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Wetland Mitigation
Click on the buttons below to view specific mitigation projects
or read on to learn more about what wetland mitigation projects
consist of:
Wetland mitigation is the
rebuilding or enhancing or wetland areas in order to preserve
the wetland resources of an area and offset the impact of
development in the area. This is required by Section 404 of the
Clean Water Act and enforced by the Army Corps of Engineers.
Usually the mitigation involves the replacement of wetland
functions such as water quality, habitat, and hydrologic
functions. Mitigation plans are designed to provide for wetland
attenuation, water quality improvement, erosion control, and
habitat restoration and enhancement for sensitive or endangered
species. The Corps operates under the guidelines that the
acreage amount of compensatory mitigation is equal to the
acreage lost due to development.
Huffman & Carpenter, Inc.
has worked on many wetland construction projects, as well as the
monitoring of the completed mitigation wetlands. They have
successfully guided clients through the regulatory process and
into the construction, implementation and monitoring of
constructed wetland systems. Their close connection with
engineering firms, such as Chow Engineering, Inc. allows them
crucial insight into projects and enables them to find cost
effective solutions for developers.
More recently, a new option for
providing required wetland mitigation has been made available
called wetland banking. The Army Corps of Engineers defines
wetland banking as "wetland restoration, creation, enhancement,
and in exceptional circumstances, preservation undertaken
expressly for the purpose of compensating for unavoidable
wetland losses in advances of development actions, when such
compensation cannot be achieved at the development site or would
not be as environmentally beneficial." This involves a
developer providing wetland mitigation away from the development
site and gaining "credit" for future projects. By allowing
this, one benefit is that many small wetland on-site projects
can be joined together to provide a large wetland area with all
the benefits of a larger size. Developers also have more
flexibility in their planning since the land they wish to
develop does not have to be interrupted by small patches of
wetland areas.
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