20090103 Ver 1_WRC Comments_20090210

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9 North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission 9
Gordon Myers, Executive Director
MEMORANDUM
TO: Amanda Jones, Permit Coordinator ^ ?? D
Asheville Office, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
FROM: Ron Linville, Regional Coordinator FEB 1 0 2009
Habitat Conservation Program
DENR - WATER QUALITY
DATE: January 30, 2009 WETLANDS AND STQRMWATER BRANCH
SUBJECT: Review of an application by Maston Hodges, Skymont Inc. Development Corporation,
Crystal Springs Subdivision, Unnamed Tributaries Bairds Creek, Watauga County
The applicant is requesting a letter of concurrence from the North Carolina Wildlife Resources
Commission (NCWRC) to obtain a 404 permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The NCWRC
has reviewed information provided by the applicant and field biologists on our staff are familiar with
habitat values of the project area. These comments are provided in accordance with provisions of the
Clean Water Act of 1977 (33 U.S.C. 466 et. seq.) and the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act (48 Stat.
401, as amended; 16 U.S.C. 661-667d).
The project is to install two (2) roadways and one (1) driveway crossing for a subdivision development on
Bairds Cree. The stream is indicated as being approximately two (2) feet wide. Total impacts from the
three (3) crossings are indicated to be 99 linear feet. The project is indicated to be a low density
development. Downstream are rainbow trout habitats.
Based on the information provided by the applicant and our information on the range of trout in the
project area, we do not believe this project will cause significant effects to waters supporting trout.
Therefore, we do not object to the project as proposed providing the following conditions are followed:
Instream work and land disturbance within the 25-foot wide buffer zone are prohibited during
the rainbow trout spawning season of January 1 through April 15 to protect the egg and fry
stages of trout.
2. Culverts 48 inches diameter or larger should be buried a foot into the streambed. Culverts
less than 48 inches diameter should be buried to a depth equal to or greater than 20% their
size to allow for aquatic life passage. These measurements must be based on natural thalweg
depths to provide aquatic life passage during low stream flows.
Mailing Address: Division of Inland Fisheries - 1721 Mail Service Center - Raleigh, NC 27699-1721
Telephone: [phone] - Fax: [phone]
Crystal Springs Subdivision Page 2
January 30, 2009
3. Stringent erosion control measures should be installed where soil is disturbed and maintained
until project completion.
4. Native plants should be used for stabilization. Disturbed river banks should be revegetated
with silky dogwood (Cornus amonum), silky willow (Salix sericea), tag alder (Alnus
serrulata), black willow (Salix nigra), and sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) to provide long
term bank stability and stream shading. Note that silky dogwood, silky willow and black
willow can be planted as live stakes collected during the dormant growing season. Cuttings
should be randomly planted and done on four (4) foot centers from the waters edge to the top
of the bank. Trees should be planted on ten (10) to twelve (12) foot centers. Stream banks in
these areas should also be seeded with an approved native wetland mix or temporary crop of
annual oat, wheat, or rye grains.
Remaining jurisdictional waters and wetlands should be buffered, either through protection or
provision of undisturbed forested buffer zones. Buffers should be permanently preserved as
common contiguous forest areas instead of being subdivided into portions of individual lots.
For streams that do not support federally listed threatened or endangered aquatic species, we
recommend 50' intermittent and 100' perennial stream buffers. Maximum available buffers
should be provided; however, the twenty-five (25) foot trout buffer should remain
undisturbed to the maximum extent practicable. Community walking trails may be placed in
the buffer zone providing they are kept away from streams to the maximum extent practicable
and the buffer widths do not exceed minimum width requirements specified in the Americans
with Disabilities Act (ADA).
We believe that permanently protecting forested stream buffers is essential to the maintenance of wild
trout and their aquatic habitats. According to US Army Corps policy, the establishment and maintenance
of riparian areas can be required by the district engineer as compensatory mitigation, to help ensure that
the NWP activity results in minimal individual and cumulative adverse effects on the aquatic
environment. Such a requirement does not make non-wetland riparian areas subject to Clean Water Act
jurisdiction. Since non-wetland riparian areas are not jurisdictional, legal protection should be provided to
the riparian areas, for their protection and maintenance. In many areas, riparian areas will be wetlands
subject to Clean Water Act jurisdiction. In other areas riparian areas will not meet the criteria in the
Corps wetland definition at 33 CFR 328.3(b)... Compensatory mitigation projects can include areas that
are not waters of the United States, as long as the mitigation is directly related to the impacts of the
proposed work on such waters and appropriate to the scope and degree of those impacts. Riparian areas
are integral components of streams and other open waters, and are essential for their ecological integrity
and functioning. The establishment and maintenance of riparian areas as compensatory mitigation for
activities authorized by NWPs and other types of permits also helps advance the objective of the Clean
Water Act, which is to "restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the
Nation's waters."
Thank you for the opportunity to review and comment on this project. If you have any questions
regarding these comments, please contact me at 336-769-9453.
E-copy: Sue Homewood, DWQ WSRO