The Environmental Law Institute’s (ELI’s) and The Nature Conservancy’s (TNC’s) recently released handbook advances the use of a watershed approach in the selection, design and siting of wetland and stream restoration and protection projects, including projects required by compensatory mitigation. This joint report, “Watershed Approach Handbook: Improving Outcomes and Increasing Benefits Associated with Wetland and Stream Restoration and Protection Projects,” was funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other private funding sources.
The webcast gave listeners a broad overview of the handbook, which was developed to increase the use of a watershed approach to help ensure a holistic approach to wetland and stream restoration projects that also contribute to goals of improved water quality, increased flood mitigation, improved quality and quantity of habitat and increases in other services and benefits. The webcast explained how the handbook provides a framework for how to carry out the watershed approach, defines a range of different approaches, and offers examples of how these approaches have been applied across the country. It also featured a case study from Wisconsin.