19970093 Ver 1_Staff Comments_20070330

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Michael F. Easley, Governor
William G. Ross Jr., Secretary
North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources
Alan W. Klimek, P.E. Director
Division of Water Quality
March 30, 2007
Jerry McCrain, Ph.D., CEP
President
EcoScience
1101 Haynes Street, Suite 101
Raleigh, NC 27604
Re: Stonyton Creek Stream Restoration and Wetland Enhancement Site
NC Global Transpark Mitigation
Lenoir County, North Carolina
Year One Monitoring Report
NCDWQ# 97-0093
Dear. Dr. McCrain:
We have reviewed the Year One Monitoring Report for the above-referenced site. Our comments are as
follows:
General
DWQ has never received a copy of the As-Built Plans for this restoration site. Please provide a copy of
the As-Built Plans for our files.
Stream Restoration
• The morphological data presented for the first year of monitoring compares the year 1 data with
the "Proposed Condition". Please clarify if this is the targeted design conditions or the actual as-
built conditions.
In addition, the cross-sections are of limited value in assessing stream stability, as they are not
compared to the as-built conditions. Future monitoring reports should include both tabular data
and cross-sections showing the as-built data and each successive year of monitoring data to allow
the identification of trends.
401 Oversight/Express Review Permitting Unit
1650 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1650
2321 Crabtree Boulevard, Suite 250, Raleigh, North Carolina 27604
Phone [phone] / Fax [phone]
Internet: http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/ncwetlands
No One
hCarolina
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EcoScience
Stonyton Creek Stream Restoration and Wetland Enhancement Site - Yr. 1 Monitoring Report
Page 2 of 2
Wetland Enhancement
While the site did meet or exceed the hydrology criterion of saturation over 12.5% of the
growing season, there is concern about the gauges that show nearly permanent standing water
(Gauges 7, 8, 11, and 12). Saturation or inundation for 100% of the growing season may
actually inhibit development of a wetland ecosystem because most desirable woody plants have
difficulty growing in permanently flooded conditions. An ideal wetland has periods of drying
during which air can enter the soil to provide oxygen to plant roots. It is also unclear which
gauges are in higher topographic locations and would be expected to be saturated in the 5 -
12.5% range.
In the next monitoring report, please provide data detailing the maximum number of consecrative
days of saturation for all gauges in all monitoring years, and a site map overlain with topographic
lines.
• In the next monitoring report and for all future reports, please provide tables detailing vegetation
species and counts for every sample plot, rather than only a site average, and identify which were
planted vs. volunteer. This will help will evaluating variations in density and diversity of the
plant community, and help to identify trouble spots that may need extra attention.
The enhancement area appears to be developing the target cypress-gum-tupelo bottomland
swamp community. While the 320 trees/acre criterion was met in the restoration area, diversity
is low (4 species). In the next monitoring report, please document vegetation species and cownts
for all plots during all monitoring years.
Please feel free to contact Eric Kulz or Tammy Hill at [phone] if you have any questions
regarding this project.
Sincerely,
Cyndi B. Karoly, Program Manager
401 Oversight and Express Review Program
cc: File Copy (Eric Kulz)
Central Files
David Lekson - USACE, Washington Regulatory Field Office
Kathy Matthews - USEPA Wor Carolina
,,,Vatumlly
401 Oversight/Express Review Permitting Unit
1650 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1650
2321 Crabtree Boulevard, Suite 250, Raleigh, North Carolina 27604
Phone [phone] / Fax [phone]
Internet: http://h2o,enr,state.nc.us/ncwetlands
An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer- 50% Recycled/10% Post Consumer Paper