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This one-day program will provide an in-depth introduction to the recently published NJ Department of Environmental Protection’s Regionalized Water-Budget Manual for Compensatory Wetland Mitigation Sites in New Jersey – designed to provide information to help improve the effectiveness of compensatory freshwater wetland mitigation projects in the State of New Jersey. The course will provide the best available sources of data for water budget modeling in NJ as well as proper methods for collecting on-site data and most importantly how to effectively use the data to design a successful wetland mitigation project.
The focus of the manual is the evaluation of sites that may be selected to become wetlands in order to compensate for the destruction of natural wetlands – i.e. primarily the creation of a wetland system from an upland system. In particular, non-tidal wetlands are examined because their water-balances are not dominated by the regular ebb and flow of tides that is predictable and makes a tidally–influenced system relatively simpler to design in terms of hydrologic modeling. The manual is designed to supplement existing manuals written for a national audience by helping wetland mitigation designers to understand hydrologic conditions in various NJ landscapes and to locate and acquire hydrologic data relevant to project sites within NJ. Specifically, the manual provides organizations and online websites with available data on the principal components of the hydrologic budget: precipitation, surface water, ground water and evapotranspiration are provided. Methods for on-site data collection are presented as well, as well as common mistakes to be avoided when collecting on-site data to prevent erroneous calculations. In addition, various methodologies for determining the inputs to and outputs from wetland water budgets are described. Also presented is an example of a water budget for a hypothetical mitigation site in NJ.
Who Should Attend
This course will provide definitive guidance to all professionals involved with the planning and design of wetland mitigation projects in NJ. In addition, this course may benefit non-profit agencies other non-governmental agencies as well as local government planning agencies in the successful design of beneficial environmental restoration projects. Agencies that are subject to mitigation requirements through Department-issued permits such as private businesses and/or individuals as well as Federal, State, County and Municipal government agencies will also benefit through gaining an understanding of the complexity of providing mitigation and assist in long-term planning efforts. The use of the manual is required by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Land Use Regulation as part of the approved checklist entitled, Checklist for Completeness: Creation, Restoration or Enhancement for a Freshwater Wetland Mitigation Proposal.
This manual will be provided on CD to all class participants with paid registration. The manual will be available online in August 2008, and will be located in the NJ Digital Library.
Program Topics
• Wetland Hydrology
• Physiographic Regions of New Jersey
• Wetland Types and their Hydrologic Functions
• Water Source and Transportation
• Hydrodynamics
• Mitigation Site Selection
• Development of a Water Budget
• Example of a Water Budget
Instructors
Representatives from the United States Geological Survey and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Land Use Regulation, Mitigation Unit will teach the course.
NOTE: If you are unable to attend this offering, a second date has been added on August 26, 2008 – Course Code: EH0402CB09.
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