Abstract:
St. Johns River Water Management District Mitigation Bank boundaries, digitized from aerial photography provided by the applicant during the permitting process. Boundaries at this time are approximate and should not be interpreted as being definitive.
Supplemental_Information:
Mitigation banking is a process in which large areas of existing wetlands and/or uplands are restored and/or enhanced to mitigate, or offset, the loss of other wetlands or surface waters that are destroyed to make room for new homes, businesses, roads, utilities or other activities. In rare instances, wetlands may also be created as part of a mitigation bank.
Under Florida law, a mitigation bank is defined as a project undertaken to provide “credits” to offset adverse impacts to wetlands or other surface waters that occur as part of a permitted project.
In the St. Johns River Water Management District’s jurisdiction, mitigation banks are intended to be used to minimize the uncertainty associated with traditional mitigation practices and to provide greater assurance of mitigation success. Consolidating multiple mitigation projects into larger contiguous areas should provide greater assurance that the mitigation will yield long-term, sustainable, regional ecological benefits. Rather than altering the landscape to create wetlands, mitigation banks should emphasize restoration and enhancement of degraded ecosystems and the preservation of uplands and wetlands as intact ecosystems. This is best accomplished through restoration of ecological communities that were historically present. Mitigation banks are encouraged in or adjacent to areas of national, state, or regional ecological significance, provided that the area in which the mitigation bank is proposed is determined appropriate and the bank meets all applicable permitting criteria.
Please refer to the SJRWMD Mitigation Banking website for the most up to date information:
http://webapub.sjrwmd.com/agws93/mt
The features in this layer are subject to change as existing banks are remapped and as new banks are approved.