Coral reef systems and compensatory mitigation strategies in the 21st century: Watershed approaches in the Pacific

Island populations in the Pacific are dependent upon healthy coral reef ecosystems for ecological and economic well being.  Necessary infrastructure activities such as port development are needed to sustain and support these communities but may lead to coral reef impacts.   Through the Clean Water Act and its applicable regulations and policies, the Corps derives its authority to implement or require, as applicable, compensatory mitigation to offset lost functions and values of aquatic sites, including coral reefs, due to regulated activities or by projects it sponsors through its civil works missions. Implementing traditional in-kind and in-place mitigation techniques is difficult for coral reef ecosystems.  Appropriate in-place locations are difficult to identify as the size of the impact often requires a large shallow area appropriate for coral transplanting.  In-kind techniques are limited and may be cost-prohibitive.  Overall ecological success is likely to be stunted as the project areas are typically proposed in urbanized watersheds that contribute to water quality impacts to coral reef health. Studies have shown that protected areas needed to ensure adequate coral reef ecosystem restoration and resiliency are much larger than originally considered. This paper looks at existing Corps policies and procedures for mitigation, capabilities to support watershed approaches in mitigation, including potential alternative off-site and out-of-kind mitigation strategies, and identifies challenges to a coral reef watershed mitigation strategy in the Pacific Island Region.