20220504 Ver 1_WRC Comments_20220419

North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission
Cameron Ingram, Executive Director

Mailing Address: Habitat Conservation • 1721 Mail Service Center • Raleigh, NC 27699-1721
Telephone: [phone] • Fax: [phone]
April 19, 2022

Ms. Brandee Boggs
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Regulatory Branch
151 Patton Avenue, Room 208
Asheville, North Carolina 28801-5006

SUBJECT: North Fork Catawba River Stabilization
North Fork Catawba River, McDowell County

Dear Ms. Boggs:

Biologists with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) reviewed an
application to stabilize 380 ft of the North Fork Catawba River in McDowell County. 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 the project, and a trout moratorium is not
required for the project.

The project involves the stabilization of an eroding reach of stream. Bank sloping, reinforced
soil lifts, a boulder toe, boulder vanes, and riparian planting will be used to stabilize the bank.
Work will be accomplished during low flows, and work areas will be stabilized at the end of each
day. According to Andrew Bick, the reinforced soil lift will be placed within a wet part of the
channel; in order to minimize soil loss to the stream during construction of the soil lift, a boulder
toe will be placed into the wetted channel with a machine working from the top of the bank. The
boulder toe can be placed so that it reaches an elevation above stream flow and water allowed to
leave the area, after which the remainder of the soil lift can be constructed. Upstream of the soil
lift, a boulder toe will be constructed from the stream itself, with equipment accessing the river
from the left bank, crossing a low water channel and working partly from a dry cobble bar.
Efforts should be made to minimize any machine access within the wetted channel.

We offer the following recommendations to minimize impacts to fish and wildlife resources:
1. Be vigilant with sediment and erosion control during site staging, construction, and cleanup.
We appreciate that work areas will be stabilized at the end of each day.
N Fk Catawba R Stabilization Page 2 April 19, 2022
N Fk Catawba R, McDowell Co
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. We recommend that a woody buffer as wide as possible be planted in order to ensure project
success. A wide forested buffer can ensure greater bank stability, filter overland pollutants,
and provide habitat for birds and other wildlife.
4. Machine access within the wetted channel should be minimized as much as possible.

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: Andrew Bick, Headwaters Engineering
Mitchell Anderson, NC Division of Water Resources