20070813 Ver 1_More Info Received_20070820

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53 i 5 South Co~~e~e Road,juite ~, • Wi~min~ton, North Caro~ina 2841 2 ~'"dO1,3
9 i 0.452.2) I i ~ax: 9 i 0.452.2899 o{-~ice@se~i.us
www.segi.us
August 17, 2007
US Postal Service
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Mr. Ian McMillan '~~r:R - ~^lA7~R t~~~1Li lY
401 Oversight/Express Review Permitting Unit ~Tl.Ar3D~~ ±;hp STnR?fi.v.4;'cR g~~h
1650 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1650
Re: Roads Hill Property, Duplin Winery Experimental Farm 1SEG1 Project #06-023.011
Duplin County, North Carolina
Response to Request for More Information Letter
Dear Mr. McMillan:
Please reference your letter dated August 14, 2007, requesting additional information associated
with the request to impact approximately 10.97 (rounding error) acres of jurisdictional wetlands
(0.16 acres of fill impacts and 10.82 acres of flooding impacts) and 2,4501inear feet of perennial
stream (40 linear feet of fill impacts and 24101inear feet of flooding impacts). These impacts are
associated with a proposed experimental farm on an approximately 20-acre tract owned by the
Duplin Winery and three other farms adjacent to Indian Branch located on the southwest corner of
the intersection between Interstate 40 (I-40) and SR 1102 (Charity Road), east of Rose Hill, in
Duplin County, North Carolina (34.8205°N, -77.9991°W).
Please find the additional information below.
You have not clearly dejlned the 'purpose and need" for your project. Please do so, and provide
documentation that supports your 'purpose and need". Additionally, please explain the benefits of
creating the pond in excess of the footprint.
According to the applicants, the purpose and need for the pond is for irrigation. Any other
activities that might take place on or around the pond, such as canning and preaching, would be
incidental to the construction of the irrigation pond.
From the Existing Conditions Section of the Supplemental Information Section of the permit
application:
The land around the proposed [pond] is currently or proposed to be utilized for the production of
crops including collards, kale, turnip salad greens, Mustard salad greens, turnip roots, cabbage,
sweet corn, and Muscadine grapes. There is also a small orchard area on the property owned by the

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Duplin Winery. The Cooper property has approximately 20 acres in production, the Bradshaw
farm has approximately 40 acres in production, and the Duplin Winery property will have
approximately 10 acres in production. The Cooper and Bradshaw properties are farmed by Mr.
Vernon Rouse of Rouse Brothers Produce. They grow "truck crops" which are harvested,
immediately loaded onto refrigerated trucks, and delivered to fresh markets in the northeastern
United States. They are producing all of the crops listed above with the exception of gapes.
Currently on the Duplin Winery land, there are 3 acres in production including 1 acre of fruit
trees and 2 acres of Muscadine grapes.
From the Purpose and Need Section of the Supplemental Information Section of the permit
application:
The United States Corps of Engineers will determine the appropriate purpose and need for any
decision document that would be prepared for the proposed project. The applicant suggests that
the basic purpose of the proposed project is to provide a water supply for the adjoining
properties. The overall purpose is to insure an adequate water supply to support the irrigation
needs of the farms around the proposed pond site. This project is not water dependent in that
there are potential alternatives that would not require the utilization of surface waters.
Irrigation is required to support the crops grown on fields neighboring Indian Branch, particularly
in high summer and times of drought. The 2007 Vegetable Crop Handbook for the Southeastern
U. S. states that the vegetable crops require 1.5 inches of water per week per acre, fruit trees
require 1.5 inches of water per week per acre, and Muscadine Grapes require 12 gallons of water
per vine three times a week. On average these crops would require about 6 inches of rainfall
each month. According to the State Climate Office of North Carolina, the maximum monthly
rainfall average for Duplin County is 3.08 inches (July) (http://www.nc-
climate.ncsu.edu/cronos/summaries.php?station=KDPL). The table below details the
approximate water budget for those crops that would be irrigated by the proposed pond.
Table 2. Water budget for crops found on the proposed project site and the neighboring farms.
The number of gallons required by these plants was determined using recommendations from the
North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service which are based on the Southeastern U. S. 2007
Vegetable Crop Handbook.
of Water required per we
Vegetables 67 2,728,977
Fruit Trees 1 40,731
Muscadine Grapes 2 3,600
Total Number of Gallons of Water Required per Week 2,773,308
Since the time that the original need determination was completed, Mr. Long was added to the
list of applicants. There are approximately 14 acres currently being planted with vegetables
(truck crops) on his property. Including acreage brings the potential total number of

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gallons of water required per week to 3,343,542 gallons. According to the project engineer, the
proposed pond would have a capacity of approximately 2.5 million gallons. This is the minimum
volume the applicants feel would satisfy their irrigation needs and may leave them without
sufficient irrigation water during stochastic drought events. The proposed pond configuration
would allow for the greatest retention volume with the narrowest footprint, thereby reducing
impacts to the adjacent wetlands.
Please provide monitoring data from similar projects in your county demonstrating that the
proposed pond will not violate water quality standards in regards to temperature.
After contacting the Natural Resources Conservation Service and completing an Internet search,
we have been unable to find any other similar projects in Duplin County where monitoring data
is being collected for temperature. There are, however, several aspects of this project that make
temperature stratification unlikely in the proposed pond. The applicant proposes to create a
vegetated buffer around the pond that will incorporate vegetated shallows, swamp forest,
floodplain forest, and some uplands. This buffer would include a littoral shelf 25 feet wide with
an elevation change of 4 inches and an additional 50 feet above the normal pool elevation. This
area will be placed in preservation utilizing whichever mechanism the Corps and Division of
Water Quality deem appropriate. The vegetated buffer would help to shade a large portion of the
pond throughout different parts of the day and the roots of the submerged aquatic vegetation
would offer a source of oxygen. In addition, the maximum depth of the pond would be
approximately 5.5 to 6 feet. Limited, if any, stratification would occur in such a shallow pond.
The stream is perennial and a constant influx of water would help to mitigate any solar heating
that might occur.
Sincerely,
G~
Angie Pennock
Senior Consultant
Cc:
US Post Office
Mr. David Fussell
Duplin Winery
Post Office Box 756
Rose Hill, North Carolina 28458