20091151 Ver 1_More Info Received_20100106

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December 30 2009
Roger C. Edwards, Regional Supervisor
Surface Water Protection
Asheville Regional Office
Subject: Request for More Information
401 Water Quality Certification
Nicholson:Ag/Irrigation Pond
DWQ Project #09-1151
Henderson County
Dear Mr. Edwards:
Please find enclosed the additional information you requested.
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1.Your application describes the property as "single family residence... undeveloped/pasture and
wooded" and your request is for the construction of an "agricultural irrigation pond".
Please provide a description of the agricultural operation that requires the requested impacts.
-Presently, I garden/farm 0.5 acres+ of land. I grow heirloom vegetables(ie, tomatoes, green beans,
winter squash, etc.) plus other vegetables( peppers, sunflowers, potatoes,beets, greens, corn, etc.). I
also have 16 fruit trees which include apples, pears, cherries and 12 grapevines. Also, I have 12
blueberry bushes. The above property description includes "pasture". This pasture has been cultivated
in the past for food crops. 1 anticipate expanding my vegetable and fruit production to include up to 2
acres total of land.
During the 2008 drought I planted the above mentioned heirloom crops plus other vegetable crops and
the drought took a toll on them. There was only about a half of a crop and the vegetables themselves
either didn't make a yield or were dwarfed due to lack of water. It is a repeat of the drought situation I
am working to prevent by constructing the pond. I have a water well on my property that is rated at
gallons/minute and obviously cannot be used to irrigate. The stream that feeds the proposed pond kept
a flow in the summer of 2008 even though it was very minimized.
2.Please provide information provided by the USDA-NRCS or County Soil and Water office regarding
pond size reuirements for irrigation needs.
Please find enclosed that information provided by the USDA-NRCS office with regard to this request.
A copy of this letter is being sent to you, Mr. Cranford and Ms. Karoly. Please call me at 828-458-0498 if
you have any questions. Thanks for your help and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Sincerely,
Furman R Nicholson
USDA
Natural Resources Conservation Service
USDA Service Center
61 Triple Springs Road
Hendersonville, NC 28792
Office: 828-693-1404 x3 Fax: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
To: Ferman Nicholson
From: Bob Twomey, DC
Re: Calculated Irrigation/Water Requirements For Agriculture
Date: Dec. 30, 2009
N RCS
I have calculated the long-tem average water requirements for all existing &
planned crops for your irrigation needs on your farm.
The grape vineyard, on a per acre basis, requires 6 acre-inches of water during a
normal growing season. In addition to this, the apple orchard and the blueberry
orchard require nearly the same amounts of water. To this, I added the overhead
irrigation general requirements for up to 2 acres of general garden crops, utilizing
standard overhead sprinklers.
The total vineyard area is approximately 0.6 acres, comprised of three different
crops, ie, the grapes, the blueberries, and the apple trees. These will likely utilize
a more efficient drip irrigation system, this reducing the need for water.
The 0.6 acres of orchard will require 3.6 acre-inches of water.
The garden will be composed of various crops requiring varying amounts of
water for upland, dry-slope irrigation. The garden area will require approximately
9.0 acre-inches of water per season
9.0 ac-in x 2.0 ac = 18 acre-inches + 3.6 ac-in water for vineyards = 21.6 ac-in
21.6 ac-in water = 1.8 acre-feet of water required for the entire operation.
The pond is estimated to contain 1.5 acre-feet water volume, which will be 0.3
acre-feet short of full irrigation requirements. This water shortfall will have to be
supplemented by another source, possibly by well water, in a dry year. An
alternative would be to utilize a rotational irrigation schedule to apply water to the
most needed crop(s), or, irrigate at night to increase irrigation efficiency & to
reduce evaporative losses. Another alternative would be to reduce the garden
size by 0.3 acre.
You will need all of the water the pond can supply in a season to meet the crop
water budget requirements. Obviously, in a "wet" year, you will have surplus
water available. In a dry year, careful use of water available will be necessary.
Remember, you must leave a flow exiting the pond equal to at least the 10 year-
7day low flow to maintain the stream flow below the dam.
This data is being attached to your general design for a pond on the site we
looked at during the summer. Feel free to call me if you need further information.