Our Projects

In 2012, WRA began working with Land Veritas to develop the state’s first stream mitigation bank on a 313-acre property located in the City of Chino Hills in San Bernardino County and unincorporated Orange County.

WRA completed numerous biological studies to identify sensitive biological resources with potential market value for mitigation credits.  WRA identified several special-status species and sensitive habitats at the site, as well as additional species which might utilize the property if particular habitats were restored.  These resources include streams, riparian corridors, coastal sage scrub, California walnut woodland, oak woodland, and habitat for least Bell’s vireo and California gnatcatcher.

WRA’s design team worked together with our biologists to prepare restoration plans that included restoring a range of habitats.  The design process included assessing potential restoration areas after the site had burned and accounting for limited access.  The final design included planting and seeding to restore mulefat riparian, oak woodland, walnut woodland, coastal sage scrub, and native grassland habitats. WRA design staff worked with the implementation contractor to properly place plantings to account for slope, soil moisture and microclimate

The Bank, approved in December 2014, provides U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Regional Water Quality Control Board mitigation for projects impacting regulatory resources including wetlands/waters within the San Gabriel, Santa Ana, and Lower Los Angeles River watersheds. The bank also provides CEQA mitigation for projects impacting sensitive habitats throughout portions of Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside, and Los Angeles counties.

WRA managed the Bank from site selection through the entitlement phase, and continues to manage Bank operations and credit sales today.