Comprehensive Framework for Wetland Mitigation: A Watershed Approach   John S. Jacob Texas Sea Grant June 2000   Wetlands are quickly disappearing in and around fast growing coastal cities such as Houston, in spite of protection under the Clean Water Act Section 404. We are losing "legacy" wetlands created by long vanished geological processes, and neither developers nor conservationists seem to be very happy with the current system. Developers are not pleased with the long, drawn out process, which costs them both time and money, and conservationists are not seeing the protection of valuable wetlands.   What is needed is a rational and comprehensive mitigation plan undertaken on a watershed basis. The plan would simply inventory remaining critical wetland habitat, and determine how to finance the purchase, restoration, and management of that habitat using the tools available through the mitigation process. Permitting of wetlands on a project by project basis is not providing the wetland protection originally envisioned. And mitigation through creation of new wetlands, particularly freshwater wetlands, is not providing satisfactory replacement of lost functions and values. The emerging consensus is that it is better to preserve the best of what is left, even if a loss of total wetland acreage is the result. Restoration of existing freshwater wetland complexes will provide a better return in terms of functions and values than any created wetland.   A comprehensive plan could be used to facilitate permits for development, if advance identifications were made, A variety of regulatory options are available through a general permit that could enable advance purchase of important habitat while facilitating development in other areas.   A critical component of any comprehensive wetland mitigation plan is the way in which the issue of 'takings" is dealt with. Any plan that merely designates particular tracts as valuable habitat and impedes the permit process for those tracts simply exacerbates the 'takings" issue. A comprehensive plan with wide support must contemplate a way to remove target tracts from development's way through free market processes, usually either conservation easements or outright purchase.   We propose to develop a comprehensive wetland mitigation plan on a watershed basis. The Clear Creek watershed in south suburban Houston is an excellent candidate for a pilot project. It is subject to some of the most intense development pressure found anywhere in Houston (The Pearland area in the upper reaches of this watershed is developing very rapidly). Some very important "legacy" prairie pothole complexes can still be found in this watershed, and there is yet enough undeveloped area that a fairly continuous, even if somewhat fragmented, wetland reserve could be patched together.   In addition, the watershed is very much in the public eye, both nationally and regionally. Clear Creek was recently listed as one of the 1 0 most endangered rivers by American Rivers. A heated controversy continues over the benefits or negatives of channelization. Public focus tends to increase the amount of participation in projects that might bring a rational focus to the area. This wetland mitigation plan would not directly impact the floodplain issue, but there is a enough of an overlap that we could ensure the active participation of the major power players in the area. We have been very active in the Armand Bayou sub-watershed of the larger Clear Creek watershed, where we have been very successful establishing a stakeholder group that comprises the major institutional and citizen stakeholder groups. Further, several cities within the watershed have expressed an interest in developing a comprehensive plan, most notably League City and Friendswood. The Legacy Land Trust is also very active in the area, and the Armand Bayou Nature Center is taking a much more active role in wetland mitigation in the Armand Bayou area. In sum, a series of players are lining up for what could be a very useful plan.   This plan contemplates the following tasks: 1 . Inventory of remaining critical wetland habitat, using current and past aerial photographs, the most recent National Wetland Inventory maps, and limited groundtruthing. 2. Construction of a Geographic Information System that would incorporate information from the first task as well as ownership information, including potential market value. 3. Development of a paradigm for assessing the value of remaining wetland tracts. This paradigm would make use of existing wetland assessment methodologies, including the hydrogeomorphic method, as well as nearness to development and other "indirect" issues to prioritize remaining wetland tracts. We will use colleagues at the Bush School of Government as facilitators to achieve a consensus prioritization. 4. Development of a plan for preservation of target tracts, incorporating all available tools. We will explore all available avenues. At the very least, we can propose and implement a plan that makes use of In-Lieu Fee mitigation to incrementally purchase target tracts. But we will also explore more comprehensive and lasting plans that could include uses of general permits that might enable advance purchase of larger tracts. 5. We will use a "phased approach" of involving stakeholders incrementally. We will start with the "technical" stakeholders - professional natural resource managers and scientists from public and private agencies. We will then bring in municipal and regulatory people, followed by citizens and developers. With this approach, we will resolve technical issues early on, and thus enable a more focused approach at each level, while still enabling comprehensive stakeholder involvement.   Subproposal for GBEP We are asking GBEP to fund the first phase of this project: inventory of wetland and other habitats in the watershed, production of a limited set of maps on a high-quality aerial photographic base, and the development of a watershed habitat publication to be used as an educational resource for public officials and stakeholders in general.   Task 1. Acquire imagery and delineate wetlands and habitat complexes. This will not be a jurisdictional-level delineation, but rather a depiction of areas of high wetland density, particularly with pothole-pimple mound complexes. We will also delineate riparian corridors and other valuable habitat. This task will be under the primary direction of John Jacob, in consultation with other professionals in area resource agencies. The mapping will primarily consist of air photo interpretation with some limited ground truthing. We will use high quality DOQQ and Lambert imagery, supplemented with historical photography as available.   Task 2.Develop a map legend and incorporate the legend and map polygons into an ARCVIEW GIS (HGAC).   Task 3.Prepare a limited set of maps in 8-1/2 x 11 format for distribution to key city and county personnel in the watershed.   Task 4. Prepare a generalized watershed document with descriptions of wetlands and other habitat resources in the watershed for distribution to a wider audience. This will be a "slick" highly graphical presentation document

.