20130436 Ver 1_Public Comment Request#1_20130816

Merritt, Katie
From: Merritt, Katie
Sent: Thursday, August 15, 2013 10:08 AM
To: jrbecker; 'david knowles D'
Cc: Higgins, Karen
Subject: Ballahack BPDP - Public Comment Received
Hi Jeff,
DWR received a public comment yesterday regarding the Proposed Ballahack Mitigation Bank. I have yet to receive the
comment in writing, but I wanted to go ahead and prepare you for information that you will need to obtain to satisfy the
comment received, which we feel is very important and necessary prior to an approval of this mitigation bank for
nutrient offset and riparian buffer mitigation.
Please contact the applicable Drainage District for the Ballahack Canal area to determine whether there is a Drainage
Easement on the streams /canals proposed for mitigation in the Ballahack BPDP. Please provide DWR with all Drainage
Easements applicable to this Mitigation Bank site. Additionally, if no Drainage Easement exists on the property of the
proposed Mitigation Bank, please provide confirmation from the applicable Drainage District in writing.
If you have any questions, please let me know. The public comment period ends at 5:00 p.m. on September 9, 2013.
Thank you,
Katie
Katie Merritt
Nutrient Offset Banking Coordinator
NCDENR- Division of Water Resources
Work: 919- 807 -6371
Website: http://portal,ncdenr.org/web/wq/swp/ws/webscape
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Merritt, Katie
From: mherrmann [ mherrmann @watershedinvestmentsnc.net]
Sent: Friday, August 16, 2013 1:45 PM
To: Merritt, Katie
Subject: Public Comment on Proposed Evans Ballahack Bank Parcel Development Package
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on BPDP. The Evans Ballahack Bank Parcel appears to meet the criteria for
establishing Nutrient Offset and Buffer Mitigation Banks allowed under state rules. My comments are confined to
projects such as the subject parcel that locate in drainage districts, the district's ability to maintain drainage on the site,
and how that relates to the requirements of a bank parcel.
NC General Statute 156 -54
( http:// www. ncga. state.nc.us /enactedlegislation/ statutes /html /bysection /chapter 156/gs 156- 54.html) lists activities
that are allowed in areas designated as drainage districts. These include the ability "to locate and establish levees,
drains or canals, and cause to be constructed, straightened, widened or deepened, any ditch, drain or watercourse, and
to build levees or embankments and erect tidal gates and pumping plants for the purpose of draining and reclaiming
wet, swamp or overflowed land ".
Activities to maintain drainage within the district (e.g., establishing a maintenance road, creation of berms /levees) are
protected by law. How does the bank developer ensure that its parcel does not have its perpetual easement restrictions
violated by activities undertaken under the authorities of the drainage district? One suggestion to ensure that the
activities allowed under GS 156 -54 do not impact a bank's conservation easement is to have proposed bank notify
districts of the project, its associated easement restrictions, and obtain their agreement that the project's easement
restrictions will not be violated by the drainage district's activities.
In Edgecombe County, Scott Kiser of the Edgecombe Soil and Water Conservation District is a good contact for
identifying the board that maintains drainage districts in the county (ph: 252.823.8187).
Mike flerrmann
1630 Weatherford Circle
Raleigh, NC 27604
(p) 919 -559 -6264