A new report “ An Evaluation of Compensatory Mitigation Projects Permitted Under Clean Water Act Section 401 by the California State Water Quality Control Board, 1991-2002 ” by Richard F. Ambrose, John C. Callaway, and Steven F. Lee is now available at the following web site:
http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/cwa401/index.html#contracts
direct link to report: http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/cwa401/docs/wetlandmitstudy_rpt.pdf
direct link to appendices: http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/cwa401/docs/wetlandmitstudy_app.pdf

The report was completed for the California State Water Resources Control Board, assessing wetland mitigation efforts across California, including evaluation of permit compliance and ecological conditions of over 100 wetland mitigation projects. A brief summary of the report is included below. We are seeking comments on the report; comments can be sent to swrcbmitigation@ucla.edu and should be sent by December 1st, 2006. If you have questions about the report, please contact John Callaway (callaway@usfca.edu) or Rich Ambrose (rambrose@ucla.edu).


ABSTRACT
The purpose of this project, which was funded by the California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB), was to evaluate the compliance and wetland condition of compensatory wetland mitigation projects associated with Clean Water Act Section 401 Water Quality Certifications throughout California. This was done by selecting, reviewing and performing field evaluations for 143 permit files distributed across the 12 Water Board regions and sub-regions of the State. For each permit file we assessed the extent to which permittees complied with their mitigation conditions, including acreage requirements, whether the corresponding mitigation efforts resulted in optimal wetland condition, and if the habitat acreages gained through compensatory mitigation adequately replaced those lost through the permitted impacts. We found that permittees are largely following their permit conditions (although one-quarter to one-third of the time these are not met), but the permit conditions that are being met are not resulting in compensatory mitigation projects that are similar to natural wetlands.