18.08.180 Wetlands – Monitoring program and contingency plan.
A. If the wetland mitigation plan includes compensatory mitigation, a monitoring program shall be implemented to determine the success of the compensatory mitigation project.
B. Specific criteria shall be provided for evaluating the mitigation proposal relative to the goals and objectives of the project and for beginning remedial action or contingency measures. Such criteria may include water quality standards, survival rates of planted vegetation, species abundance and diversity targets, habitat diversity indices, or other ecological, geological or hydrological criteria.
C. A contingency plan shall be established for compensation in the event that the mitigation project is inadequate or fails.
D. Requirements of the monitoring program and contingency plan are as follows:
1. During monitoring, use scientific procedures for establishing the success or failure of the project;
2. For vegetation determinations, permanent sampling points shall be established;
3. Vegetative success equals 80 percent per year survival of planted trees and shrubs and 80 percent per year cover of desirable understory or emergent species;
4. Submit monitoring reports of the current status of the mitigation project to the department. The reports are to be prepared by a qualified wetland specialist and shall include monitoring information on wildlife, vegetation, water quality, water flow, stormwater storage and conveyance, and existing or potential degradation, and shall be produced on the following schedule:
a. At time of construction;
b. Thirty days after planting;
c. Early in the growing season of the first year;
d. End of the growing season of first year;
e. Twice the second year;
f. Annually;
5. Monitor a minimum of three and up to 10 growing seasons, depending on the complexity of the wetland system. The time period will be determined and specified in writing prior to the implementation of the site plan;
6. If necessary, correct for failures in the mitigation project;
7. Replace dead or undesirable vegetation with appropriate plantings;
8. Repair damages caused by erosion, settling, or other geomorphological processes;
9. Redesign mitigation project (if necessary) and implement the new design;
10. Correction procedures shall be approved by a qualified wetland specialist and the city’s environmental official. (Ord. 1036 § 25, 2006; Ord. 611 § 1, 1991).