Welcome to Chesapeake Shore Mitigation Bank on the eastern shore of Virginia. In accordance with the 2008 Federal Mitigation rule (33CFR Par 32), the Bank has now received approvals from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) to provide environmentally responsible compensation for unavoidable loss of aquatic functions and services for wetland resources.
Chesapeake Shore Mitigation Bank spans more than a hundred acres, and includes more than 40 aces of tidal and non-tidal wetlands. The Bank is located in the Lower Chesapeake Bay Drainage Basin.
The watershed-scale project will restore, enhance and preserve intertidal salt marsh, intertidal mud flat, shallow tidal water, intertidal estuaries, non-tidal wetlands, and upland buffers within the larger nearly 500 acre conservation effort.
The project will improve water quality, flood storage, wetland ecology and wildlife habitats benefiting all properties and owners in the area. The work will result in increased native biodiversity across the site, helping to support the plant and animal species in need of habitats while transforming the bank site to a more naturalized state.
Chesapeake Shore Mitigation Bank will generate nearly 60 tidal and non-tidal wetland credits. These much-needed environmental offsets for unavoidable impacts are immediately available for reservation - with service in the cities of Virginia Beach, Hampton, Poquoson, and the counties of Northampton, Accomack, Gloucester, Matthews, Middlesex, Lancaster and Northumberland.
To learn more about the Chesapeake Shore Mitigation Bank visit the live interactive mapping to discover if your project lies within the bank’s Geographic Service Area (GSA) or Contact Us.