The National Newsletter of Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring Vol. While wetlands of all types need protection, vernal pools are probably the most vulnerable of all. They are by definition small, and isolated from other water bodies. Yet it is this very property of drying up that makes vernal pools such valuable habitat. Fish can't live in a pool that dries up, and for many small creatures a pool devoid of predatory fish is a very nice place to raise a family.
Spring is the best time to identify vernal pools, since biological activity peaks then.
People got excited when they realized their efforts would lead to definite, concret e protection under the law. The procedures outlined in the manual are quite simple and straightforward. In Massachusetts, a vernal pool must be a confined basin depression with no permanent above-ground outlet and must contain water for at least two months. The easiest way to get a pool certified is to document its use by so-called obligate, or indicator, v ernal pool species. The amphibian indicators are dependent on vernal pools for breeding, but don't spend their whole lives there.