The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About20120077 Ver 1_More Info Letter_20120426MCR� North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources Beverly Ea-es Perdue Governor Division of Water Quality Charlac IA/aklld P E Director Aprii 26 2012 Mr Eric r'x ye- Project Manage - U S Army Corps of Engineers Raleigh Reg»la+ory Field Office 3331 Heritage Trade Drive Suite 105 Wake Forest NC 27587 Subject Property Del -Webb Active Adult Community Dear Mr Alsmeyer DPP Freeman � eGletdry DWQ Project # 12 0077 Durham County On April 3 2012 the N C Division of Water Quality (DWQ) received a notice from the U S Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) requesting comments for the proposed Del Webb Active Adult Community in Durham NC DWQ believes the adverse effects will be more than minimal for the following reasons • The total proposed permanent stream impacts for the project are 512 linear feet including 250 linear feet of perennial stream impacts and 262 linear feet of intermittent stream impacts • In addition to the proposed permanent stream impacts 0 621 acres of wetlands will be permanently impacted, including both 404 and isolated wetlands and 186 487 square feet of protected riparian buffer will be impacted including both Zone 1 and Zone 2 • The project is located in the Neuse River Watershed Nutrient Sensitive Waters and the proposed imperviousness is 45% • Aquatic Life DWQ conducted stream determinations on this property on four (4) separate occasions During these site inspections it was observed that perennial streams supported aquatic life including caddisflies amphipods isopods amphibian and fish While the intermittent streams did not appear to support the same diversity of aquatic life as the perennial streams amphipods isopods and amphibians were observed in these channels [Note Benthic macro invertebrates were indentified using a rapid visual method (e g flipping rocks and /or leaf packs) no dip nets or kick nets were used The actual diversity of aquatic life may be higher than what was observed since all types of benthic habitats were not captured during the rapid sample ] Wetlands Buffers Stormwater — Compliance and Permitting (Webscape) Unit 1650 Mad Service Center Raleigh North Carolina 276991650 One Location 512 N Salisbury St Raleigh North Carolina 27604 NorthCarohna Phone 919-807 water FAX 919807-6494 � ullul f "� Internet www ncwaterauahly oro l V/ bi 69 An Equal Opportunity 1 Affirmative Action Employer Del Webb Active Adult Community Page 2 or .3 Rpril26 2012 • Nutrient Sensitive Waters It has been demonstrated that the small size of intermittent streams ensures a large amount of water /stream floor substrate contact This contact rerio ,ves nitrogen from stormlvater rupoft through nitrification and derutritication (Mulholland et al 2001 Peterson et al 200 1) while perennial streams use denitrification almost exclusively Sweeny (USFWS 2000) has calculated that if the nutrient reauction functions of intermittent and small perennial streams were removed (streams filled) it would be nearly impossible to successfully implement a nutrient reduction strategy in a watershed Wallace (USFWS 2000) has also found that intermittent and small perennial streams streams are a mayor source (nearlv half) of organic carbon (food) to aquatic ecosystems (up to 1 kg carbon exported downstream/ in of stream) • Miti ag tion As was presented to the North Carolina Water Quality Committee of the Environmental Management Commission on November 12 2008 intermittent streams support aquatic life and thus they fall within the Division of Water Quality s (DWQ) mission to protect the propagation of aquatic life Accordingly DWQ requires mitigation for stream impacts with a cumulative total or greater than 150 linear feet of intermittent and/or perennial streams This requirement is applied to all streams including those not subject to jurisdiction under Section 404 (such as isolated streams) Thank you for your consideration If you have any questions please contact Ian McMillan in our Central Office at (919) 807 6364 or Lauren Witherspoon in our Raleigh Regional Office at (919) 791 4200 Sincerely " 44-4-, Karen Higgins Supervisor Wetlands, Buffers Stormwater Compliance and Permitting (Webscape) Unit KAH/ijm cc Jean Gibby Field Chief USACE Raleigh Regulatory Field Office (via email) Lauren Witherspoon DWQ Raleigh Regional Office Debbie Edwards S &EC, P A 11010 Raven Ridge Road Raleigh NC 27614 Jeff Garnett EPA Sam Nunn Federal Center, 61 Forsyth Street SW Atlanta GA 30303 File Copy Filename 120077De1 _WebbActiveAdultCommumty( Durham )Commenting_Letter_USACE_(3) docx Del Webb Active Adult Community Page 3 of 3 April 26 2012 Literature Cited Mulholland P J J L Tank D M Sanzone B J Peterson W Wolheim J R Webster and J L Meyer 2001 Ammonium uptake length in a small forested stream determined by 15N t-acer and ammonium enrichment experiments Verh Internat Verein Limnol 27 1320 1325 Peterson B J W M Wolheim P J Mulholland J R Webster J L Meyer J L Tank E Marti W B Bowden H M Valett A E Hershey W H McDowell W K Dodds S K Hamilton S Gregory D D N4orra'l 2001 Control of nluogcn export f-ort dace ,heds b./ headiiator "trear►-is SCILrtL., 292 86 90 USFWS 2000 The value of headwater streams results of a workshop State College Pennsylvania April 13 1999 State College PA