Soil Survey of Delaware County, New York
Produced through the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, soil surveys are an invaluable reference for one of our most important natural resources — soil.
The Soil Survey of Delaware County (text and tabular informatio
n only) was published in 2006. Although we do not have printed copies of this document available for distribution, it is available in .pdf format as the Soil Survey of Delaware County, New York (619 pages, 2.5 Mb file size).
Four options exist for obtaining soil maps:
1) Custom soil maps for specific areas of Delaware County can be created and printed by using the NRCS’ website for soil survey information: “Web Soil Survey” http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/app/. Follow the instructions carefully and with a little practice you can produce professional-quality, custom soil maps for your property or other areas of interest. This is becoming the preferred method to retrieve publicly-accessible soil information, so don’t be afraid to get familiar with this effective new tool. This source for soil maps will always be the most current, since any updates will only occur in digital format. (No updates to our soil survey are pending or anticipated at this time.)
2) Digital copies of printed soil maps (.pdf format, 2-3 MB each) can be viewed directly through this website. These same files can also be displayed through USDA-NRCS's websites, used here with permission. To use these files, first access the Soil Map Index. Then click on whichever soil map image you would like to view in more detail. The selected soil map should then open automatically. Adjust magnification by using the on-screen zoom feature in the main toolbar. You may print your selected area by clicking File, Print and choosing Current View. (Some drawbacks to this viewing method are that only one map can be viewed at a time; adjacent maps cannot be viewed together. Also, the background image has mediocre resolution and there is no convenient way to include a scale bar using Acrobat Reader.)
3) While supplies last, a complete set of printed soil maps that cover all of
Delaware County can be mailed to you. The map set includes 42 soil maps at scale 1:24,000, (approx. 22” × 27” size), an index sheet, symbols legend, a general soils and bedrock geology map of the county. Due to limited availability, one set of maps per adult / family / organization, please. Maps will be mailed by 1st class U.S. Postal Service for a $5.00 shipping and handling fee. (Make checks payable to “Delaware County SWCD,” and write “Soil Maps S&H” on the memo line of the check.)
4) While supplies last, a complete set of soil maps, as described in #2, above, can be picked up at our office at no charge. One set of maps per adult / family / organization, please.
For brief soil descriptions of each soil type recognized in Delaware County (listed alphabetically by symbol such as BtB, or MsB, etc.) click here. More complete descriptions and tables of related data for each soil can be found within the complete text of the Soil Survey of Delaware County, New York, as described above.
Related Links:
How to use soil surveys http://soils.usda.gov/survey/how_to/
Technical references http://soils.usda.gov/technical/
Soil education http://soils.usda.gov/education/
For further information about the soils of Delaware County contact the SWCD’s Soil and Groundwater Specialist, Larry Day.