Galveston Bay Wetland Permit and Mitigation Assessment

Lisa Gonzalez Dr. Erin Kinney Dr. John Jacob Marissa Llosa

Transportation Stream & Wetland Mitigation Peer Exchange – June 5-6, 2018 Galveston Bay Watershed

~24,000 square miles

~Half of Texas’ population of 28M TXDOT Districts

Beaumont

Houston Population Growth 213 %

59 %

65 % * 119 % *

54 %

239 %

106 %

89 %

% Change in Population 1990 to 2017 Data Source: U.S. Census, *Texas Demographic Center Population Projection Regional Habitat

H-GAC Eco-Logical Map; Wetland Mitigation Opportunities white paper, 2014 Regional Land Cover Change; 1996-2010 • Growth in impervious (107K acres) & developed (254K acres) areas

• Wetland net change -54K acres NLDC, NOAA C-CAP Coastal Bottomlands and Blue Elbow Mitigation Banks Mitigation Bank Mitigation Bank HUC8 ORMII Permits ORMII Permits Galveston Bay Mitigation Banks TCWP Ground-truth Wetland Mitigation Assessment

• 17 sites: 4 permit mitigation sites not accessible, leaving 13 permits for site review (8 PRM, 5 MB). • Assessment criteria based on three-fold definition of a wetland (Tiner, 1989): – Hydrophytic vegetation (partially or completely submerged in water), – Evidence of hydrology, – Soil indicators consistent with wetland hydrology. • Conservative assessment: – Success: “reasonably wet” with recognizable wetland plants and hydric soils. – Failure: substandard compensatory mitigation site with a lack of any evidence for wetland mitigation

TCWP Ground-truth Wetland Mitigation Assessment

• Minimum 5% of the total mitigation site inventoried. • Plots (10 m x 10 m) representatively within the tract. • Plant species presence and percent cover assessed. • Cover of various biotic and abiotic surface materials collected in each plot. • Comprehensive list of species compiled. • Pictures of the site and the sample plot taken along with any notable site features. • Data collected in each sample plot included: – Species percent cover, – Species wetland status, – Species average height class, – Percent open water, – 3 water depth measurements, – Soil core collected, and – Observed hydrology

TCWP Ground-truth Wetland Mitigation Assessment Taylor Bayou - Success Stevenson Slough road realignment – Partial success – quality wetland but mitigated acreage 0.6 ac less than impacted acreage

League City - Unsuccessful

Stafford Run Creek - Unsuccessful Greens Bayou Mitigation Bank

• Smaller service area – watershed scale Greens Bayou Mitigation Bank • Managed by Harris County Flood ORMII Permits - Greens Bayou Control District • Est 1995; 1,400 Acres • Wetlands and Riverine credits • Criteria successfully met – Species percent cover – Species wetland status – Species average height class – Percent open water – Water depth measurements – Soil core – Observed hydrology

Concerns From a Watershed Perspective

Mitigation Bank • Service area size / distance from impact • Public transparency • Habitat not necessarily equal

ILF • Risk of failure • Time lag between impact and mitigation • Preservation vs. creation - No Net Loss of wetlands • ILF program authorization plus each project/additional mitigation area authorization • Risk to ILF operator because Mitigation Banks are preferred

PRM • Greater risk of non-compliance • More oversight required • Smaller parcels, habitat fragmentation • Lack of required conservation easement in some instances • Quality of wetland – , vegetation, invasives… Eco-Logical

FHWA-inspired framework for infrastructure planning

Eco-Logical Advisory Committee • Galveston Bay Program • Harris County Flood Control District • Houston Advanced Research Center • Houston-Galveston Area Council • Katy Prairie Conservancy • Legacy Land Trust • Texas Forest Service • Texas Parks and Wildlife Department • Texas Grant/Texas Coastal Watershed Program • The Conservancy • The Park People • The Trust for Public Land • US Fish and Wildlife Service http://www.h-gac.com/community/eco-logical/ http://maps.harcresearch.org/WetlandTool/

Regional Conservation Plan Houston Parks Board - Bayou Greenways Source: Kinder Institute Rice University Thinking Creatively About the Future • Watershed-by-watershed impacts & strategies • Potential partners - who does mitigation well? – NGOs, land trusts, local government – Natural resource agencies - TPWD – Mitigation banks • Finding the right location – Modeling future projects, wetland impacts, environmental need, flood mitigation potential, habitat value (protected species, migratory birds…) – Land with high conservation value – Community/environmental justice value • Building a case for a new regional approach to wetland mitigation

Thank You

Lisa Gonzalez President [email protected] Phone: (281) 364-6044

Erin Kinney, PhD Research Scientist, Coastal Ecology [email protected] Phone: (281) 364-6040

HARCresearch.org

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