Provide additional parking to accommodate the on-going growth of Silver Reef Hotel and Casino operations. Need for additional parking was driven by additional capacity due to recent casino expansion.
Recent casino expansion removed existing parking which was already at capacity requiring frequent use of adjacent overflow parking.
Northwest Ecological Services worked with the Silver Reef project team to evaluate and design a parking area expansion for the Silver Reef Hotel, Casino, and Spa on the Lummi Indian Reservation. The project included treatment of stormwater from new pollutant-generating impervious surfaces. The project required filling of 2.87 acres of Category III wetlands.
NES’s services included a wetland delineation, impact assessment, mitigation plan, and environmental permitting. The project required a CWA Section 404 Individual Permit from the Army Corps of Engineers and associated alternatives analysis, an assessment of the different methods for accomplishing system functions. NES prepared a Bank Use Plan for the purchase of credits from the recently authorized Lummi Wetland and Habitat Mitigation Bank. Due to the project’s location within the 100-year floodplain, NES also completed an ESA Habitat Assessment in conformance with FEMA guidance and a NMFS Biological Opinion (BiOp).
NES advantage
- Utilizing NES’s expertise, multiple permits, assessments, and plans were submitted and successfully authorized by multiple agencies.
- NES was successful in setting up compensatory mitigation through purchasing bank credits from the Lummi Nation Wetland and Habitat Mitigation Bank.
- Recognizing the project location was within the 100-year floodplain, NES completed an assessment which conformed with FEMA guidance and NMFS BiOp.
- NES designed treatment of stormwater resulting from the additional parking area to be conducted onsite.