Westervelt wins approval for 217-acre California mitigation bank

Westervelt Ecological Services (WES) has received regulatory approval for the Johnson Cosumnes Mitigation Bank, a 217-acre floodplain restoration project in Sacramento County. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife authorized the bank, making credits available immediately. A second tranche of credits will be released this autumn once construction finishes.

The immediate availability of credits provides a direct compliance mechanism for regional developers required to offset environmental impacts. In the mitigation banking market, developers purchase these credits to satisfy regulatory permits for construction or infrastructure projects. Access to immediate supply in Sacramento County prevents project delays and eliminates the risk of developers having to fund and manage their own independent offset sites.

The approval carries broader market implications beyond the immediate credit supply. WES partnered with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to utilize the state's Cutting the Green Tape program. The Johnson Cosumnes bank is the first private mitigation project to secure the CEQA Statewide Exemption for Restoration Projects, a status previously restricted to public or grant-funded initiatives.

This regulatory breakthrough significantly de-risks the development timeline for future private mitigation banks in California. By bypassing the standard California Environmental Quality Act review, private operators can bring credits to market faster and with lower administrative costs. This streamlined pathway could ultimately expand the supply of compliance offsets across the state.

WES, a division of the nearly 140-year-old Westervelt Company based in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, will convert existing agricultural fields into a functional floodplain. The work involves removing agricultural berms and establishing channels to mimic natural water flow along the Cosumnes River. This targets the last undammed river in California’s Central Valley to restore seasonal inundation and nutrient exchange.

The site marks WES’s fifth restoration project adjacent to the 50,000-acre Cosumnes River Preserve. For credit buyers, the financial security of the bank is ensured through a permanent conservation easement held by the Sacramento Valley Conservancy. Furthermore, long-term management funding provided by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation guarantees the site's ecological functions are maintained in perpetuity, shielding developers from future liability if the restored habitat degrades.