Wetlands occupy limited space but provide disproportional benefit. Ponded depressional wetlands offer refugia to amphibians when disconnected from surface waters containing predators. Depressional wetlands in the southeastern USA were historically ditched to drain standing water for agricultural/silvicultural practices. Herpetologists suggest the gopher frog (Rana [Lithobates] capito), a species of concern) should be present, hypothesizing that due to historical modifications these wetlands dry too early for juveniles to escape aquatic refugia and move to their terrestrial, adult habitat. In Georgia (USA), six depressional wetlands were evaluated – three ditched and three not ditched. Ditches affecting the three wetlands were plugged in April 2022 after monitoring one year. All wetlands’ clay content increased up to 48% within one meter of the soil profile relative to surface, and electrical resistivity tomography signaled variably conductive soils extending downward to a heavily resistive feature between 4-15m in all wetlands. Water table levels in all wetlands were, on average, higher in the pre-treatment period (19cm relative to ground surface) than post-treatment (-50cm), influenced by above average precipitation in the pre-treatment year. The range of water table height was more variable (203cm) in the post-treatment period compared to pre-treatment (125cm), but this change was not specific to the plugged wetlands. Some wetlands had greater magnitudes of water table decline during periods of little precipitation, which may suggest variation in hydraulic conductivity as a controlling parameter for water retention. Soil moisture varied in shallow (15cm) soil during dry periods, whereas deeper soil (65cm) was more stable. Together, we interpret that these wetlands are operating as perched water tables over shallow restrictive features that may be multi-layered. Wetlands post-treatment have not yet filled sufficiently to assess if ditch plugs will alter water retention. Ongoing monitoring will be presented to estimate the effect of restoration actions on surface water retention.