20181031 Ver 1_Mitigation Evaluation_20220707

From: Davis, Erin B
To: Baker, Caroline D
Subject: FW: [External] Notice of Initial Credit Release/ NCDMS Round Hill Branch Mitigation Site/ SAW-2018-01168/
Buncombe County
Date: Thursday, July 7, 2022 4:28:03 PM
Attachments: Round Hill Branch 100066 FB 05 STR Initial Release KB.Ddf
Laserfiche Upload: Email & Attachment
DW R#: 20181031 v.1
Doc Type: Mitigation Evaluation
From: Browning, Kimberly D CIV USARMY CESAW (USA) <[e-mail]>
Sent: Thursday, July 7, 2022 1:51 PM
To: Wiesner, Paul <[e-mail]>
Cc: Tugwell, Todd J CIV USARMY CESAW (US) <[e-mail]>; Davis, Erin B
<[e-mail]>; Haywood, Casey M CIV MVP <[e-mail]>;
Wilson, Travis W. <[e-mail]>; Leslie, Andrea J <[e-mail]>;
Bowers, Todd <[e-mail]>; Youngman, Holland J <[e-mail]>;
Crumbley, Tyler A CIV USARMY CESAW (USA) <[e-mail]>; Fennel, Tommy
E CIV USARMY CESAW (USA)<Tommy.E.Fennel @usace.army.mil>; Harmon, Beth
<[e-mail]>; Stanfill, Jim <[e-mail]>; [e-mail]; Reid,
Matthew <[e-mail]>
Subject: [External] Notice of Initial Credit Release/ NCDMS Round Hill Branch Mitigation Site/ SAW-
2018-01168/ Buncombe County
CAUTION: External email. Do not click links or open attachments unless you verify. Send all suspicious email as an
attachment to Report Spam.
Good afternoon Paul,
The 15-Day As-Built/MYO review for the Round Hill Branch Mitigation Site (SAW-2018-01168) ended
June 25, 2022. This review was done in accordance with Section 332.8(o)(9) of the 2008 Mitigation
Rule. All comments received from the NCIRT are incorporated in the email below. Please address IRT
concerns in the MY1 Report. There were no objections to issuing the initial (30% ) credit release of
642.600 SMUs. Please find attached the current signed ledger. The IRT is not requesting a site visit at
this time.
USACE Comments, Kim Isenhour:
1. What is the total area of floodplain scour that you refer to as vernal pools that enhance
ecological function to the site? Will these areas be planted with herbaceous cover to prevent
further scouring, and will these areas be re -planted with woody species as described in the
final mitigation plan?
2. Please inform the IRT once the fencing encroachments have been resolved.
3. Although the snow-covered photos are aesthetically pleasing, please provide photos that
show the condition of the buffer and stream banks in future reports.
4. Please provide an additional photo for the crossing where photo point 1 is located, from the

perspective of looking upstream at the crossing (position yourself near STA 14+00). Both
photos of this crossing show the gates open, so livestock access to the ford crossing is a
concern.
NCDWR Comments, Erin Davis:
1. DWR was glad that the two easement dispute areas were identified early. We encourage
making every effort to resolve these issues prior to the 2023 credit release meeting.
2. DWR requests photos of the floodplain scour area and the drainage swale feature be included
in the MY1 report.
3. Please show all existing wetland areas within the project easement on future CCPV figures.
4. Given that the as -built survey was performed in May 2021 and long. profile surveyed in August
2021, it would've been helpful to include supplemental non -snow covered project photos in the MYO
report. Please make a note for future projects.
5. DWR appreciated that DIMS' site visit comments (and KCI's responses) were included for this
review.
DWR is ok with the proposed credit release. No site visit requested.
USEPA Comments, Todd Bowers:
There were a few, relatively minor deviations from the original design plans; primarily these
were due to adjustments due to bedrock encountered during construction.
Many planted species were not identified during vegetation monitoring due to monitoring
during dormancy. This resulted in fewer species than planted noted on some of the veg plots. No
comment as this will be corrected in the coming MY survey.
No adaptive management plan needed at this time.
No issues of conservation easement encroachment however there are two areas where
fencing and conservation easement boundaries are being actively addressed with the adjoining
landowners.
I recommend adding the pool adjustments made (due to bedrock) to the longitudinal profile
for comparison of design and actual. Noted locations at T1 (sta.10375), and missing pools on RHB
(stas. 1080, 1290 and 1340).
I noted a slight discrepancy in the stream credits calculated in Table 1. The As -Built length of
streams is 2,242 feet and the length of streams removed for credit due to crossings is 114 feet. This
results in a final credit amount of 2,128 cool SMUs. It appears that the stream segments removed
from credit are tallied from the Original Mitigation Plan lengths (2,256 —114 = 2,142). Recommend
KCI take another look at these totals and correct if necessary.
Overall, I am very satisfied with the report and the work that KCI has completed at the site. Having
not been able to visit this location, I really appreciated the detailed ground -level stream and veg plot
photos to illustrate the amount of work implemented. I recommend the appropriate credit release
(Milestone 2) for cool stream mitigation units for this monitoring milestone. I have no other
substantial comments at this time.
Please reach out with any questions.
Respectfully,
Kim

Kim (Browning) Isenhour
Mitigation Project Manager, Regulatory Division I U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 1 919.946.5107

Mitigation Project Name
DMS ID
River Basin
Cataloging Unit
County
Round Hill Branch Restoration Site
100066
French Broad
06010105
Buncombe
USACE Action ID
DWR Permit
Date Project Instituted
Date Prepared
Stream/Wet. Service Area
Signature of Official Approving Credit Release
2018-01168
2018-1031
4/25/2018
5/31/2022
French Broad 06010105
1 - For NCDMS, no credits are released during the first milestone (Site Establishment).
2 - For NCDMS projects, the initial credit release milestone occurs when the as -built report (baseline monitoring report) has been approved by the
NCIRT and posted to the NCDMS Portal, provided the following criteria are met:
1) Approval of Final Mitigation Plan;
2) Recordation of the preservation mechanism, as well as a title opinion acceptable to the USACE covering the property;
3) Completion of all physical and biological improvements to the mitigation site pursuant to the mitigation plan;
4) Receipt of necessary DA permit authorization or written DA approval for projects where DA permit issuance is not required.
3 - A 10% reserve of credits is to be held back until the bankful event performance standard has been met.
Credit Release Milestone
Cool Stream Credits
Project Credits
Scheduled
Releases %
Estimated
Scheduled
Release #
proposed
Released #
Not
Approved
# Releases
Approved
Credits
Anticipated
Release
Year
Approved
Release
Date
1 - Site Establishment
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
2 - Year 0 / As -Built
30.00%
642.600
642.600
0.000
642.600
2022
5/31/2022
3 - Year 1 Monitoring
10.00%
214.200
2023
4 - Year 2 Monitoring
10.00%
214.200
2024
5 - Year 3 Monitoring
10.00%
214.200
2025
6 - Year 4 Monitoring
5.00%
107.100
2026
7 - Year 5 Monitoring
10.00%
214.200
2027
8 - Year 6 Monitoring
5.00%
107.100
2028
9 - Year 7 Monitoring
10.00%
214.200
2029
Stream Bankfull Standard
10.00%
214.200
2026
Totalsl
642.600
Total Gross Credits
2,142.000
Total Unrealized Credits to Date
0.000
Total Released Credits to Date
642.600
Total Percentage Released
30.00%
Remaining Unreleased Credits
1 1,499.400
Notes
Contingencies (if any)
Project Quantities
Mitigation Type
Restoration Type
Physical Quantity
Cool Stream
Restoration
2,142.000
Round Hill Branch
Page 1 of 2 French Broad 06010105

Mitigation Project Name
DMS ID
River Basin
Cataloging Unit
County
Round Hill Branch Restoration Site
100066
French Broad
06010105
Buncombe
USACE Action ID
DWR Permit
Date Project Instituted
Date Prepared
Stream/Wet. Service Area
2018-01168
2018-1031
4/25/2018
5/31/2022
French Broad 06010105
Debits
Cool Stream
Restoration
Credits
Beginning Balance (mitigation credits)
2,142.000
Released Credits
642.600
Unrealized Credits
0.000
Converted Credits
0.000
Owning Program
Req. Id
TIP #
Project Name
USACE
Permit #
DWR
Permit #
DCM
Permit #
Remaining Balance (Released credits)
642.600
Remaining Balance (Unreleased credits)
1,499.400
Total Remaining Balance (Released and Unreleased credits)
2,142.000
Page 2 of 2
Round Hill Branch
French Broad 06010105