20020164 Ver 1_Staff Comments_20101005

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Hill, Tammy
From: Wrenn, Brian
Sent: Tuesday, October 05, 2010 2:49 PM
To: Hill, Tammy; Kulz, Eric
Subject: RE: Tulula and Trout Cove
My notes are below. As a side note, the weather was fantastic.
Tulula
- Documentation provided by EEP listed 8759 restoration stream mitigation units (SMUs), 1026
preservation SMUs, 80.9 restoration wetland mitigation units (WMUs), and 0.3 preservation
WMUs. Some WMUs were generated by upland buffers around the wetlands. This was agreed to
many years ago by the agencies.
139.4 acres of upland buffer were preserved at a 20:1 ratio for 7.0 WMUs. 1018 if of stream
restoration was under a powerline. I didn't catch the wetland acreage under the power line.
It was agreed that none of the wetlands under the power line would be removed from the
credits. This based on decisions made years ago.
- An adjacent landowner has mowed a small portion of the site on the east(?) end. This has
been resolved with the landowner. One small easement exclusion is on the site. The lot is 1
ac in size and accounts for 0.34 ac of wetland mitigation. These have been removed from the
ledger.
- Some of the wetland monitoring well data did not meet 12.5% criteria, but these were
considered successful. Not sure of the rationale by the Corps on this point. You may want
to get more insight.
- Beavers still active on the site. They have continued to move up and down the channel.
Much of the site observed had beaver activity. The site has at least 3-4 years of stream
monitoring prior to the beaver activity, some areas with 5-6 years of monitoring.
- Wetland preservation area called 'The Hat' located in the middle of the site had a road bed
with side ditches. It was discussed that the roadbed made up a small portion of the credits
in the hat and could be left in the credits. The side ditches needed to be removed from any
stream credits.
- Overall, the site was in good shape. The beaver activity was the main topic of discussion,
but it was determined that the streams appeared stable and that the beavers would never be
eradicated from the site. The other main topic was continued management of the site. UNC-
Asheville is considering taking over long-term management and DOT is also looking into the
NCDENR Stewardship program. The site could not be officially closed out until the long term
management was resolved.
Trout cove
- Documentation provided by EEP listed 3791 restoration SMUs.
- Several of the cross vanes were piping, but the profile on the stream has remained constant
for the duration of the monitoring period. Many of the cross vanes had large drops (1-3').
The stream was carrying a lot of fine sediment. Some of the sediment could be from small
erosion areas and some from upstream sources. Overall the stability of the banks was good.
The large woody vegetation was doing well.
- The main concern on the site was the recent invasive vegetation control. Large areas of
the herbaceous layer were denuded of vegetation due to aggressive spraying. The spraying was
conducted for a variety of invasives but honeysuckle was one of the main reasons. WRC felt
that spraying for honeysuckle at the cost of the native vegetation may not be the best use of
funds. Overall, the site was in good condition.
Let me know if you need additional info or clarification. Thanks.
brian
-----Original Message-----
From: Hill, Tammy
Sent: Thursday, September 30, 2010 4:12 PM
To: Wrenn, Brian; Kulz, Eric
Subject: RE: Tulula and Trout Cove
Brian, thanks for representing for DWQ, and for keeping us in the loop - I'm always curious
to hear how the sites are doing. Tammy
From: Wrenn, Brian
Sent: Thursday, September 30, 2010 3:18 PM
To: Hill, Tammy; Kulz, Eric
Subject: Tulula and Trout Cove
I attended the close out visits for the two subject mitigation sites. Each had some issues
to resolve, but for the most part they are in good shape. I expect some meeting minutes to
go out, but I can provide my notes as well if you are interested. Thanks.
brian
Brian Wrenn
Transportation Permitting Unit, Supervisor NC Division of Water Quality
brian.wrennOncdenr.gov
585 Waughtown Street
Winston-Salem, NC 27107-2241
336-771-4952 (Winston-Salem no.)
336-771-4631 (Fax)
or
2321 Crabtree Blvd., Ste 250
Raleigh, NC 27103
919-733-5715 (Raleigh no.)
919-733-6893 (Raleigh Fax)
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