Wetland Hydrology: The substrate is periodically or permanently saturated with or covered by water at some point of time in the growing season during a 30-year mean hydrologic period. Frequently in Nevada, wetlands within the state's Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) are only wet during a portion of the year, and sometimes they are dry for more than a year at a time. Because of this, Nevada's regional differences in climate and hydrology must be considered for the purpose of wetland identification, inventory, and classification.