IRT Site Walk Meeting Minutes_11_16_22

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WILDLANDS
ENGINEERING
MEETING SUMMARY
MEETING: IRT Site Walk
Dirty Boots Mitigation Site
Cape Fear River Basin 03030003, Chatham County, NC
USACE Project ID: SAW-2022-02401
DWR# 20221571
DATE: Wednesday, November 11th, 2022
LOCATION: Edwards Hill Church Road
Bonlee, NC
Attendees
Erin Davis, NC DWR
Todd Tugwell, USACE
Travis Wilson, NC WRC
Lindsay Crocker, NC DIMS
Jeremiah Dow, NC DIMS
Tim Morris, Wildlands Engineering
Angela Allen, Wildlands Engineering
John Hutton, Wildlands Engineering
Materials
• Wildlands Engineering, Dirty Boots Mitigation Site - Technical Proposal, July 12 2022
Meeting Notes
Representatives of Wildlands Engineering, Inc (Wildlands) met with representatives of the North
Carolina Interagency Review Team (IRT) and the North Carolina Division of Mitigation Services to walk
the Dirty Boots Mitigation Site. The purpose of the field meeting was to present the site to the group of
IRT members and get their input into the management/mitigation options proposed for the site and
determine next steps in the process. During the tour, the group discussed the stream and wetland
approaches proposed by Wildlands and the manner that they felt would be most appropriate to
enhance and restore onsite streams and wetlands. The following notes provide a summary of these
discussions.
Wildlands Engineering, Inc. page 1
HATCH'S HILL MITIGATION SITE
March 28, 2022 IRT Site Walk Meeting Summary

No changes to the crediting proposed in the Technical Proposal were requested as a result of the site
walk. The bulleted notes below generally follow the timeline of the site walk. The following concerns
were noted:
• In the area of the enhancement wetland at the top of Dirty Boots (Reach 5), Todd Tugwell
cautioned that the dense wetland vegetation could crowd and overtake the channel when the
bed was raised. This will be monitored, and adaptive management will address issues when/if
they arise.
• Wildlands recognizes that creating a new planform and profile through the existing
enhancement wetland on Dirty Boots, Reach 5 needs to be completed in such a way to minimize
temporary impacts to the functional wetland. This need for minimizing impact will be addressed
in the project plans.
• On UT3 - Reach 1, IRT requested targeted structures be placed within the enhancement reach to
encourage habitat diversity. These could be in the form of log drops, sills, riffle enhancements,
etc.
• On UT3 Reach 2, the IRT requested that the pond be dewatered through a silt bag to ensure that
invasive pond edge species do not get transported downstream.
• Pre -construction wetland gauges will be installed in the rehabilitation wetlands throughout the
project to document baseline hydrology conditions and justify future hydrologic uplift.
• At the property line at the downstream extend of Dirty Boots the IRT noted a backwater
condition, likely attributed to beavers. Wildlands confirmed that historic beaver activity was
noted in the area. The fact that beaver activity is located on an adjacent property created
conversation about the appropriateness of managing beaver and potentially modifying the
existing hydrology of a downstream resource because of the project. The IRT requested that
adaptive management techniques will need to be clearly defined in the mitigation plan for
addressing this issue.
• IRT requested hydrology monitoring of all tributaries (UT2, UT2A and UT3) for flow.
• The IRT recommended that BMP features be installed that do not require future maintenance
and that the features be incorporated inside the easement. The area taken up by these features
will need to be deducted from wetland crediting. The IRT would prefer shallow, natural features
that minimize the use of rock where possible.
• The IRT recommended considering some channel planform work for UT2-Reach 1 since the
stream is currently channelized and lacks any bedform diversity. If appropriately justified in the
mitigation plan, this area could be upgraded to a better ratio (assuming the JD confirms a
stream call).
This documents the main discussion points during the site walk. If there are any changes or additions to
these notes please contact [e-mail].
Enclosure — Map Markup
Wildlands Engineering, Inc. page 2
HATCH'S HILL MITIGATION SITE
March 28, 2022 IRT Site Walk Meeting Summary

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