Waterman Mitigation Partners is proposing an umbrella mitigation bank wetland and aquatic resources on the Kitsap Peninsula between Hood Canal and Puget Sound.

Multiple bank sites throughout the Kitsap Peninsula subwatersheds may offset unavoidable impacts to many important aquatic resources: freshwater and estuarine wetlands, freshwater streams and riparian areas that outlet to marine waters, and marine-associated riparian, intertidal, and subtidal habitats (collectively referred to as nearshore).

The region has a shortage of larger suitable sites typically needed to support the scale of a mitigation bank due to the region’s unique topography, small subwatersheds, existing development patterns, and limited land availability, thus the need to aggregate multiple, separate properties into a mitigation bank. The proposed bank sites are located within Watershed Resource Inventory Area (WRIA) 15, a region with diverse marine and freshwater habitats that support important fish and wildlife, including Endangered Species Act (ESA)-listed species, and subsistence, recreational, and commercial fisheries. However, these habitats are juxtaposed against increasing development and subsequent impacts that degrade these important habitats. Key goals of the Bank are restoring ecological functions throughout subwatersheds in the region, with an emphasis on supporting nearshore habitat and habitat for ESA-listed species. Each bank site includes individual parcels of land that will host a variety of credit-generating restorative activities. The properties represent a diverse ownership, including private landowners, public entities, and the mitigation bank sponsor itself. 

The Bank proposes two service areas: 1) one service area with subwatersheds that empty into Hood Canal and 2) another service area with subwatersheds that empty into Puget Sound. The proposed bank is comprised of sites with properties in multiple reaches of seven stream systems that are fish-bearing and outlet to marine waters (also described as marine-associated in this document), and two sites that are exclusively nearshore and intertidal systems.  

A mitigation bank for the Kitsap Peninsula is a critical need because: 

▪ Permittee-responsible mitigation is complicated by the limited land availability on the Kitsap Peninsula. Subwatersheds cover multiple land ownerships, often with a complex patchwork of private and public lands latticed with transportation infrastructure and utility easements. 

▪ Future unavoidable impacts are anticipated in this developing region from public and private projects and especially in proximity to multiple federal defense-related industries and bases. 

▪ The region has many small subwatersheds and a development pattern of small- to medium-sized legal ownerships, which overlap critical intertidal habitat, estuarine wetlands, and freshwater aquatic habitats. 

▪ The region has intertidal habitat, estuarine wetlands, and interconnected inland subwatersheds that have restoration potential suited for a mitigation bank with multiple sites. 

▪ The region has an in-lieu fee (ILF) program sponsored by the Hood Canal Coordinating Council (HCCC) for the Hood Canal Service Area on the west side of the Kitsap Peninsula but no approved mitigation bank for either proposed service area; thus, establishing a mitigation bank would support environmental goals in local planning documents. 

The Kitsap Umbrella Mitigation Bank will be the first of its kind on the Great Peninsula and will provide mitigation for an array of permitted impacts including Navy shoreline projects, WSDOT infrastructure improvements, commercial and residential developments, small businesses and homeowners. 

This bank will allow for the sustainable economic development of our communities, while keeping open spaces and environmental restoration, enhancement, and preservation a priority.

It will ensure ecologically important habitats are permanently protected and conserved for critical species and our community’s future generations.