CESSWI Exam Updated Questions and
Answers (2026/2027) | Practice Review
with Explanations | Grade A+
• What are the soil classifications based off of? -✓✓Percent of sand, silt, and clay
present in soil
• How many soil texture classifications are there? -✓✓12
• What are the hydrologic soil groups classified based off of? -✓✓Infiltration rates
• What are the hydrologic soil groups? -✓✓A, B, C, D
• What are the soil horizons classified based off of? -✓✓Primary material (eg clay,
organic matter, minerals, parent material (rock), bedrock)
• What are the master horizons? -✓✓O, A, E, B, C, R
• What are the four types of erosion? -✓✓Raindrop, sheet, rill & gully, streambank
• Define soil detachment -✓✓the dislodgment of soil particles from the soil mass
through erosive forces
• Define sediment transport -✓✓the movement of sediment particles (by water or
wind) once they have been detached
,• Define erosion -✓✓the weathering down of parent material and the detachment
by the action of wind, water, ice and gravity
• What is the erosion rate of soil for a site by water dependent on? -✓✓on-site
characteristics, soil physical and chemical variables, and land management
practices
• what is sediment deposition (sedimentation)? -✓✓the process by which soil
particles that have been suspended within the water or air column settle back to the
ground surface
• what equation is used to estimate the annual average erosion rate for a site? -
✓✓RUSLE
• Brain Break! (answer a question completely unrelated to stormwater)
What is the largest desert in the world? -✓✓Antarctica Desert (don't believe me?
google it!)
• what can sedimentation be a result of? -✓✓reduced flow rates/flow velocities,
higher frictional forces, increased sediment load within runoff
• site characteristics that directly impact the likelihood for soils to erode: -✓✓soil
type, vegetative cover, topography, climate
• define hydrology -✓✓the study of water, including its occurrence, circulation,
distribution, chemical and physical properties, and the reaction of those properties
to the environment
, • parameters that characterize the hydrology of a site include; -✓✓precipitation,
evaporation, infiltration, runoff
• the hydrologic cycle describes the movement of water... -✓✓above the surface,
on the surface, and below the surface
• the hydrologic cycle is a... -✓✓continuous process (no start or end)
• water will exist in all 3 states: -✓✓vapor, liquid, solid
• define watershed (NOAA def): -✓✓a land area that channels rainfall and
snowmelt to creeks, streams, and rivers, and eventually to outflow points such as
reservoirs, bays, and the ocean
• A specified rainfall depth over a specified duration -✓✓design storm
• A land area that channels rainfall and snowmelt to creeks, streams, and rivers,
and eventually to outflow points such as reservoirs, bays, and the ocean -
✓✓watershed
• define slope -✓✓slope/gradients is defined as a number, typically a %, that
describes the direction and steepness of a surface
• typical method of slope calculation -✓✓rise over run ( slope% = rise/run )
*to convert the decimal to a whole number, multiply the slope % by one hundred
Answers (2026/2027) | Practice Review
with Explanations | Grade A+
• What are the soil classifications based off of? -✓✓Percent of sand, silt, and clay
present in soil
• How many soil texture classifications are there? -✓✓12
• What are the hydrologic soil groups classified based off of? -✓✓Infiltration rates
• What are the hydrologic soil groups? -✓✓A, B, C, D
• What are the soil horizons classified based off of? -✓✓Primary material (eg clay,
organic matter, minerals, parent material (rock), bedrock)
• What are the master horizons? -✓✓O, A, E, B, C, R
• What are the four types of erosion? -✓✓Raindrop, sheet, rill & gully, streambank
• Define soil detachment -✓✓the dislodgment of soil particles from the soil mass
through erosive forces
• Define sediment transport -✓✓the movement of sediment particles (by water or
wind) once they have been detached
,• Define erosion -✓✓the weathering down of parent material and the detachment
by the action of wind, water, ice and gravity
• What is the erosion rate of soil for a site by water dependent on? -✓✓on-site
characteristics, soil physical and chemical variables, and land management
practices
• what is sediment deposition (sedimentation)? -✓✓the process by which soil
particles that have been suspended within the water or air column settle back to the
ground surface
• what equation is used to estimate the annual average erosion rate for a site? -
✓✓RUSLE
• Brain Break! (answer a question completely unrelated to stormwater)
What is the largest desert in the world? -✓✓Antarctica Desert (don't believe me?
google it!)
• what can sedimentation be a result of? -✓✓reduced flow rates/flow velocities,
higher frictional forces, increased sediment load within runoff
• site characteristics that directly impact the likelihood for soils to erode: -✓✓soil
type, vegetative cover, topography, climate
• define hydrology -✓✓the study of water, including its occurrence, circulation,
distribution, chemical and physical properties, and the reaction of those properties
to the environment
, • parameters that characterize the hydrology of a site include; -✓✓precipitation,
evaporation, infiltration, runoff
• the hydrologic cycle describes the movement of water... -✓✓above the surface,
on the surface, and below the surface
• the hydrologic cycle is a... -✓✓continuous process (no start or end)
• water will exist in all 3 states: -✓✓vapor, liquid, solid
• define watershed (NOAA def): -✓✓a land area that channels rainfall and
snowmelt to creeks, streams, and rivers, and eventually to outflow points such as
reservoirs, bays, and the ocean
• A specified rainfall depth over a specified duration -✓✓design storm
• A land area that channels rainfall and snowmelt to creeks, streams, and rivers,
and eventually to outflow points such as reservoirs, bays, and the ocean -
✓✓watershed
• define slope -✓✓slope/gradients is defined as a number, typically a %, that
describes the direction and steepness of a surface
• typical method of slope calculation -✓✓rise over run ( slope% = rise/run )
*to convert the decimal to a whole number, multiply the slope % by one hundred
