Environmental Banc & Exchange

Our Work

Stream and Riparian Buffer Restoration

EBX is an authority on stream and riparian buffer restoration. We have completed over 40 miles of stream restoration. Two projects help describe how EBX was able to assist a land developer and a Public Agency in meeting their environmental offset needs.

Problem

Public agencies and private enterprises need to undertake stream restoration projects to offset the unavoidable environmental impacts associated with their development activities. Compensatory mitigation, which is required by federal law, is resource and time intensive and is often out of a development organization’s scope of work; the ability to partner with an organization who can manage the mitigation process in an efficient and expert manner is crucial to the success and on-time delivery of local and regional development projects.

Partners and Process

EBX has completed more than 40 miles of stream restoration. In each case, EBX provided its customers a turnkey solution for their restoration needs. After identifying streams that would provide ecologically appropriate restoration opportunities, EBX established a relationship with the landowners to arrange for restoration activities and conservation easements. EBX also alleviated their clients of the risks associated with mitigation. These risks included capital risk in land acquisition, technical risk in implementation, performance risk in the long-term viability of the restoration, and market risk in credit sales.

Select Stream Mitigation Projects

	Stream Linear Feet Restored or Under Contract	Wetland Acres Restored or Under Contract
North Carolina Catawba River Basin	46,422	31
Cape Fear River Basin	35,260	53
Neuse River Basin	28,142	1,261
Yadkin River Basin	26,437	26
Broad River Basin	16,321	n/a
Tar-Pam River Basin	6,757	86
Virginia Roanoke River Basin	16,398	112
Rappahannock River Basin	3,800	n/a

Examples

Stream

Mountain Run Stream, Virginia

Client & Need

The Silver Companies sought a restoration project to offset the disturbance of a stream in conjunction with the development of a golf course complex.

Description

3,900 linear feet were restored and the riparian corridor was reforested. The restoration of Mountain Run was combined with wetland restoration work also being performed by EBX. The end result was an ecologically rich tract of land with enhanced ecological value due to the comprehensive nature of the restoration work.

Stream

Tributaries to the South Fork of the Catawba River, North Carolina

Client & Need

The North Carolina Environmental Enhancement Program sought a restoration project to offset the disturbance of a stream in conjunction with North Carolina Department of Transportation road-building activity.

Description

14,000 linear feet were restored and a 50-foot riparian buffer was established along all stream reaches. The restored tributaries sit upstream from a public drinking supply and presented a particularly important opportunity for restoration activity.

Success

Through stream restoration activities, EBX has contributed to the improvement of water quality in a number of environmentally significant watersheds in the mid-Atlantic region including the Rappahannock River in Virginia, and the Cape Fear, Neuse, and Tar Pamlico Rivers in North Carolina. Both the Pamlico Sound and the Chesapeake Bay would ultimately be positively impacted by the restoration work.

The streams chosen for restoration activity were in a severely degraded state due to agricultural land use and cattle grazing and presented an opportunity to have a meaningful impact on local and regional water quality functions. Restoration activities included establishing a riparian buffer zone on either side of the stream. Riparian buffers provide critical habitat systems and a crucial transition zone between the water and human land use. Restoration activities improve erosion control and flood storage capacity, enhance fisheries and wildlife habitat, and contribute to clean drinking water. All of the lands included in the stream restoration projects are protected by permanent conservation easements to be held by non-profit conservation entities. The easement will ensure the preservation of the lands in perpetuity.