Stream, Wetland & Habitat Conservation Restoration

 

Presentation by KDOW – 2022 KAMM Confernece

From Forgotten to Critical Resource Planning for Kentucky Future with Wetlands – Michaela Lambert, DOW

 

Improving Outcomes and Increasing Benefits Associated with Wetland and Stream Restoration Projects

September 2014

The Environmental Law Institute and The Nature Conservancy released a handbook to advance the use of a watershed approach in the selection, design, and siting of wetland and stream restoration and protection projects, including projects required as compensatory mitigation for permitted activities.  The joint report demonstrates how using a watershed approach can help ensure that these projects also contribute to goals of improved water quality, increased flood mitigation, improved quality and quantity of habitat, and increases in other ecological services and benefits.

Link to Watershed Approach Handbook: Improving Outcomes and Increasing Benefits Associated with Wetland and Stream Restoration and Protection Projects.

 

Protecting Streams

Implement Creditable CRS Activities

Mitigation activities that earn CRS credits Communities that protect streams should consider implementing these creditable activities:

  • Adopting erosion and sediment control regulations for land disturbed during development.
  • Establishing a library of flood risk data, which can contain LID and green space information.
  • Maintaining a flood protection website that can include relevant LID/GI information.
  • Prohibiting fill in the 100-year floodplain.
  • Adopting a building code that contains LID/GI requirements and practices.
  • Using dedicated funding for new or retrofit LID/GI projects in a capital improvement plan.
  • Conducting outreach that may include LID/GI and stream protection information.
  • Prohibiting dumping of yard waste and trash in streams and enforcing compliance.

 

Wetland Restoration Contemporary Issues & Lessons Learned

August 2017

The Association of State Wetland Managers

This report will be useful to anyone who works in the field of wetland restoration including regulators, policy makers, practitioners, wetland managers, and individuals who are interested in wetland restoration.

This report –

1) documents barriers and problems associated with wetland restoration practices,

2) explores what can be done to address these challenges, and

3) outlines a series of practical actions to improve wetland restoration outcomes.

This paper is divided into two chapters: 1) Overall Challenges and 2) Actions to Improve Wetland Restoration.

Download the publication, Wetland Restoration. 

 

Community Incentives for Nature-Based Flood Solutions

A Guide to FEMA’s Community Rating System For Conservation Practitioners

2021

Nature-based solutions—such as open space protection and wetland restoration— can effectively reduce flood risk and are creditable components of the CRS. The conservation community can and should partner with municipalities to plan and design “nature-based solutions” that restore and protect natural areas, reduce flood risk and earn citizens a discount on their flood insurance rate.

Link to Community Incentives for Nature-Based Flood Solutions – A Guide to FEMA’s Community Rating System For Conservation Practitioners

 

Actions to Conserve Species and Protect Habitat

Conserving Wildlife While Reducing Flood Risk

The nation’s coastal and riverine floodplains and surrounding land areas support large and diverse populations of plants and animals by providing habitat and critical sources of energy and nutrients for these organisms.  Many species spend their entire lives in the habitats found in and adjacent to the floodplain.  The wide variety of plants and animals supported directly or indirectly by floodplains constitutes an extremely valuable, renewable resource important for our economic welfare, aesthetic enjoyment, and physical well-being.

Many communities across the country are recognizing the connection between conserving wildlife and reducing flood risk to their inhabitants, and are engaging in activities that both protect important habitat and help minimize community flood loss. 

FEMA encourages communities and project proponents to reach out to experts in wildlife and species conservation to discuss developing strategies to enhance existing habitat and reduce threats to specific species.

 

Strategic Partnerships and Floodplain Buyouts: An Opportunity for Wetland Restoration

University of North Carolina Institute for the Environment; Environmental Law Institute

February 2017

This Handbook summarizes key considerations for wetland and conservation agencies or organizations interested in playing a role in the floodplain buyout process.  These organizations can be valuable partners for local governments while advancing their interest in ecosystem and habitat conservation or restoration.

Download the strategic-partnerships-and-floodplain-buyouts

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Have questions, contact us at help@kymitigation.org.