Monday, June 8, 2015
David Flick, Principal and Founder of Terra Technologies, is proud to announce that the Smith Creek Wetland and Stream Mitigation Bank has been approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Interagency Review Team. The habitat improvements made on this 175-acre restoration site can now be used as compensatory mitigation for impacts to wetlands and streams throughout Mid-Missouri, the first mitigation bank in the Ozark / Moreau / Loutre Ecological Drainage Unit.
Before restoration commenced, the Bank property largely consisted of row crop agriculture fields with some pasture areas and less than a half-acre of degraded wetlands. The past agricultural practices on the Bank property had largely eradicated four small streams, channelized three tributary streams into ditches, and reduced one side of the Smith Creek riparian buffer to a thin band of trees.
The mitigation activities were completed several years ago and now the site now has more than 70 acres of high-functioning wetlands that provide habitat for countless frogs, numerous water birds and other wildlife. In fact, the first observed population of small-mouthed salamanders in Moniteau County was discovered on this property in one of the wetland pools. In addition, more than a half mile of both sides of Smith Creek is now protected, including a portion surrounding a known mussel bed. The riparian buffer surrounding this stream has been significantly widened and the channelized tributary ditches and the eradicated streams have been restored to a more natural sinuosity and channel cross section.
For a project summary of the Smith Creek Wetland and Stream Mitigation Bank please visit http://terratechnologies.com/Project_Examples/Smith_Creek/Smith_Creek.htm.
For more information about wetland services, contact your local office of Terra Technologies.
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