The York River Mitigation Bank (YRMB) is sited on 959 acres in King William County along three miles of the Pamunkey River and includes 13 miles of stream mitigation and over 290 acres of wetland mitigation. This highly-successful bank has serviced a variety of credit seekers, including VDOT, who purchased 6,000 stream credits for use in mitigating unavoidable impacts to waters of the U.S. in the York River HUCs. Williamsburg Environmental Group, Inc (WEG) has provided full-service environmental consulting in support of this project since its inception in 1998. Specifically, WEG has completed environmental resource surveys, Interagency Review Team coordination, detailed stream and wetland mitigation assessment, design, and construction plans, agency permitting, contractor coordination, construction oversight, monitoring and reporting activities, and mitigation credit sale coordination.
The first phase included nearly 8 miles of stream preservation, including buffers that provide critical wildlife corridor areas from numerous headwater tributaries to the Pamunkey River. The second phase included the restoration of nearly 1,700 LF of Hornquarter Creek, which had been severely degraded from historic ditching and on-going agricultural practices. The third and fourth phases of the stream restoration activities included over 7,100 LF of restoration and 28 acres of riparian buffer reestablishment. Natural stream channel design techniques were utilized as the basis for the design. WEG also completed a detailed floodplain evaluation as earthwork/grading activities are proposed within a significant portion of the designated 100-year floodplain area. Phase IV of the stream mitigation has recently been designed with construction anticipated in late 2010.
Presently, over 163 acres of wetlands have been restored, created, or preserved as part of the YRMB. Niche habitats for amphibians and other sensitive species (flora and fauna) are routinely incorporated into the plans and native species for emergent, scrub-shrub, and forested wetlands have been incorporated into natural landscape position. Filter strip/buffers between existing wetland areas and on-going agriculture are also implemented to augment water quality and provide an upland habitat niche along the perimeter of the wetland systems.
An additional component of the overall project included the coordination and restoration of two dams on the property as Hurricane Gaston delivered a 500-year storm event in August 2005, which breached these two large embankments. WEG worked with the local NRCS office and DCR officials to restore one lake, as it was the primary source of irrigation for agricultural activities. Although the second impoundment was not restored, critical fish passage restoration, stream and buffer restoration, and wetland enhancement activities were proposed to alleviate the damage.
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