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Conservation Gateway » Conservation By Geography » North America » United States » Virginia » Virginia Aquatic Resources Trust Fund Available Released Credits

Virginia Aquatic Resources Trust Fund Available Released Credits


Over the last 25 years, the Virginia Aquatic Resources 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.

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

All of TNC's projects are part of ongoing conservation initiatives with comprehensive ecological management plans.


Project Resources

Released Credit Availability 


(Click on the image to enlarge)

The below credit summaries reflect Released Credit availability as of August 25, 2022. Advance Credits may be available in the basins not listed below. For the most up to date information on credit availability, contact Kelly Cossey at Kelly.cossey@tnc.org.

Chowan River 


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CH-9 Northwest River (Stephens) © Kate Rooney
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VARTF has 170 released non-tidal wetland credits available from the following projects:

  • CH-1 Northwest River (Kellam Riganto)
  • CH-5 Northwest River (Benefits)
  • CH-6 Northwest River (Hall)
  • CH-9 Northwest River (Stephens)
  • CH-10 Northwest River (Powers)
  • CH-11 Nawney Creek (Fentress)


The primary service areas for sites listed above include hydrologic unit codes (HUCs) 03010205 and 03010203. 

Secondary service area credits are available for impacts within HUCs 03010201, 03010202, 03010204. Secondary service area credits may be used for projects that meet the following criteria:

  • The impacts must be to non-tidal wetlands.
  • The impacts must qualify for verification/authorization under a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers nationwide or general permit.
  • The impacts must be to less than 1.0 acre of non-tidal wetlands.
  • Applicant must purchase 3x the number of credits required.


Lower James River 

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LJ-10 VCU © Kervin Ridgeley

VARTF has 10 released tidal credits available from the following projects:

  • LJ-3 VMRC Oyster Reef
  • LJ-8 Lower Chickahominy (Churchpoint Farms)
  • LJ-10 James River (VCU)

VARTF has 2.7 released non-tidal wetland credits available from the following projects:




The service areas for sites listed above include all of HUCs 02080206 and 02080208.


Potomac River

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PO-2 Kingstowne
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VARTF has 63 released non-tidal wetland credits available from the following projects:

  • PO-1 Caledon (Nash)
  • PO-6 Crow's Nest 1
  • PO-7 Crow's Nest 2


The service areas for all sites listed above include all of HUCs 02070011 and 02070010. 

Coming soon! 

VARTF is working on a new project that is expected to generate an additional 9 non-tidal wetland credits in the Potomac River basin. Read more about the Black Oak non-tidal wetland restoration project.

VARTF also anticipates beginning construction on a stream restoration project in 2023. Located in Loudoun County, this will be the program's largest stream restoration project to date. Read more about the Cattail stream restoration project.


Rappahannock River

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RP-4 City of Fredericksburg
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VARTF has 7 released non-tidal wetland credits available from the following projects:

  • RP-5 Rappahannock River (Wellford)
  • RP-11 Mountain Run (EBX)


The service areas for sites listed above include all of HUCs 02080103 and 02080104. 


York River

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YK-5 Cumberland Marsh
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VARTF has 67 released non-tidal wetland credits available from the following projects:



The service areas for all sites listed above include all of HUCs 02080105, 02080106, and 02080107. 

Coming soon! 

The Cumberland Marsh project is a non-tidal wetland, tidal wetland, and stream restoration project located on Cumberland Marsh Preserve in New Kent County. The project is expected to generate 4.5 non-tidal wetland credits and 3.4 tidal wetland credits, which are expected to be released in 2022. Read more about Cumberland Marsh.


Purchasing Trust Fund Credits

The Virginia Aquatic Resources Trust Fund (VARTF) has two types of credits available for purchase by permittees: Advance Credits and Released Credits.

Advance Credits are in-lieu-fee credits sold in advance of mitigation sites generating released credits. Advance Credits are available in nearly every service area within Virginia. There are a limited number of credits available for each watershed and resource type (Exhibit B of Instrument). Pricing for Advance Credits is available here (Exhibit C). These credits are considered second in the preferential hierarchy established by the 2008 rule.

Released Credits are those credits available and released for mitigation projects already in the ground. Credits are based on meeting success monitoring and approved by the IRT; These credits are equivalent to mitigation bank credits and may be sold to satisfy mitigation requirements. Released Credits can be considered the first choice in the preferential hierarchy established by the 2008 rule. Released Credits are currently available for non-tidal wetlands in the Chowan, Lower James, Potomac, Rappahannock, and York basins. Released credits are available for tidal wetlands in the Lower James basin. 

For information on advance credit availability and to reserve credits, please complete and return a Credit Availability Voucher to Kelly Cossey at kelly.cossey@tnc.org.

To learn more about the Virginia Aquatic Resources Trust Fund, visit www.nature.org/vartf