In 1995 Connecticut passed legislation (P.A. 95-313) that gave municipalities regulatory authority over land use affecting vernal and other intermittent watercourses through the Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Act (C.G.S., Sections 22a-36 through 22a-45).  Several Connecticut towns have since amended their wetlands by-laws to include the words vernal and other intermittent watercourse; however, no towns have developed regulations regarding vernal pools specifically (D. Hoskins, Dept. of Environmental. Protection; pers. comm., 1997).  Since the 1995 legislation, the University of Connecticut and the Forest Stewardship Program have issued guidance for identification and protection of vernal pool wetlands. They recommend that the following physical features and the presence of one or more obligate species be used to verify that an area is a vernal pool (Donahue 1995):

                     a. that the water for approximately two months during the growing season,
                     b. a confined depression that lacks a permanent outlet stream,
                     c. no fish, and
                     d. dries out in most years.

Obligate vernal pool species in Connecticut are spotted salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum), Jefferson salamanders (Ambystoma jeffersonianum), marbled salamanders (Ambystoma opacum), wood frogs (Rana sylvatica), eastern spadefoot toads (Scaphiopus holbrookii), and fairy shrimp (order Anostraca).

Development of the land around a vernal pool poses a direct risk to the pool itself, and therefore a vegetated buffer should be maintained around any pool (Donahue 1995). In Connecticut, a 50-foot buffer, or a buffer equal in width to the average height of the dominant trees, whichever is greater, is recommended during timber harvesting (Donahue 1995). Two towns in Connecticut are identifying and mapping vernal pools that are within their boundaries (D. Hoskins; pers. comm., 1997).
  
(Murphy and Golet 1998)