Delineation manuals are designed to draw an artificial line dividing the wetness gradient into wetland and non-wetland zones. In August of 1991, the president signed the 1992 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act in which Congress directed the Corps to use the 1987 Corps manual in the Section 404 permitting program. While this action standarized the method the Corps uses to delineate wetlands, concerns about regional differences in wetlands persisted.  In 1995, the Natural Reseacrh Council, under funding from the Environmental Protection Agency, made several recommendations for improvement, including a call for improved sensitivity to regional differences in climate, hydrologic and geologic conditions and other wetland characteristics. Based on this recommendation, a new and consistent system of wetland delineation by regions was established.  Regions are based on natural boundaries such as ecoregions or land resource regions, rather than political boundaries. In the Galveston District, we have two supplements to the 1987 Corps of Engineers Wetland Delineation Manual, the Great Plains Supplement and the Atlantic and Gulf Coast Plain Supplement.