WETLANDS
Universal Credits for wetlands, critical area buffers,
and other aquatic resources
Wapato Valley Mitigation and Conservation Bank is currently in the certification process to provide mitigation credits needed by permittees to offset permanent, direct, indirect, temporary, and buffer impacts permitted under the Clean Water Act and state and local wetland regulations, including Section 404 for projects within a southwest Washington service area and for Section 10 for Washington and Oregon Waters of the United States.
Over 500 acres of floodplain wetland mitigation actions
Wetland establishment to increase floodplain wetland area will occur in areas where upland elevations are lowered to achieve elevations that support native wetland plant communities, and native plant communities are installed. Wetland re-establishment or restoration will occur in areas where fill is removed to re-establish riverine wetlands, including the footprints of levees removed and water control structures that will be dismantled. Wetland rehabilitation will occur in areas where historic processes are restored to existing wetlands through construction actions that reintroduce seasonal riverine flood patterns and daily freshwater tidal inundation to rehabilitate riverine wetland by removing levees and water control structures. Wetland enhancement will occur through grading and vegetation enhancements to restore target habitat types, including regrading areas that are currently dominated by reed canary grass or other non-native species to provide increased opportunities for normative hydrology, sediment transport, overbank flooding, habitat diversity, habitat complexity, and by improving elevations to support a diversity of native wetland plant communities. Wetland preservation will protect high-quality wetlands in perpetuity.
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