Alternative Title
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality Project 51419, Task 14
Document Type
Report
Department/Program
Virginia Institute of Marine Science
VIMS Department/Program
Center for Coastal Resources Management (CCRM)
Publication Date
2020
Abstract
Virginia continues to make significant progress in the development of a comprehensive wetland regulatory program and continued refinement of our wetland monitoring and assessment tools for use in management decision-making and integration within our water quality programs. This project focused on development of strategies to integrate management of wetlands across the landscape and among different jurisdictions sharing the same waterways. This project will increase the potential for protection and restoration of wetlands, but also include the added value of potentially improving impaired waters in Virginia. Project activities specifically addressed all of the priority elements in Virginia’s approved Wetlands Program Plan (2015-2020). The project extended the current online Virginia Wetlands Condition Assessment Tool (WetCAT) to include both tidal and nontidal wetlands, as well as nontidal wetlands vulnerable to changing participation patterns. The project established coordinated bi-State wetland management by providing comprehensive watershed level maps of wetlands in waterways shared by both Virginia and North Carolina. It provided a statewide floristic quality assessment tool for better analysis of wetlands in the field. Finally, the project provided continued landuse/wetland calibration for wetland condition models and developed strategies to increase sampling accuracy while reducing sampling costs. Finally, existing outreach strategies continued targeting local government decision makers and the public.
DOI
10.25773/p1k8-fy61
Keywords
Wetlands, Management tools
Publication Statement
Submitted to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 3, Wetland Development Program Grant
Funding
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) #BG983+25-06-0
Recommended Citation
REFINING PROGRAM CAPACITY TO ENHANCE AND PROTECT WETLAND RESOURCES IN VIRGINIA. 2020. Final Report to EPA (#BG983925-06-0). Center for Coastal Resources Management, Virginia Institute of Marine Science. Virginia Department of Environmental Quality Project 51419, Task 14, 36pp. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25773/p1k8-fy61
