Wetland Mitigation

Conservation of Natural Resources

WETLAND MITIGATION

Despite efforts to avoid environmental consequences, highway projects often have an impact on wetlands.  When this happens, SCDOT takes steps to mitigate/alleviate the loss. This is done through Mitigation Banking. Mitigation Banking is the process of preserving, enhancing, restoring or creating habitat to compensate for unavoidable wetland impacts. This involves purchasing and protecting a wetland area larger than the wetland areas taken by the highway project. Those mitigation areas purchased are protected by the state of South Carolina. Each bank's service area is determined during the early permitting stages and generally reflects the drainage or watershed basin where the bank is located. Sandy Island is SCDOT's largest mitigation bank. Listed below are a few of the major mitigation banks that have been established;

HUNTING CREEK MITIGATION BANK

This Newberry County property, located east of US 176/ SC 121, will serve as an important mitigation bank for SCDOT.  The tract, which is adjacent to the Sumter National Forest, has a total acreage of 306.4 acres formally used for dairy farming and timber management.  The mitigation bank will consist of converting approximately 16,000 linear feet of disturbed stream into approximately 17,500 linear feet of restored and stable stream habitat.  The Hunting Creek Mitigation Bank will compensate for stream and wetland impacts associated with future road projects. The Hunting Creek Mitigation Bank has been set up to maximize stream and wetland credits.

BIG PINE TREE CREEK MITIGATION BANK

The Big Pine Tree Creek Mitigation Bank (BPTCMB) involves protection and restoration efforts of streams and associated wetlands along Big Pine Tree Creek in Kershaw County.  The project boundaries enclose approximately 440 acres of non-uniform land types that are part of an 821.92 acre tract. This site is in the center of a larger conservation project known as the Big Pine Tree Creek In-lieu Fee Project.  The goal of these two projects is to restore and protect the Big Pine Tree Creek corridor from Goodale State Park to the Hermitage Mill Pond.

HUSPA CREEK MITIGATION BANK

The Huspa Creek Mitigation Bank consists of 232.5 acre tract between U.S. 17 and Bailey Road, near Gardens Corner in Beaufort County.  The Huspa Creek bank increased tidal circulation under U.S. 17 by replacing undersized culverts with new bridges and several larger culverts. These improvements increased the tidal flushing above U.S. 17 resulting in restoration of the biological and physical functions provided by these marshes.