Virginia Aquatic Resources Trust Fund

For more than 25 years, the Virginia Aquatic Resources Trust Fund (Trust Fund) has proven the wisdom of investing in wetlands and streams and in restoring the natural services they provide, such as clean water, flood control and recreation.

When the Trust Fund launched in 1995, the rationale behind it was simple: developers whose projects impacted small, scattered wetlands (generally less than an acre) could—instead of attempting on-site measures of dubious quality and benefit—mitigate those damages by paying fees set by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The Nature Conservancy would then use those pooled resources to undertake large-scale conservation projects in high priority areas. The program has evolved regularly over its first quarter-century, expanding to include stream projects and adding the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality as a co-administrator.

From a relatively small cumulative impact, the Trust Fund has conserved more than 20,000 acres—nearly half of which is public land, including areas managed by the cities of Charlottesville, Harrisonburg and Fredericksburg—prevented tons of sediment from polluting streams and served as a mitigation model being emulated in states such as Ohio and Utah.

Trust Fund Highlights

• The Trust Fund program was established in 1995, amended in 2003 and 2011 and a new operating agreement was signed in 2019.
• Through the end of 2021, the Corps has authorized over $68 million for TNC to pursue 142 mitigation projects.
• If you are interested in submitting a project for potential funding through the Trust Fund, please contact Karen Johnson at 804-249-3416.
• If you are interested in purchasing mitigation credits from the Trust Fund, please contact Kelly Cossey at 804-249-3427.

Purchasing Credits

The Trust Fund is dedicated to replacing the greatest value in terms of acreage and function, while providing a specific emphasis on protecting Virginia’s rare plants, animals and natural communities.

The Trust Fund helps make large-scale conservation possible. The program is able to implement large-scale watershed efforts that restore, enhance and protect water quality through cost-effective, ecologically preferable projects. 

By using TNC's conservation planning, projects are part of ongoing conservation initiatives with comprehensive ecological management plans. The Trust Fund utilizes an extensive Compensation Planning Framework that drives where TNC looks for appropriate projects. Mitigation sites therefore are most often located within a conservation area that provides greater ecological benefit than would an isolated project.

Through the Trust Fund, TNC and its conservation partners conduct restoration and preservation activities in the same watersheds where wetland and stream disturbances have occurred. In addition, the Trust Fund is cost-effective as land is often donated or purchased at less than or equal to fair market value. These savings can then be used for additional mitigation projects.

Snapshot of Projects

Through the end of 2021, the Corps has authorized more than $68 million for TNC to pursue 142 approved mitigation projects.

These projects attempt to achieve the overall programmatic goal of water quality improvement through the creation, restoration and enhancement of wetlands and streams and through the restoration and enhancement of the surrounding upland buffers. The Trust Fund also achieves the preservation of highly functional wetlands, stream and buffer areas which add to water quality protection and improvement. 

The Trust Fund received funding approvals for the following mitigation activities. Details of these projects are included in the 2021 annual report.

• Non-tidal wetlands—650 acres of restoration, over 4,000 acres of preservation
• Tidal wetlands—70 acres of restoration, over 350 acres of preservation, Phragmites eradication, oyster reef restoration, submerged aquatic vegetation restoration
• Stream channel restoration and enhancement activities along 92,000 linear feet (lf)
• Upland buffer planting of 630 acres
• Livestock exclusion along 48,000 lf
• Stream and riparian buffer preservation along 650,000 lf
• Upland and riparian buffer preservation of 4,600 acres
• Protection of over 10,000 additional acres—not considered as mitigation
• Establishment or additions to six state Natural Area Preserves and three state Wildlife Management Areas
• Restored streams within three city or county parks

Request for Site Qualifications

TNC is seeking suitable non-tidal wetland and/or stream mitigation site(s) in Chesapeake Bay, Potomac River, and Middle and Upper James River. The primary objectives are to restore, enhance, and/or preserve stream, tidal, and nontidal wetland systems in the hydrologic unit basins where the impacts occurred. 

The first round of submissions is due on February 28, 2025. Download the Request for Site Qualifications (RFSQ) for a rolling schedule of deadlines.

This RFSQ will remain active through November 30, 2025.

Trust Fund Downloads (PDF)