Wetland habitats provide critical ecosystem services to the surrounding landscape, including nutrient and pollutant retention, flood mitigation, and carbon storage. This EnviroAtlas dataset uses data about existing wetlands to predict areas across the conterminous United States with landscape characteristics that are likely to support wetland habitats, or potential wetland area (PWA). These data along with data on existing wetland locations can be useful for identifying sites for restoration or construction of wetlands.

This dataset was produced by the US EPA to support research and online mapping activities related to EnviroAtlas. EnviroAtlas (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas) allows the user to interact with a web-based, easy-to-use, mapping application to view and analyze multiple ecosystem services for the contiguous United States. The dataset is available as downloadable data or as an EnviroAtlas map service. Additional descriptive information about this dataset can be found in its associated EnviroAtlas Fact Sheet (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas/enviroatlas-fact-sheets).