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Yolo worries about wetlands

Posted by: Maven on August 31, 2009 at 12:52 pm

From The Davis Enterprise:

“Outside developers trying to meet state environmental requirements could turn huge tracts of Yolo County farmland into wetlands over the next 20 years.

It could be as many as 20,000 acres, said Phil Pogledich, senior deputy county counsel, and Yolo’s supervisors worry that unchecked wetland conversion could jeopardize farming, endanger public health and threaten local wildlife.

“It’s something we need to start thinking long and hard about,” said Pogledich, who’s working on an ordinance that would give the county a stronger hand in regulating such projects.

Transforming farmland into wetlands is one way developers in the Sacramento Valley and Bay Area satisfy environmental laws. Before getting approval to develop wetlands, developers must offset the effects to vulnerable wildlife. Creating habitat for the affected species in another area is one way to get state approval.

With a lot of cheap land that’s home to many of the same at-risk species found in more developed areas, Yolo County is attractive to state-licensed “mitigation bankers” who preserve, manage and create habitat, and then sell “credits” to developers looking to meet their legal obligations. …”

Read more from The Davis Enterprise by clicking here.

August 31, 2009 · Filed Under Water Quality

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