20071107 Ver 1_Staff Comments_20071107

t7
Response to Cutter Bay 11-7-07
John,
What the consultants sent in seems to for the most part address all of the comments in our
response letter.
There were just a few small things. Our response item #1 states —
"Monitoring frequency — This will need to be done quarterly rather than bi-
annually." That is only necessary for the water quality sampling (which we did
not clarify), not vegetation, amphibians, soils, photos, or macroinverts. Photos
would be all right biannually or even yearly and veg really only needs to be done
yearly. They did state the correct times for sampling regarding water quality,
amphibians, macroinvertebrates but never actually said how often the veg
sampling would occur. I think they meant yearly which is okay.
2. For the water quality it sounded like they want to follow protocol. The consultant
will need to get with their chosen lab before they do any sampling as it did not
seem like they were familiar with some of the protocols for sample preservation
(like using acids in addition to ice for preservation). The consultant can check out
Division of Water Quality Laboratory Sandard Operating Procedures (SOP-
http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/esb/isu.html) and DWQ Laboratory Sample Submisssion
guidelines (http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/lab/ga.htm) and just reference this in their
yearly report stating that they are following guidelines. Calibration solution for
conductivity (12.9, 100, and 1000) will also be needed for the meters. Again I
think the consultant is just not familiar with water quality meters.
3. Reference sites will need to be surveyed for the amphibian and macroinvertebrate
sampling. I think the consultant was planning to survey the reference sites but just
did not mention this in these two sections as was the case in the vegetation
section.
4. Overall I think the changes are sufficient. The above could be addressed in a letter
from us, I don't think another monitoring draft is necessary.

Response to Cutter Bay, Part 2.
JOHN:
The only other thing I saw was a mix up about the ground water recording.
IF continuous automated water depth monitors are to be used (transducers compensating
for Barometric Pressure), then the recordings should be every hour.
IF the measurements were to be taken manually, then at least every two weeks.
SO, looks like they are using continuous automated monitors, so they should be recording
every hour or even less if lots of fast changes are anticipated.
Rick

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Gene Euchler
RA Management
854 Jason Blvd
Suite F
Myrtle Beach SC 29577
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October 2, 2007
Dear Mr. Euchler:
RE: Review of wetlands monitoring plan
Hawes Tract (Cutter Bay) development
DWQ # 20071174, Pamlico County
Michael F. Easley, Governor
William G. Ross Jr., Secretary
North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources
Coleen H. Sullins,Director
Division of Water Quality
DWQ staff have reviewed the draft wetland monitoring plan dated August 7, 2007 (received September 20, 2007)
associated with the stormwater management (level spreader) plan for the aforementioned development. In general, we
believe that the plan is a good start but needs extensive revision as noted below. Once these changes are made, the
revised plan will need to be resubmitted to DWQ for our written approval.
N
/1. Monitoring frequency - This will need to be done quarterly rather than bi-annually.
2. The reference site for Outfall # 1 (salt marsh) will need to be relocated to an undisturbed area.
-3. The survey plots and reference site need to be shown for Outfall #4.
rl Groundwater monitoring must be done using wells with continuous recorders set to record at least once every
two weeks. One well per outfall (with pre and post data) should be sufficient.
5. Vegetation plots — Two plots per level spreader are needed.
6. Photography documentation will need to be done at the vegetation quadrats.
7. A species list shall be prepared and reported for each quadrat (pre and post disturbance).
j8. Water quality monitoring will be required quarterly. The following measurements will need to be done and
analyzed at a DWQ-certified lab.
a. Physical — pH, temperature, conductivity and salinity.
b. Chemical — total N and total P (plus their fractions), Cu, Zn, Pb and Hg.
c. Bacterial — fecal and total coliform
✓9. Soil samples — The number and location of soil samples as well as the parameters to be analyzed needs to
be described.
V10. Soil accretion will need to be measured at each site perhaps by spreading a thin layer of colored sand and
then reporting any soil accretion quarterly.
11. Amphibians Amphibian use will need to be assessed at each site especially during the late winter and early
spring when egg masses may be present.
12. Aquatic macroinvertebrates will need to be assessed at each site annually probably during the spring
sampling event. Species must be identified at at DWQ-certified lab.
Please revise your monitoring plan accordingly and submit a revised version for written DWQ approval. I can be
reached at 919-733-9646 if you have any questions.
Cc: Rick Savage
Ginny Baker
Kyle Barnes, DWQ Washington Regional Cf fIce
Scott Vinson, DWQ Washington Regional Office
Quentin Epps, Mulkey Engineers and Consultants, 701 Gervais St., Suite 120, Columbia, SC ne
;9201
File copy NoithCarolina
aturullr�
Centraltiles
Wetlands and Stormwater Branch 1617 Mail Service Center Raleigh, NC 27699-1617 Phone [phone]
Internet: h2o.enr.state.nc,us 512 N. Salisbury St. Raleigh, NC 27604 FAX [phone]
An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer— 50% Recycled110% Post Consumer Paper

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MUL..KEY �
E N C-, i N E: E. 1 5 c% C 0 N f_, a LT,A N T;
701 Gervais St.
Suite 120
Columbia, SC
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone] ed.�, [,.QA 25�iC1Ks '
www.mulkeyinc.com�)_
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
To:
John Dorney
NO.
Date:
October 31, 2007
31 Oct. 07
NCDWQ
Wetland Monitoring Plan Down Gradient of Level
Spreaders, Hawes Tract Development, Pamlico Cnty,
North Carolina
❑ For Signatures
2321 Crabtree Boulevard; Suite 250
Raleigh, NC 27604
®
For review and comment
From:
Quinton Epps
Mulkey Engineers & Consultants
Re:
Wetland Monitoring Plan Down Gradient
of Level Spreaders, Hawes Tract
Development, Pamlico Cnty, North
Carolina
Job No.:
I am sending you the following item(s):
COPIES
DATE
NO.
DESCRIPTION
2
31 Oct. 07
®
Wetland Monitoring Plan Down Gradient of Level
Spreaders, Hawes Tract Development, Pamlico Cnty,
North Carolina
❑ For Signatures
These are transmitted as checked below:
❑
As requested
❑ For your use
®
For approval
❑ For Signatures
®
For review and comment
g6j
ZOV
DENR - WAI RR QUAOTy
'1V£Tt,ANDS XND STOPMWA.TER OPMCH

WETLAND MONITORING PLAN DOWN GRADIENT OF LEVEL SPREADERS
HAWES TRACT DEVELOPMENT
PAMLICO COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA
October 30, 2007
Prepared for:
RR Development North II, LLC
110 Matthews St. Street
Suite 2D, Matthews, NC 28387
Prepared By:
Mulkey Engineers and Consultants, Inc..
701 Gervais Street
Suite 120
Columbia, SC 29201

Introduction
RR Development North II, LLC (RR Development) has submitted a development plan
for the Hawes Tract (see vicinity map). As a part of the stormwater plan, the North
Carolina Division of Water Quality (NCDWQ) has requested a monitoring plan for
wetlands down gradient of the 4 outfalls from the main stormwater facility. See attached
maps for stormwater facility and outfall locations.
Site Description
The proposed Hawes Tract Development is a 560.69 acre parcel is located off of NC
Highway 55 (NC 55) in Pamlico County, North Carolina approximately 1.6 miles
southeast of the intersection of NC 304 and NC 55. The parcel is located within the
Neuse River Basin and the nearest receiving streams are Bay River, Trent Creek,
Alligator Creek and Swindell Bay. There are approximately 163 acres of wetlands and
coastal marsh on the parcel. The wetlands and coastal marsh on the site will not be
developed and will be left in their natural state.
Project Description
This project consists of subdividing the parcel into 891 single family residential lots.
Stormwater from the high density portion of the project drains to the inland excavated_
basin that will serve as a wet detention/infiltration basin. This basin has been designed to
treat and attenuate stormwater runoff from approximately 127 acres of the site. Level
spreaders will be located at 4 outfall locations around the basin and will discharge into
the riparian buffer and adjacent wetlands. Monitoring will be done quarterly for a period
of five years in the wetlands down gradient to the four level spreaders. The monitoring
effort will collect data on baseline and post construction conditions as well as selected
reference areas. Baseline data will be compared with post construction data, as well as
reference sites to document potential changes in the wetlands below the level spreader
outfalls.
Monitoring Methods
Ve etg ation
Pre -construction baseline vegetation monitoring will be conducted for one year. Baseline
samples will be collected to determine surface water quality, groundwater level,
vegetative dominance, relative cover, frequency, and importance values. Vegetative
baseline samples will include sampling of the canopy, shrub and herbaceous layers in
quadrats located down gradient of each level spreader. Ancillary data will also be
collected including the presence of surface water flows and photographic documentation
at each quadrat. Post construction, five -years of monitoring will be conducted using the —.
same methods as the baseline monitoring Should the monitoring determine that the
stormwater outfalls are having no effect RR Development may elect to seek an end to
monitoring at the concurrence of DWQ.
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2

Line transects and quadrats will be established at two reference locations and below 4
level spreaders (see attached maps for locations). Reference transect and quadrats will be
established for the freshwater wetlands areas (Outfall #2, 3, 4) and the estuarine marsh
area (Outfall #1) as described below and depicted on the attached maps. A pre and post
disturbance species list will be prepared and reported for each quadrat and transect.
Canopy / Subcanopy Quadrats (freshwater wetland areas, Outfalls #2, 3, and 4)
Permanent quadrats will be established 5 m wide by 5 m long (25 m2) in size and all
corners will be marked by PVC post with flagging and GPS data. To facilitate the
calculation of species frequency occurrence, each quadrat will be divided into four
subquadrats 2.5 x 2.5 m wide (5 m2). Quadrats will be located directly down gradient of
level spreaders: Numbers of quadrats will be based on site specific considerations related
to length of level spreader and the form, function and size of the down gradient wetlands.
Trees with a diameter at breast height (DBH) greater than or equal to 2.5 cm in each
quadrat will be flagged and permanently identified with numbered tree tags during the
initial baseline monitoring. Additional trees meeting this minimum size requirement will
2 be tagged and reported when found during subsequent monitoring events. Values for
w;
dominance and density will be calculated for each tree species in each quadrat combined,
and will be summed to estimate the total canopy dominance and density in each quadrat.
Importance values for the canopy and subcanopy species will be calculated from
dominance, density, and frequency data as follows:
Dominance for Spp. A (m3/ha) = Total basal area of Spp. A (m2)
Area sampled (ha)
Relative Dominance for Spp. A = Total basal area of Spp. A (m2) x 100
Total basal area of all species (m)
Density for Spp. A (#/ha) = Number of Individuals of Spp. A
Total area sampled (ha)
Relative Density of Spp. A = Density of Spp. A (#/ha) x 100
Total density of all species (#/ha)
Frequency of Spp. A = Number of subquadrats in which Spp. A occurs
Total number of quadrats
Relative Frequency of Spp. A= Frequency of Spp. A x 100
Frequency of all species
Importance Value of Spp. A = (Rel dominance + Rel Density + Rel Frequency)
3

Values for dominance and density will be calculated for each tree species in each quadrat,
and summed to estimate the total canopy or subcanopy dominance and density in each
quadrat and in the area below the level spreaders.
Shrub/Herbaceous Transects (freshwater wetland areas, Outfalls #2, 3, and 4)
The shrubiherbaceous stratum is defined as all vascular plant species exclusive of the
canopy and subcanopy. A tape measure will be stretched along the 20m sides of each
vegetation quadrat and all shrubs and groundcover vegetation intercepting the vertical
plane of this line will be recorded for the total linear distance covered. Line -intercept
data will be used to generate estimates of percent cover and frequency (frequency will be
based on dividing the 20 in transect into 5 in subtransects), which will be converted to
relative vegetative cover and relative frequency. The values for each plant species will
be summed and averaged to yield an importance value as follows:
Linear Cover Distance for Spp. A = the sum of line intercept distances fro Species A (m)
Percent Cover = Linear cover distance of Spp. A (m) x 100
Total transect distance (m)
Relative Percent Cover = Linear cover distance of Spp. A (m) x 100
Total linear cover distance of all species (m)
Absolute Frequency = Number of subtransects in which Spp. A occurred
Total number of all subtransects
Relative Frequency = Absolute frequency of Spp. A x 100
the sum of the absolute frequencies of all species
Importance Value = (Relative Vegetative Cover + Relative Frequency)
2
Marsh Transect ( estuarine wetland area, Outfall #1)
Outfall #1 level spreader will discharge into an estuarine marsh. A single line transect
with 13 one meter square quadrats (1 every 10 feet) will be placed down gradient of this
level spreader. Line -intercept data will be used to generate estimates of percent cover
and frequency which will be converted to relative vegetative cover and frequency. The
values for each plant species will be summed and averaged to yield an importance value
as described in the above shrub/herbaceous layer section.
Groundwater Level
Groundwater monitoring will be done using wells with continuous recorders set to record
at least once ev eeks. One well will be placed to collect data pre -construction
2

and post construction at each outfall location within one of the vegetation plots or near
the vegetation transect at each outfall location.
Surface Water Sampling
Surface water sampling will include quarterly measurements of water depth, temperature,
pH, DO, conductivity and salinity in the field and laboratory analysis of total nitrogen
and phosphorus and their fractions, Copper, Zinc, Lead and Mercury as well as fecal and
total coliform.
Surface water samples will be collected in properly prepared sample bottles. Sample
bottles will be clearly labeled with a permanent marker for station location and date.
Samples will be collected just below the water surface, at or down stream of the outfalls.
All samples for laboratory analyses will be iced or refrigerated as soon after sampling as
practical.
If the water depth is less than approximately 0.2 feet, this condition will be noted and no
sample shall be collected for any analyses.
Field analyses for temperature and dissolved oxygen will be made with an approved
dissolved oxygen meter with saturated air calibration. Field pH will be measured with an
approved meter, calibrated by use of buffer solutions at pH 4 and pH7. Specific
conductance will be analyzed with an approved meter calibrated with a standard
solution. All laboratory analyses will follow appropriate standard methods and sample
holding times specified by EPA Region IV and the NCDENR.
Soils
The existing soil profile will be described using texture, color, and thickness of the each
layer down to 18 inches using a hand auger or other accepted methods. Soils will be
further described using hydrology indicators for wetlands. One soil profile will be
completed in each vegetative plot or transect during each quarterly sampling period to
include photographic documentation. Soil profile data will be compared to the baseline
and each successive profile to assess soil accretion. Soil accretion will also be assessed
using measuring stakes at permanently established points within or near the vegetation
plots or transect.
Amphibians
Most terrestrial amphibian species are identified through direct observation methods;
however, where appropriate dip nets will be used to search for aquatic species. Visual
Jand auditory monitoring for amphibians will be conducted bi-annually during spring and
winter seasons using the vegetation sample quadrants and outfall locations. Monitoring
will be accomplished using protocols similar to those endorsed by the USGS North
American Amphibian Monitoring Program and Southeast Amphibian Research and
Monitoring Initiative. Surveys will include searches for egg masses in appropriate
locations. The checklist of North Carolina amphibians (NC Museum of Natural
5

Sciences), The Frogs and Toads of North Carolina, Amphibians and Reptiles of the
Carolinas and Virginia (Martof et al.), and similar field guides will be utilized in species
and habitat identification.
Benthic Macroinvertebrates
Aquatic macroinvertebrate surveys will be conducted annually during a spring sampling
event using sampling methods from the NCDWQ Standard Operating Procedures
Manual. Several Mulkey staff are certified in NC Macrobenthic Collection Protocols.
Species collected will be identified at a DWQ-certified lab. Sampling locations will be
located near vegetation plots and storm outfalls , ( S 4
Anclllar Dat
The presence or absence of surface water including inflows and outflows, water marks,
stained leaves, and sediment deposits will be documented during the baseline and
continued during the post -construction monitoring. This will include photographic
documentation from permanently established points within the transects and below the
level spreaders.
Reporting
Data will be collected on a quarterly basis, analyzed and reported to NCDWQ on an
annual basis. The reports will include all collected data, photographs, analysis and
conclusions.
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F N r-4 1 N F F P a c r1 W s tI LTA w T s Pamlico County, North Carolina
1:30,000
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0 5001,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000
USGS 7.5- Minute Topographic Quadrangles:Arapaoe, Bayboro, Oriental, & Vandemere
Contour Interval 5 Feet

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OUTFALL 1
HAWES TRACT
PAMLICO COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA
OUTFALL #1
SCALE:
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MUUKEY
ENGINEERS & CON6ULTANT5
FO BOX 33127
17AL -, N.C. 27636
[phone]
(919)85 1 - 1 91 B (FAX)
WWW.MUKEVINC.COM

OUTFALL 2 4--MULKEY
HAWES TRACT M Box ""'
RALcis", N.C. 27636
(9191 861-1912
PAMLICO COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA WWW MULKE 11 I .Co
WWW.MULKCYINC.COM

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RwLe�o H, N.C. 3763e
[phone]
[phone] (FA7U
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FRESH WATER REFERENCE POINT -JB-MULKEY
HAWES TRACT PC BOX 331 Z7
R,, .- N.C. 27636
(9191BS1-191 Z
(9191 861-1918 TA
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PAMLICO COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA M,1NW...LKKY(NC.CClm