Supreme Court Ruling on Wetlands Protection
Southern wetlands potentially at risk under Rapanos-Carabell ruling
* SELC compared USFWS National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) GIS data to USGS High Resolution National Hydrography Data (NHDH) to identify those inventoried wetlands that are neither adjacent to perennial waterways nor adjacent to wetlands adjacent to perennial waterways. The wetlands we identified would be potentially non-jurisdictional if the USACE issues guidance that follows Justice Scalia's decision. NWI data are based on aerial photography surveys completed during the 1970s and 1980s, may omit some wetlands (particularly forested wetlands and linear wetlands along streams) and may include wetlands that no longer exist. NHDH data is unavailable for portions of the Carolinas. The calculations are conservative, but are based on the most accurate data available today.
