Orange County NC Website
Custom Soil Resource Report <br />have moderately fine texture to moderately coarse texture. These soils have a <br />moderate rate of water transmission. <br />Group C. Soils having a slow infiltration rate when thoroughly wet. These consist <br />chiefly of soils having a layer that impedes the downward movement of water or soils <br />of moderately fine texture or fine texture. These soils have a slow rate of water <br />transmission. <br />Group D. Soils having a very slow infiltration rate (high runoff potential) when <br />thoroughly wet. These consist chiefly of clays that have a high shrink-swell potential, <br />soils that have a high water table, soils that have a claypan or clay layer at or near the <br />surface, and soils that are shallow over nearly impervious material. These soils have <br />a very slow rate of water transmission. <br />If a soil is assigned to a dual hydrologic group (A/D, B/D, or C/D), the first letter is for <br />drained areas and the second is for undrained areas. <br />Surface runoff refers to the loss of water from an area by flow over the land surface. <br />Surface runoff classes are based on slope, climate, and vegetative cover. The concept <br />indicates relative runoff for very specific conditions. It is assumed that the surface of <br />the soil is bare and that the retention of surface water resulting from irregularities in <br />the ground surface is minimal. The classes are negligible, very low, low, medium, high, <br />and very high. <br />The months in the table indicate the portion of the year in which a watertable, ponding, <br />and/or flooding is most likely to be a concern. <br />Water table refers to a saturated zone in the soil. The water features table indicates, <br />by month, depth to the top (upper limit) and base (lower limit) of the saturated zone in <br />most years. Estimates of the upper and lower limits;are based rrrainly on obse~vaiions <br />of the water table at selected sites and on evidence of a saturated zone, namely <br />grayish colors or mottles (redoximorphic features) in the soil. A saturated zone that <br />lasts for less than a month is not considered a water table. <br />Ponding is standing water in a closed depression. Unless a drainage system is <br />installed, the water is removed only by percolation, transpiration, or evaporation. The <br />table indicates surface water depth and the duration and frequency of ponding. <br />Duration is expressed as very brief if less than 2 days, brief if 2 to 7 days, long if 7 to <br />30 days, and very tang if more than 30 days. Frequency is expressed as none, rare, <br />occasional, and frequent. None means that ponding is not probable; rare that it is <br />unlikely but possible under unusual weather conditions (the chance of ponding is <br />nearly 0 percent to 5 percent in any year); occasional that it occurs, on the average, <br />once or less in 2 years (the chance of ponding is 5 to 50 percent in any year); and <br />frequent that it occurs, on the average, more than once in 2 years (the chance of <br />ponding is more than 50 percent in any year). <br />Flooding is the temporary inundation of an area caused by overflowing streams, by <br />runoff from adjacent slopes, or by tides. Water standing for short periods after rainfall <br />or snowmelt is not considered flooding, and water standing in swamps and marshes <br />is considered ponding rather than flooding. <br />Duration and frequency are estimated. Duration is expressed as extremely brief if 0:1 <br />hour to 4 hours, very brief if 4 hours to 2 days, brief if 2 to 7 days, long if 7 to 30 days, <br />and very long if more than 30 days. Frequency is expressed as none, very rare, rare, <br />occasional, frequent, and very frequent. None means that flooding is not probable; <br />very rare that it is very unlikely but possible under extremely unusual weather <br />conditions (the chance of flooding is less than 1 percent in any year); rare that it is <br />unlikely but possible under unusual weather conditions (the chance of flooding is 1 to <br />5 percent in any year); occasional that it occurs infrequently under normal weather <br />33 <br />