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Home My WebLink About20211626 Ver 1_Mitigation Site Visit_20211207Mitigation Site Meeting Notes Date: December 6, 2021 Project Name: Alder Valley Prepared By: Haywood Type of Site: Bank Stream Site Meeting Type: Preliminary Site Review Sponsor/Provider: Eco Terra USACE AID: SAW-2021-02321 County: Durham *Denotes County w/ 30-foot Buffer NCDWR ID: HUC and Basin: Neuse - 03020201 Weather: Coordinates: ON °W Attendees: Todd Tugwell, Casey Haywood USACE Erin Davis, NCWWR Travis Wilson, NCWRC Norton Webster, Eco Terra Project Review Checklist - (provide additional detail in notes section on next page) General Site Issues/Concerns: ❑ Vegetation Composition or Density ❑ Inappropriate Credit Ratio Proposed ❑ Planted Stem Vigor (due to soil, browsing) ❑ JD Needed to Confirm Approach ❑ Invasive/Exotic Species ❑ Continuity/Fragmentation ❑ Beaver/Feral Hogs (management plan) ❑ Easement Issues (existing farm, CE, NRCS funding) ❑ Soil (manipulation, compaction, fertility) ❑ Easement Encroachments (livestock, clearing) ❑ Livestock Present/Evidence of Livestock Access ❑ Easement Marking/Signage ❑ Crossings or Utility Lines ❑ Insufficient Project Size ❑ BMPs or Alternate Approaches ❑ Adjacent Property Owner ❑ Fencing Issues or Fencing Needed ❑ T&E Species ❑ Ponds Within Project Area ❑ Section 106 (historic listing/tribal issues) Stream Issues/Concerns: ❑ Incised/Entrenched ❑ Insufficient Stream Drainage Area ❑ Headcuts Present/Forming ❑ Insufficient Hydrology (if raising channel bed) ❑ Stream Structures Failing/Piping ❑ Vegetation in Channel (stream vs wetland) ❑ Excess Sediment/Aggradation ❑ Flow Obstructions (undersized pipes, fords) ❑ Cross -Sections Missing/Indicate Problems ❑ Substrate Concerns (embeddedness, particle size) ❑ Bank Instability/Failure ❑ Live Stakes Absent/Failing ❑ Bench Rills/Erosion (constructed bench or P2 valley) ❑ Evidence of Water Quality Issues ❑ Excess Sinuosity (lack of flow) ❑ In -stream Habitat Weak/Missing ❑ Braided/Anabranch Channel ❑ Stream Buffer Width Inadequate Wetland Issues/Concerns: ❑ Evidence of Excessive Hydrology ❑ Missing Gauge Data (preconstruction or monitoring) 13 Evidence of Insufficient Hydrology ❑ Gauge Location/Placement ❑ Hydric Soil Indicators/Soil Series ❑ Gauge Maintenance ❑ Surface Roughness or Bedding ❑ Drainage Ditches/Swales Present ❑ Channel Relocation/Riparian Connectivity ❑ Field Tiles/Subsurface Drainage ❑ Hydroperiod Length or Start/Stop Date ❑ Continued Ag Use Adjacent to Wetland Page 1 of 2 Date: December 6, 2021 I Project Name: Alder Valley Notes, Sketch, Action Items, etc.: FIELD REVIEW: Possible violation (see attached photos)- Land owner recently cleared an area (UT2 Reach 2-no credit requested). Another possible violation area was located on UT1 Reach 1 (also requesting no credit). Eco Terra was not asking for credit in this area but plan to do restoration. Discussed that the project will not move forward until it was resolved. USACE will work with April Norton the county PM. There appeared to be past beaver activity on UT2 Reach 2. Did not see any stumps. Prefer the Farm land easement to be removed rather than subordinated. Landowner intends on selling some parcels (400+ acres) All are in farm protection- only 1 homestead allowed. There are areas of wetland on site, but will not be asking for wetland credit. Cattle will be excluded. Landowner plans to have horses and keep surrounding land in farm production. Some of the site will be fenced. UT4- reach was small but had flowing water. Would likely only need a supplemental plant. Credit ratio for this reach would be 3:1 or 4:1 given the condition. UT3- also a small reach, but had flow. The top was more of a linear wetland feature. It ran relatively parallel to the reach they are proposing restoration on. It would probably require more work than UT4. UT2 Reach 1- the top culvert(s) were in rough shape. The easement is proposed almost right up to the road. Recommended having it approx 25 ft off the road to allow for DOT maintenance. The area would need to stabilized (not for credit). Could use armored scour and embed into the stream bottom. May need to do some PH restoration to tie into grade. UT1 Reach 1- large culvert and the stream was in rough shape here. Easement was set back away from the road to allow for DOT maintenance- Work will be similar to the other culvert. This culvert is downstream of the golf course and some retention ponds. Access road near the culvert will be moved down. Also noted a culvert for road drainage that will need to be considered. Plan to phase the pond. It is preferred to drain the pond slowly to ensure no undesired spp enter into the Flat River, and help mange sediment inputs into the Flat River- a designated critical habitat for federally listed spp. The dam wall was very large. It is recommended that the Dam be removed from within the valley. Plan to spread the legacy sediment and use the soil from the dam to help fill the pond bottom. Will have veg plots to document vegetation. Credit Release/Site Closeout Information (for monitoring or closeout reviews only) Stream Credits Wetland Credits Warm Cool Cold Riparian Riverine Riparian Non-Riverine Non -Riparian Coastal Requested Approved* Result of Monitoring Report or Closeout Review Project Manager Signature Date *The updated credit ledger for the project, which includes this release, must be approved by the Project Manager. Page 2 of 2 Form Updated 03/20/2019 1 yr i a � i -I I Wit Pr ilk Am v • �� ,�� Legend Proposed Conservation Easement UT2 (reach 2) ®Degraded Wetlands UT2 (reach 3) Existing Pond o UT3 UT1 (reach 1) o UT4 UT1 (reach 2) NCDOT 2' Contours v UT2 (reach 1) Figure 3: Existing Conditions N Alder Valley Mitigation Site w�E Neuse 03020201 s !` Durham County, NC ecbAterra October 2021 0 250 500 1,000 NC Onemap 2017 Aerial Feet From: Davis, Erin B To: Baker, Caroline D Subject: FW: [External] Alder Valley field notes Date: Monday, December 13, 2021 7:57:01 AM Attachments: Field notes 06-Dec-21 Alder Vallev.odf Laserfiche Upload: Email & Attachment DWR#: 20211626 v.1 Doc Type: Mitigation Site Visit From: Haywood, Casey M CIV USARMY CESAW (USA)[mailto: Casey. M.Haywood@usace.army.mil] Sent: Tuesday, December 7, 2021 11:24 AM To: Tugwell, Todd J CIV USARMY CESAW (US)<Todd.J.Tugwell@usace.army.mil>; Davis, Erin B <erin.davis@ncdenr.gov> Subject: [External] Alder Valley field notes CAUTION: External email. Do not click links or open attachments unless you verify. Send all suspicious email as an attachment to Re op rt Spam• Notes are attached. Also saved in the project folder on the Y. Please let me know if I missed anything. Casey Casey Haywood Mitigation Specialist, Regulatory Division I U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (919) 750-7397 work cell BUILDING STRONG °