Executive Summary
This project demonstrates the effectiveness of local government scale mitigation planning coordinated with future public works projects in achieving the goals of wetland and water quality protection, watershed hydrologic restoration, and completion of necessary public infrastructure projects. We will develop an improved model local government watershed scale wetland mitigation strategy for wetland restoration, wetland protection, and water quality improvement and public project mitigation at the local government scale that is transferable to other Florida counties. Depending upon the parameters in other States this will likely be transferable to other local governments in other States that have a governance system similar to the Florida’s.
A generic How-To document included with in this report and a PowerPoint presentation was also developed for available use in implementing similar programs in other jurisdictions.
The Master Wetland Mitigation Strategy has three main purposes:
to provide a master strategy by which critical wetland environmental features continue to be preserved,
to provide “safe harbor” approaches for wetland mitigation projects that are required for the infrastructure needed to accommodate growth, which in turn will enable the local government budgeting process to be reliable, and
to restore degraded wetland resources that are important for the health, safety, and welfare of the public.
Regional Facilitation
The Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council is devoted to excellence in region-wide facilitation, research, and developing partnerships in many areas that make a difference locally and state-wide.