Mitigation credits are acquired to satisfy mitigation requirements for permitted, unavoidable impacts to wetlands and related aquatic habitat. A mitigation credit is the approved unit of exchange used to replace an equivalent area of lost aquatic habitat and function (ie. permitted impact) through a mitigation bank (i.e. mitigation for impact). For the SHMB, the increase in aquatic function represented by one credit is equivalent to the aquatic function provided by one acre of intact Category II wetlands in Western Washington.
- A Practical Definition: 1 Credit = 1 acre of Category II wetlands
- An Ecological Description of a Credit: A credit from the SHMB represents an area where the river flows freely from the mainstem
Skykomish River, through a dynamic side channel network, and into floodplain wetlands, while carving out complex
niches of side channels and pool habitat that will provide critical off-channel refugia for juvenile and rearing
salmonids. Under this definition, the use of a credit reflects the full value of the ecological benefits provided
by the integrated components of the dynamic, natural process-driven system by recognizing the results from restoring
dynamic habitat-forming processes that form complex, multi-component habitat.
- Possible Flood Storage Credit: In certain circumstances, the use of credits has been approved by the MBRT and Snohomish County’s Department of Planning and Development Services to provide flood hazard mitigation under the requirements of Snohomish County Code. In such cases, the value of one credit from the SHMB can be used to provide the equivalent of 6,700 cubic yards of flood storage in addition to the overall wetland credit value. (This is commonly referred to as “credit stacking” whereby a single, universal credit can be used to satisfy multiple regulatory requirements from different approving agencies).
