19910326 Ver 1_Other Agency Comments_19940719

DIVISION OF PARKS AND RECREATION
July 19, 1994
Memorandum
TO: Melba McGee
FROM: Harry LeGrand H L-
THROUGH: Stephen Hall
SUBJECT: Scoping -- Lake Gaston Pipeline Project
REFERENCE:
The Division has significant concerns about the proposed water
withdrawal from the Roanoke Basin, particularly with regard for
potential impacts on the floodplain forests. Unlike most rivers
along the Mid-Atlantic Seaboard, the lower Roanoke floodplain is
still heavily wooded, with many thousand acres in a mature and
unbroken condition. Due to the relatively intact nature of its
ecosystems, the Natural Heritage Program has ranked this
floodplain as Nationally Significant and a coordinated effort has
been made by the Nature Conservancy, US Fish and Wildlife
Service, NC Wildlife Resources Commission, and by the Natural
Heritage Program to bring as many areas of this floodplain into
protection as possible.- Currently several large preserves have
been acquired by the Nature Conservancy, a large National
Wildlife Refuge has been established, and extensive gamelands are
under the management of the Wildlife Resources Commission.
Additional privately owned sites have been registered by the
Natural Heritage Program.
Most of the floodplain forests are wetland communities, where a
difference in elevation of just a few inches strongly determines
the composition of the stand. Where flooding is prolonged,
cypress and tupelo dominate; slightly drier sites support red
maple, swamp chestnut oaks, and other bottomland hardwoods; the
adjoining slopes, which are rarely inundated for any length of
time support beech and other mesic species.
Alterations of the natural hydrology of the Roanoke may,
consequently, have a major impact on the type of forests that
occur within the floodplain, and hence upon the entire ecosystem.
Our concerns are that the withdrawal of millions of gallons a day
from this system will not only have a direct impact of this sort,
but interact with the existing perturbations to the hydrology of
Melba McGee
Page 2
July 19, 1994
the lower Roanoke due to the presence of several large reservoirs
issues;
upstream.
uately addresses loodplathesein are
We do not believe that the Fco munsci muni esi f should be included
ions of the natural s of the f
descript A thorough di and
completely- sediment deposition,
missing the effects of flos on oding, stem of the
ecosy
concerning
other hydrological influencuatic the components.
floodplain, not just the aq
acts to the lower.
loodplain that are slipadditionaCO pared to the dcurrent
Even if it can be shown
iscussion
Roanoke and its f we would also like to eemately, the
alterations of the basin ,acts to this system. Ultimately,
all the cumulative imp water
ld be the restoration of tseimaosedlbye the the w of the
e
goal shou estriction P
ability to restore natural flows
entire floodplain. Ant rest
aso thtth
withdrawal project on iven as much weight
lower section of the riverholditSegf .
immediate impacts of the project
2