WEBVTT

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I am Kyle Gordon . I'm the program

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manager for the wetlands Regulatory

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assistance program here at the

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environmental lab at and today I will

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be talking about the hydroge amorphic

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approach or HGM approach to assessing

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wetland functions . The hydroge

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amorphic or HGM approach for assessing

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wetland functions was developed by

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researchers at the US Army Engineer

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Research and Development Center or

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through the wetlands regulatory

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assistance program and the wetlands

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research program and was supported by

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partners from other federal and state

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agencies , academia and industry as

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part of an interagency National Action

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plan for HGM . HGM is both a wetland

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classification scheme and a methodology

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for assessing the capacity of an

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ecosystem like wetlands to perform

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certain functions . HTM

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classifies and characterizes wetlands

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based on their geom morph or landscape

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position . The predominant source of

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wetland hydrology and hydrodynamics .

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It is designed to assess wetlands and

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aquatic ecosystems which are normally

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characterized in terms of their

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structural components and the process

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that link those components together ,

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structural components of the ecosystem

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and the surrounding landscape such as

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plants , soils , hydrology and animals

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interact with a variety of physical

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chemical and biological processes

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within wetlands understanding and

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modeling . The interactions of those

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structural components of the ecosystem

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with the surrounding landscape features

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is the basis for assessing ecosystem

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functions and is the foundation of the

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HGM approach . US A

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considers the losses and gains of

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Retland functions when making

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environmental compliance decisions for

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us , a civil works projects as well as

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permitting and compensatory mitigation

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decisions within the US A regulatory

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program to better inform us a s

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decision making usace needs accurate ,

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transparent , objective and defensible

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approaches to assess the function and

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condition of wetlands which provide us

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a decision makers with the resources .

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They need to objectively evaluate

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alternatives , avoid and minimize

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adverse impacts to wetlands and other

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aquatic resources . Quantify

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unavoidable impacts , determine

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mitigation requirements and monitor to

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the success of mitigation or

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restoration projects

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under its authorities of the Clean

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Water Act and the Rivers and Harbors

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Act wetland Assessment for the U A

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regulatory program must also balance

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the need for objective decision making

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with the concurrent need to make those

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regulatory decisions in a timely manner

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instead of directly measuring ecosystem

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function which may be costly and time

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consuming for the thousands of permits

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evaluated by USA every year . The HGM

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approach employs indicators of

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community structure and process

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aggregating into simple logic models to

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indirectly reflect functionality .

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HGM uses functional capacity index or

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FC I as a unit list measure of wetland

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function . FC I is the deviation of

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measured or estimated variables from

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reference standard sites within the

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same geographic region . Which allows

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for the comparison of functions at a

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target or a project site to that

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reference standard . This assessment is

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designed to be applied rapidly ,

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provide repeatable results and can be

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conducted nearly any time of the year

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in keeping with cost manpower and time

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constraints and without extensive

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specialized training or equipment of

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the agencies charged with assessing

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permit actions and project impacts

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since the early nineties . Er and its

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partners have developed over 30 HGM

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models , guidebooks and FC I

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calculators associated with those

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guidebooks . These models and

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guidebooks are applicable to multiple

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geographic regions , crossing multiple

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usa district and division lines and are

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applicable to multiple classes and

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subclasses of wetlands . In addition

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to developing HGM guidebooks , models

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and calculators , ERIC also developed a

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standardized procedure and a framework

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for future model development validation

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and verification which allows for

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application within multiple geographic

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areas and multiple usa mission areas or

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business lines like regulatory planning

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or aquatic ecosystem restoration .

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All HGM models to include the company

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guidebooks and FC I calculators are

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available at the link , showing the

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screen here or you can scan the QR code

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to access all of those guidebooks .

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These guidebooks and calculators are

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available for us a federal state and

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tribal partners with us a practitioners

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and the public in accordance with the

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established HGM development framework .

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The final phases of assessment model

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development include the testing

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calibration and validation of all

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assessment models prior to publishing

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each HGM guidebook , ongoing testing

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and training enables uh revisions to

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HGM for more accurate and precise

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decision making for us in the future .

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For additional information on HGM its

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utility within USA or other state ,

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federal or tribal programs or to

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request technical support in developing

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new HGM models or assessment methods .

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Please email Kyle Gordon program

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manager of the wetlands regulatory

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assistance program at

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er discovering , developing and

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delivering new ways to make the world

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safer and better every day .