20170285 Ver 1_WRC Comments_20170322

� North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission 9
Gordon Myers, Executive Director
March 22, 2017
Mr. William Elliott
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Regulatory Branch
151 Patton Avenue, Room 208
Asheville, North Carolina 28801-5006
SUBJECT: Shadowlawn Drive Culvert Replacement
UT Winkler Creek, Watauga County
Dear Mr. Elliott:
Biologists with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) reviewed an
application to replace a culvert on an unnamed tributary (UT) to Winkler Creek in Watauga
County. Our comments on this application are offered for your consideration under provisions
of the Clean Water Act of 1977 (33 U.S.C. 466 et. seq.) and Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act
(48 Stat. 401, as amended; 16 U.S.C. 661-667d).
There are wild Brown Trout in downstream Winkler Creek, and instream activities should be
avoided between October 15 and April 15.
The project proposes to replace a 24 -inch undersized culvert with an adjacent 48 -inch steel
casing pipe culvert using a bore and jack method. Smooth-walled material such as steel casing
pipe is less likely to hold stream substrate and provide for movement of aquatic organisms like
fish and salamanders. However, the design does greatly increase the size of the culvert and
includes a downstream grade control to address substrate retention in the culvetrt.
We offer the following recommendations to minimize impacts to fish and wildlife resources:
1. Work should be accomplished as quickly as possible and vigilance used in sediment and
erosion control during site preparation, construction, and clean up. Disturbed areas should be
seeded, mulched and matted as soon as possible.
2. Any erosion control matting used should be free of plastic or nylon mesh, as this type of
mesh netting frequently entangles wildlife and is slow to degrade, resulting in a hazard that
may last for years.
3. Project activities should be avoided during the trout moratorium of October 15 and April 15.
Mailing Address: Habitat Conservation • 1721 Mail Service Center • Raleigh, NC 27699-1721
Telephone: [phone] • Fax: [phone]

Shadowlawn Drive Culvert Replacement Page 2 March 22, 2017
UT Hodges Cr, Watauga County
Thank you for the opportunity to review and comment on this project. Please contact me at
[phone] if you have any questions about these comments.
Sincerely,
Andrea Leslie
Mountain Region Coordinator, Habitat Conservation Program
ec: John Vilas, McGill Associates
Sue Homewood, NC Division of Water Resources