20000801 Ver 1_Other Agency Comments_20060424

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STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA ??8y
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
MICHAEL F. EASLEY LYNDO TIPPETT
GOVERNOR SECRETARY
April 19, 2006
Mr. Eric Alsmeyer
Raleigh Regulatory Office ACOE
6508 Falls of the Neuse Road Suite 120
Raleigh, NC 27615
Re: Wiggins Mill Mitigation Site, Wilson County, State Project Nos. 8.1330509 &
8.1340801, TIP Nos. R-1030 & U-3472, Action ID Nos. 199202353 (R-1030);
199820167, 20012033, 20012033, & 200220441 (U-3472); DWQ Project Nos. 99413 &
000801.
Mr. Eric Alsmeyer:
As you are aware, the Department has monitored the Wiggins Mill Mitigation Site since its
construction in October of 2000. The site is located in Wilson County, south of the Wiggins Mill
Reservoir and southwest of the City of Wilson. This 89-acre site provides the following types of
mitigation: 39 acres of bottomland hardwood restoration, 45 acres of swamp hardwood and head
water forest/low elevation seep wetland communities restoration, 5.3 acres of bottomland
hardwood enhancement, 7,020 linear feet of small stream swamp hardwood (1" and 2nd order
streams) restoration, and 11.31 acres of buffer restoration. The entire site was planted and
hydrologic monitoring gauges were set in March of 2001. NCDOT proposed to monitor the
Wiggins Mill mitigation site for five years or until success criteria were met; with both
hydrological and vegetation monitoring conducted each year. After each growing season, annual
monitoring reports were submitted to the appropriate regulatory agencies.
The following roadway projects have been debited from this site: R-1030 and U-3472.
Hydrologic success criteria for the site state that the area must be inundated or saturated within
12-inches of the surface for at least a consecutive 5.0% of the growing season. This success
criteria was agreed upon as part of the special conditions set forth by the Corps of Engineers
through their issuance of permits for NCDOT's TIP projects R-1030 and U-3472. Thus for the
236-day growing season in Wilson County, the criteria is a consecutive 12 days. Table 1
provides a summary of the hydrologic data (the percentage of the growing season that saturation
was indicated) at each groundwater gauge location for the past five years of monitoring.
MAILING ADDRESS:
NC DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
PROJECT DEVELOPMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS
1598 MAIL SERVICE CENTER
RALEIGH NC 27699-1598
TELEPHONE: [phone]
FAX: [phone]
WEBsiTE: WWW. NCDOT.ORG
LOCATION:
PARKER LINCOLN BUILDING
2728-168 CAPITAL BOULEVARD
RALEIGH. NC 27604
Table 1. Summarv of Hvdroloizic Monitoring Data, 2001-2005
Monitoring
Gauge 2001
Results 2002
Results 2003
Results' 2004
Results 2005
Results
WM-GI 3.8 9.7 19.1 10.2 14.0
WM-G2 4.0 6.3 11.9 6.4 15.3
WM-G3 3.4 13.9 19.1 10.6 14.0
WM-G4 6.8 13.9 22.9 42.4 19.1
WM-G5 6.4 13.9 25.4 14.4 16.9
WM-G6 5.1 13.9 21.6 16.1 19.1
WM-G7 4.2 13.5 19.1 23.7 41.1
WM-G8 10.2 14.3 25.8 47.0 25.8
WM-G9 4.2 13.5 15.3 25.4 29.7
WM-G10 7.2 13.9 22.9 29.2 51.7
WM-G11 38.6 32.8 100 100 32.2
WM-G12 10.2 15.5 31.8 40.3 13.1
WM-G13 8.0 13.9 23.3 42.4 30.5
WM-G14 5.9 12.2 22.5 10.6 14.8
WM-G15 4.7 13.5 22.5 11.0 16.5
WM-G16 5.1 13.2 19.1 9.7 10.2
WM-G17 39.0 33.0 100 47.0 50.4
WM-G18 10.2 13.5 22.5 30.9 13.1
WM-G19 - 13.5 42.4 41.1 38.6
WM-G20 - 8.8 6.8 10.2 10.6
WM-G21 - 13.5 22.0 42.4 29.7
WM-G22 - 13.5 22.0 38.1 29.7
Climate
Conditions Below
Average
Rainfall Below
Average
Rainfall Average/
Above
Average
Rainfall Average/
Above
Average
Rainfall Below
Average
Rainfall
After five years of bottomland hardwood vegetation monitoring, vegetation data for 2005 shows
that the site has met vegetative success criteria by yielding an average density of 509 trees per
acre surviving, well above the minimum requirement of 260 trees per acre. Yearly monitoring
data is provided within the annual monitoring reports submitted between 2001 and 2005.
An annual monitoring report meeting has not been scheduled to review the 2005 monitoring
reports with the resource agencies. In the Wiggins Mill monitoring report, which has been
placed on the Natural Environment Unit's website, NCDOT requested that the site could be
closed and that monitoring could be discontinued.
NCDOT requests that the appropriate resource agencies provide documentation stating that no
further monitoring is required and that the site is closed. If you have any questions about this
project, please contact Mr. Randy Griffin at [phone].
Sincerely,
Philip S. Harris, III, P.E., Unit Head
PDEA-Natural Environment Unit
cc: Mr. John Hennessy, DWQ
Mr. Travis Wilson, WRC
Mr. Chris Militscher, EPA
Ms. Kathy Matthews, EPA
Mr. Gary Jordan, USFWS
Mr. Scott McLendon, ACOE
Mr. David Harris, P.E., NCDOT-REU
Mr. Jamie Guerrero, NCDOT-DEO