20210566 Ver 1_WRC Comments_20210623

North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission
Cameron Ingram, Executive Director
June 23, 2021
Ms. Amanda Fuemmeler
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Regulatory Branch
151 Patton Avenue, Room 208
Asheville, North Carolina 28801-5006
SUBJECT: Echo Lake Maintenance
Cane Creek, Buncombe County
Dear Ms. Fuemmeler:
Biologists with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) reviewed an
application to install an access road and work pad within the bottom of Echo Lake, an in -line
lake on Cane Creek in Buncombe County, permanently impacting 0.0.44 acre and temporarily
impacting 0.016 acre. Our comments on this application are offered for your consideration under
provisions of the Clean Water Act of 1977 (33 U.S.C. 466 et. seq.) and Fish and Wildlife
Coordination Act (48 Stat. 401, as amended; 16 U.S.C. 661-667d).
Wild trout reproduction should not be impacted by project activities, and a trout moratorium is
not needed.
The application proposes to draw down the lake over 20 days, construct a rock access road and
work pad around the riser pipe, repair the pipe and install a coldwater release siphon, and refill
the lake. A silt fence will be installed along the stream that flows through the lake bottom.
Turbidity will be monitored visually three times a day, and if the water appears at least slightly
turbid, a turbidity meter will be used to measure upstream and downstream turbidity. If turbidity
of downstream water is >10 NTU of the upstream water, work will cease and erosion and
sediment control measures inspected and corrected. If high turbidity persists, the gate valve will
be closed and downstream flows maintained via a top -draw siphon until turbidity issues are
resolved. Minimum flows of 0.3 cfs (approximately half of mean annual flows) will be
maintained during lake refilling.
Mailing Address: Habitat Conservation • 1721 Mail Service Center • Raleigh, NC 27699-1721
Telephone: [phone] • Fax: [phone]

Echo Lake Maintenance Page 2 June 23, 2021
Cane Creek, Buncombe Co
We appreciate the applicant's attention to incorporation of monitoring, minimum flows, and a
coldwater release. We offer the following recommendations to minimize impacts to the aquatic
community:
1. Vigilance should be used in sediment and erosion control during site preparation,
construction, and clean up. Disturbed areas should be seeded, mulched and/or matted as
soon as possible.
2. Any erosion control matting used should be free of nylon or plastic mesh, as this type of
mesh netting frequently entangles wildlife and is slow to degrade, resulting in a hazard that
may last for years.
3. Downstream flows must be maintained during the entire project.
4. Before fish are restocked into the lake, a stocking permit must be obtained through the NC
Wildlife Resources Commission. See information on our website:
http://ncwildlife.org/Fishing/Hatcheries-Stocking/Stocking-Permits . Please contact Powell
Wheeler ([e-mail]) with questions.
Thank you for the opportunity to review and comment on this project. Please contact me at
[phone] if you have any questions about these comments.
Sincerely,
Andrea Leslie
Mountain Region Coordinator, Habitat Conservation Program
ec: Tyson Kurtz, ClearWater Environmental
Andrew Moore, NC Division of Water Resources
Powell Wheeler, NCWRC