Skip to main content

Florida Land Steward

Florida Land Steward

« Environmental Regulations

Wetlands Regulations

Wetlands is a term used to describe transitional lands between terrestrial (upland) and aquatic (bottomland) systems where the water table is usually at or near the surface, or the land is covered by shallow water.  According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service definition, wetlands have one or more of the following three characteristics:

  • The land supports predominantly hydrophytes (aquatic plants). 
  • The land is composed predominantly of undrained hydric soil. 
  • The land is saturated with water or covered by shallow water at some time during the growing season of each year.

Wetlands include marshes, swamps, bogs, and similar areas found in a variety of vegetated conditions, in depressions, and along edges of streams, rivers, lakes, and coastlines.