Wetlands Workshop Focuses on Mitigation

A large and diverse group met in person this morning at an environmental consultancy in Golden and even more people joined in via Zoom. The topic was wetlands mitigation, somewhat mysteriously. More than one attendee agreed with my thought that we were beginning in the middle of the water quality control and waterway preservation process. 

Mitigation means to remedy the negative effects of one action with another action. So, mitigation comes after a company, be it a home developer, road and bridge builder, or other infrastructure constructor has been allowed to destroy or harm a wetlands by building next to it or on it. They are then required to "mitigate" the harm by purchasing credits or offsets in a wetlands "bank" elsewhere, working with a nonprofit such as Ducks Unlimited to create or rehabilitate another wetlands elsewhere, or do their own mitigation by creating a wetlands somewhere, which can be similar to the one they've destroyed or different. And they can take some time before they create the wetlands, which leads to a gap called "temporal loss" where endangered plants and animals have to try to find temporary homes in the meantime (this gap typically lasts at least a year or can be dragged out, who knows, maybe even a decade. 

Fen near Engineer's Peak, Colorado (Photo by Lee Recca, 2021)

What is a wetlands, anyway? It differs by state. In Colorado, it is a wet area fed by groundwater, springs, or snow melt measuring one-tenth acre or more. This includes fens (groundwater-fed, with thick organic soils that may take thousands of years to form and mature; wet meadows, wetlands with native species of plants/animals; and beaver-influenced meadows. I was concerned that wooded or forested wetlands as well as hot springs were not mentioned but was assured that they are included. 

In the past the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was responsible for permitting wetlands destruction and mitigation. They will continue to provide guidance through such tools as the Functional Assessment of Colorado Wetlands, or FACWet. This is kind of a checklist by which permitting entities can come to a decision about how valuable and functional a wetlands is so they can decide how much mitigation needs to be done. Ratios apply, so if you're buying credits at a wetlands bank, there may be simply a 1:1 ratio; however, if you're creating a wetlands from scratch and it's mostly buffer land, there may be up to a 1:15 ratio. 

But there's a fundamental flaw in the process, several people felt. So, if a home builder wants to build a home at Site A where there's a wetlands, and plans to build an equal size wetlands at Site B, why doesn't he or she just build the home at Site B instead? The graphic at left illustrates this dilemma. 

Wetlands serves many different functions and some of them are little understood. The graphic shows how wetlands provide flood attenuation. Dredge and fill in wetlands, but the water has to go somewhere...often into basements and over the banks of waterways. 

Mother Nature created water management systems that worked beautifully but didn't serve modern man's purposes. A workshop in October will focus on streams and how they are to be regulated. The photo below shows a wild, natural stream, braided, with a floodplain that allows water to sink into the ground instead of being rushed to rivers and oceans. 

Braided stream. 

Both wetlands and streams are now at risk due to the Supreme Court's decision, last year, overturning EPA and USACE regulation of them. Now, it's up to the states, and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has shown the willingness to step up and create rules to minimize the destruction. 

Many questions remain and rulemaking will take at least a year. The opportunities for those who would try to preserve and protect Native American sacred places are twofold. Perhaps we can influence rulemakers to prohibit the destruction of sacred places that include streams (even those underground) and wetlands. Even more intriguing, when mitigation is needed, perhaps we can nominate designated sacred places for actions that we direct and design. Processes such as mapping, monitoring, signage, diversion of destructive landslides and erosion, protective barriers and earthworks, replanting, and more. Such projects are called In-Lieu Fees. We, or our partners, could collect fees from builders or CDOT to preserve and protect the sites we've identified. 

Another thought: what if the rules could be retroactive? Supposing the town of Glenwood Springs, for example, could be persuaded to create hot springs for and in honor of the Ute peoples who gathered there historically. Springs used by Ute and other tribes abound in Colorado: Manitou, Poncha, Glenwood, Pagosa. If all of these places were to set aside areas devoted to and in honor of their Native American heritage, that could be a start, at least, at building a more just and beautiful Colorado. 

This is an informational blog about Sacred Places. Welcome and enjoy. I intend to make this place accessible to all who want to preserve and learn about Native American sacred places and trees. In the meantime, you can participate by commenting, sending your contributions to me, and linking to this site. There is much more to come.