Skip to main content

Hydric Soils

A hydric soil is a soil that formed under conditions of saturation, flooding, or ponding long enough during the growing season to develop anaerobic conditions in the upper part.

National Technical Committee for Hydric Soils (NTCHS)

  1. Provide continuing technical leadership in the formulation, evaluation, and application of the hydric soil definition, criteria, indicators, and glossary.
     
  2. Maintain, update, and distribute a national list of hydric soils, as necessary.
     
  3. Refine and maintain the Field Indicators of Hydric Soils in the United States. Changes to the Field Indicators of Hydric Soils in the United States will be recommended by the sub-committee to the entire NTCHS and must be reviewed and approved before adopting.
     
  4. Communicate and respond to public comment regarding suggested changes in the hydric soil definition, criteria, lists, and field indicators.
     
  5. Determine soil, hydrologic, and climatic data necessary to more accurately define and determine hydric soils (technical methodology and standards).

Visit the National Technical Committee for Hydric Soils (NTCHS) web page for more information.

Field Indicators of Hydric Soils

Visit the Field Indicators web page to view and download the current publication of Field Indicators of Hydric Soils in the United States or the Hydric Soils Lists (below).

Lists of Hydric Soils

Query by State

Choose a state to get a hydric soils report from Soil Data Access. There is an option for the United States which will provide the national list.

State Query

Query by Soil Survey Area (SSA)

Choose a state and soil survey area to get a hydric soils report from Soil Data Access.

SSA Query

NCSS Hydric Soils Committees

The National Cooperative Soil Survey has standing Hydric Soils Committees for both regional and national conferences. Select one of the links below to find the current Chairs and Co-Chairs for each committee and their contact information to obtain more information about current and past conference meetings, agendas, and their minutes.

Citations and References

Berkowitz, Jacob F., Michael J. Vepraskas, Karen L. Vaughan, and Lenore M. Vasilas. 2021. “Development and Application of the Hydric Soil Technical Standard.” Soil Science Society of America Journal 85, no. 3: 469–487. https://doi.org/10.1002/saj2.20202.

Berkowitz, Jacob F., Christine M. VanZomeren, Steven J. Currie, and Lenore Vasilas. 2017. “Application of α, α’-Dipyridyl Dye for Hydric Soil Identification.” Soil Science Society of America Journal 81, no. 3: 654–658. https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj2016.12.0431.

Vaughan, Karen L., Florence Miller, Nico Navarro, and Christopher Appel. 2016. “Visual Assessment of Sulfate Reduction to Identify Hydric Soils.” Soil Science Society of America Journal 80, no. 4: 1114–1119. https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj2016.02.0035.

Rabenhorst, M.C., Drohan, P.J., Galbraith, J.M., Moorberg, C., Spokas, L., Stolt, M.H., Thompson, J.A., Turk, J., Vasilas, B.L., Vaughan, K.L., 2021. Manganese-coated IRIS to Document Reducing Soil Conditions.” Soil Science Society of America Journal 85, no. 6: 2201–2209. https://doi.org/10.1002/saj2.20301.

Contact Soils

Please contact us if you see something that needs to be updated, if you have any questions, or if you need accessibility assistance.

Find Your Local Service Center

USDA Service Centers are locations where you can connect with Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service, or Rural Development employees for your business needs. Enter your state and county below to find your local service center and agency offices. If this locator does not work in your browser, please visit offices.usda.gov.