Service Area Boundaries - How Does the US ACE Determine these in Different Districts?

Becca Madsen on September 10, 2010 Comment

Service areas determine the area in which mitigation can occur to offset an impact. The determination of service area affects ecology and economics: too large an area, and you could get ecological 'hotspots,' but too small an area, and you'll stifle markets for compensation. Womble and Doyle provide a full survey of how wetland mitigation regulators at the District level (and there are 38 Districts in the US) determine how to set service area boundaries. They found a great deal of variation, but the most-used service area used is HUC-8 watersheds (in 25 Districts). But HUC-8 is by no means the only geographic limit used for service area - the full range includes:

"HUC-6s, HUC-8s, HUC-10s, HUC-11s, Level IV ecoregions, Albert ecoregions, 16 Ecological Drainage Units (EDUs), independent Corps district or state watershed assessments, and tidal/nontidal wetland boundaries."

Mitigation banking wonks will want to read the full article - it's good stuff!

Womble, Philip, and Martin Doyle, 2010. Setting Geographic Service Areas for Compensatory Mitigation Banking. National Wetlands Newsletter, Sept-Oct 2010. (subscription only)