SAW-2018-00095_RESFrenchBroad05UMB-DeadOak_MY1CreditRelease

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
WILMINGTON DISTRICT, CORPS OF ENGINEERS
69 DARLINGTON AVENUE
WILMINGTON. NORTH CAROLINA28403-1343
June 30, 2023
Regulatory Division
SUBJECT: Year 1 Monitoring Report Review, Credit Release associated with RES
French Broad 05 Umbrella Mitigation Bank, Dead Oak Mitigation Site, Action ID No.
SAW-2018-00095
Ms. Jamey Mceachran
Resource Environmental Solutions
3600 Glenwood Avenue, Suite 100
Raleigh, North Carolina 276
Dear Ms. Mceachran:
This correspondence is in reference to the RES French Broad 05 Umbrella Mitigation
Bank, Dead Oak Mitigation Site. The 41.58-acre project is located approximately one -
mile northwest of Alexander in Buncombe County, North Carolina. The purpose of this
letter is to transmit comments provided by the NC Interagency Review Team (NCIRT)
during the review of the annual monitoring report (see attached) and to confirm the Year
1 credit release for this mitigation site.
Pursuant to the site's Umbrella Mitigation Banking Instrument and the site -specific
Mitigation Plan, the following mitigation credits shall be available for sale provided the
annual monitoring report demonstrates interim performance standards are being met:
• 10% of the total enhancement and/or restoration Stream Mitigation Units
(SMUs) associated with year 1 annual monitoring (659.9 Cool water SMUs)
Based on a review of the data provided for the stream restoration and enhancement
on the site, we confirm that you have satisfied the above requirements, 659.9 Cool Water
SMUs are now available for sale.
Please review the comments provided by the NCIRT during their review of the
monitoring report and the adaptive management plan. While it is not necessary to

provide a response to specific comments at this time, please be sure to address the
issues raised in future monitoring report submittals.
Please note that this electronic copy provided to you via email is your official copy.
Should you wish to receive a paper copy of this correspondence, please contact us.
Thank you for your time and cooperation. If you have any questions, please contact Mr.
Steve Kichefski by email at steven.I.kichefski(a�usace.army.mil or by phone at (828) 933-
8032.
Sincerely,
Todd Tugwell
Chief, Mitigation Branch
Enclosure
cc (by email):
NCIRT Distribution List

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
WILMINGTON DISTRICT, CORPS OF ENGINEERS
69 DARLINGTON AVENUE
WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA28403-1343
CESAW-RG/Kichefski June 30, 2023
MEMORANDUM FOR RECORD
SUBJECT: Action ID # SAW-2018-00095, NCIRT Review Comments on the RES
French Broad 05 Umbrella Mitigation Bank, Dead Oak Year 1 Monitoring Report
Dave McHenry, NCWRC:
No comment at this time.
Steve Kichefski, USACE:
1. Glad that all fencing encroachments are reported as resolved. If no other
encroachments were noted in the monitoring year, please state this so the IRT
knows it was not inadvertently left out of the report.
2. Has livestock been returned to uplands outside the CE on this property?
3. Was leaf off when conducting the December veg monitoring? If so, veg
assessment should be done prior to leaf drop in future years.
4. Monitoring report mentions continued but targeted invasive treatments, but no
invasive areas were observed on the CCPV. Was this a scale issue?
5. Appendix C Table 7 shows more species present than the planting list (especially
since Black Cherry was not planted) despite the comment that no volunteers
were included in MY1. Please clarify? If supplemental planting is needed in the
future for this site, take the opportunity to improve species diversity since the
approved planting list is not very extensive (make sure to run by the IRT prior).
6. The aggradation was noted in cross -sections 11, 21, 30 & 33 as mentioned in
Section 1.7 under Stream Geomorphology. Several other cross -sections had
large percent changes in ER (such as xs18) or BHR (xs16) or were outside
performance metrics. If those numbers are correct, it may be due to just recently
constructed small channels settling and small shifts causing large changes to the
numbers, but it should be acknowledged/discussed in the monitoring report, so
the IRT knows these metrics are being monitored and RES's thoughts on why.
Some changes to cross -sections don't seem to correlate with what is depicted in
the cross-section graphs. Zooming in on some cross-section graphs to better
show the area more directly associated with the channel may help the IRT
visualize in future reports.
7. Please update the IRT with the details of 2023 repairs and photos in the MY2
monitoring report.

-z-
a. How was the farm path runoff dispersed for FC6 and is some sort of BMP
external to the CIE feasible to permanently disperse the path runoff?
b. Similarly, are buffer and BMP's external to the CIE feasible to address the
"several erosional features" to prevent long term runoff/stability issues
besides just the instream structures discussed.
8. Flow Gauge data:
a. Table 13 notes 277 consecutive flow days and 215 cumulative flow days.
It also notes identical flow for both gauges. Please verify this information.
b. Flow gauge FC5 depicts a red dotted line that is not referenced in the
legend, however I'm assuming it is the riffle elevation? The continuous
flow is noted as 3/4/2022-12/6/2022, however the graph appears to show
many dates within that time period when flow drops below riffle height.
Verify and/or correct.
Steve Kichefski
Mitigation Project Manager
Mitigation Branch