Terra Technologies has built the first Wetland and Stream Mitigation Bank in mid-Missouri. This 172-acre restoration site has widened and enhanced a 300 foot riparian buffer along about 3,000 linear feet of Smith Creek as well as restored and enhanced native prairie and woodland habitats to areas that were previously in pasture or were unmanaged.
Importantly, Terra Technologies has converted a large area that was in agricultural production to herbaceous floodplain wetlands. This was accomplished through the diversion of existing sheet flow, the removal of agricultural diversion berms, the restoration of former ephemeral stream channels, the creation of microtopography and the construction of large and small wetland pools across the site. The water levels in the wetland pools will fluctuate depending on rainfall and drainage, providing hydrology for a variety of wetland vegetation. The position of this site low in the landscape as well as the predominance of poorly drained soils made the likelihood of success very high.
Additionally, Terra Technologies has found historic evidence of streams that once existed on the site but which have been diverted or destroyed by agricultural practices. These streams have been restored to sinuous channels with planted riparian corridors.
The site has been planted with a variety of native trees and shrubs in dry, moist, and inundated locations. The combination of wetland, upland prairie and riparian corridor environments will provide significant improvements to local wildlife habitat. Besides constructing the mitigation bank, Terra Technologies will also perform monitoring, meet all regulatory requirements and sell the resulting wetland and stream credits. The proposed service area will include parts of Howard, Boone, Cooper, Moniteau, Cole, Callaway, Osage, Saline, Randolph, Montgomery, Warren, St. Charles, St. Louis, Gasconade and Franklin Counties.
Initial site construction was completed in 2009.
Contact our St. Louis office at
314-984-0050 for more information.
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