The VIMS Wetlands Program is composed of faculty and staff of the Department of Resource Management and Policy. Responsibilities of the Wetlands Program include advisory activities for projects which impact marine, estuarine, and wetland (both tidal and nontidal) resources, graduate and outreach education, and basic and applied research. Through our tidal wetland advisory efforts data on the impacts to tidal wetlands are collected on a project-by-project basis.
 

Onsite data collection entails enumerating proposed impacts (in square feet) for each tidal wetlands community type by activity category (e.g. bulkhead, riprap, commercial structure). Global Positioning System (GPS) location and digital images of the project site are also collected. 
 

Impacts to tidal wetlands are classified by date, locality, immediate water body, primary waterway, watershed, type and extent of proposed activity, and wetland community type. These data are entered into a computer database and a report is generated which summarizes proposed tidal wetland impacts by location and community type, and includes advisory comments about the project. These project-specific reports are distributed to the applicant/agent and various local, state and federal agencies which play an advisory or decision-making role. These agencies may include, but are not limited to, the local Wetlands Board, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, the United States Army Corps of Engineers, the Environmental Protection Agency, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Marine Fisheries Service.
 

Through the decision-making process, a project may be permitted as proposed, altered, modified, or denied. Any changes to a project through the permit process may change the impacts the project would have on tidal wetlands. If changes occur, they are reported by the decision-making body (i.e. the local Wetlands Board, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, or the United States Army Corps of Engineers). The database is subsequently updated. Therefore, through the database we are able to distinguish between proposed and permitted impacts to tidal wetlands (from 1993 to the present).
 

The date of final decision is used to delineate a "data year." For example, data for 1995 includes all impacts associated with projects that received final decisions from all state permitting agencies in 1995, regardless of when the project was first proposed. It is common for projects, especially large projects such as marinas, to undergo multiple-year reviews and modifications prior to final decisions being rendered by the state.
 

The data years 1988-1992 and 1993-present are different in structure. Modifications to the database occurred in 1993 which increased the detail in data summarization capabilities. Prior to 1993, impacts to separate wetland community types could not be extracted from the database by activity category. Therefore, the query designs for these categories of data years are not identical and reflect the level of detail inherent in each data set.
 

If the data presented through this web site is not to the level of desired detail, users may request specific data summaries through the "Request further information" link on the Tidal Wetlands Impacts Data Home Page. Data requests are honored in order of receipt and on an as-time-allows basis ONLY. We cannot guarantee that requests will be filled in requested time periods. Furthermore, requests which are not specific, or requests for extensive amounts of summarized data will not be honored.