The HGM Approach provides a tool to rapidly assess wetland functions, compute potential project impacts, calculate mitigation requirements, and project future with- and without-project scenarios. The Approach is a collection of concepts and methods that allows wetlands managers and field personnel to develop functional indices that can be used to assess the capacity of a wetland to perform functions relative to similar wetlands in a region. With HGM, managers and field personnel can classify wetlands based on geomorphic setting, water source, and hydrodynamics, and can subdivide classes into subclasses using other region-specific characteristics. Users develop models for each classified wetland and calibrate those models using data collected from reference wetlands. The calibrated models are then field-tested, revised, and published as a regional guidebook. |
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