20190288 Ver 1_Pre-appliation meeting minutes_20181015

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Homewood, Sue
From: Anna Priest <[e-mail]>
Sent: Thursday, November 8, 2018 3:32 PM
To: Clement Riddle; Tarver, Fred; Hamstead; Byron; [e-mail];
[e-mail]; Benjie Thomas, Robert Heaton; 'Amanda Jones';
Greg Jennings; Homewood, Sue; Leslie, Andrea J; Goudreau, Chris J.; Brady, Harold M.
Subject: [External] Final Buckeye Reservoir Meeting Notes and Town Update
Attachments: Final Buckeye Reservoir Meeting Notes 10152018.pdf; USGS Gauge Station Location
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All,
I have incorporated the all comments in the draft notes from the meeting on October 15, 2018 at Buckeye
Reservoir. Please find the final draft of the notes attached.
The Town of Beech Mountain has moved forward with both dam gate maintenance and gauge station
installations. The Town has scheduled Defiant Marine to do a current works inspection on November
19th. Defiant Marine will inspect, clean and test the current dam gate system to determine what would
be needed to switch to an automated system.
Additionally, the Town is awaiting the finalized agreement from USGS to install two gauge stations. Attached
are two rough drawings of gauge station placement provided by USGS. Bill Hazell with USGS did the site
survey and indicated that both gauge stations would be operational this year.
Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.
Best regards,
Anna Priest, PWS
ClearWater Environmental Consultants, Inc.
32 Clayton St
Asheville, NC 28801
828.698.9800 x 301

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Meeting Notes
Project and Location: Buckeye Reservoir
October 15, 2018
Attendees:
Tim Holloman -Town of Beech Mountain (Town)
Daniel Davis —Town of Beech Mountain (Town)
Robert Heaton —Town of Beech Mountain (Town)
Benjie Thomas — West Consultants
Greg Jennings —Jennings Environmental
Clement Riddle—ClearWater Environmental (CEC)
Anna Priest—ClearWater Environmental (CEC)
Amanda Jones — US Army Corps of Engineers (ACE)
Byron Hamstead — US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)
Fred Tarver— NC Division of Water Resources (DWR)
Sue Homewood —NC Division of Water Resources (DWR)
Harold Brady— NC Division of Water Resources (DWR)
Andrea Leslie — NC Wildlife Resources Commission (WRC)
Chris Goudreau — NC Wildlife Resources Commission (WRC)
Meeting start: 10:30 am
Tim Holloman with the Town welcomed everyone. Benjie Thomas gave a brief introduction and history
of the Buckeye Reservoir project. Buckeye Creek dam was constructed in 1984 as a reservoir for the
Town of Beech Mountain. The dam was permitted under the stipulation that the outflow would
maintain a flow between 1.5-2.8 cfs. The Town has since been unable to maintain those outflow levels
due to several reasons including, Buckeye stream inflow, Town water supply needs, Town water system
losses, and drought conditions.
The Town is now seeking solutions to meet both Buckeye reservoir permit conditions and water supply
demand. Greg Jennings began a discussion regarding revising outflow levels and the Agencies preferred
method of determining those levels. Key points from this discussion are below:
1. The Town water supply facility staff, Daniel Davis and Robert Heaton, stated that Buckeye Creek
upstream of the reservoir dam often runs dry, or nearly dry, at least a few days. per year. Due tc
the size of the reservoir's watershed, the Town can be in critical drought conditions within
seven days without precipitation.
2. WRC stated that reproducing brook trout are above Buckeye Reservoir but are no longer
located downstream of the reservoir. However, wild rainbow trout remain downstream of the
large bedrock waterfall downstream of the reservoir. Rainbow trout have different spawning
periods from brook trout which are highlighted in the 1984 permit. WRC would like the
reservoir outflow levels to be able to sustain wild rainbow trout year-round, including their
seasonal spawning period of January 1 to April 15.
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3. WRC staff stocks Buckeye Reservoir with catchable trout annually. In 2018 WRC, conducted a -
one-time stock of bluegill, redear sunfish and channel catfish to restock the lake after a
significant water level drawdown several years earlier.
4. WRC does not believe a field-based instream flow study of the stream downstream of the_
reservoir is necessary.
S. Greg Jennings stated that there is not currently a gauging station either upstream or
downstream of the reservoir. Due to unique site conditions, DWR has demonstrated that the
use of data from nearby gauging stations to represent or predict the flows in Buckeye Creek
provides questionable accuracy.
6. ACE suggested that gauging stations should be installed both upstream and downstream of the
reservoir to determine outflow levels for a permit modification. Permit will be valid with an
expiration date of 5 years from issuance. ACE suggested/requested that these gauges be
installed as soon as possible to start collecting data in advance of the permit modification
submittal and that the location of these gauges be determined by input/consensus from this
group.
7. ACE also suggested that this permit modification should be kept separate from any other
permit regarding water supply supplementation such as the Watauga River intake and pipeline,
which is contingent upon several issues including reclassification of the river as Water Supply.
8. ACE discussed upgrading the dam's infrastructure particularly the bottom gate and outflow pipe.
The staff have not moved the outflow gate since the 2010 drought due to concerns of its
potential forfailure. The gate currently remains slightly open due to a past mechanical failure.
Therefore, the reservoir is constantly releasing a small and undetermined amount of flow.
9. Greg Jennings suggested working with Defiant Diving to retrofit the gate with a motorized gate
to allow for proper functionality of gate use. Jennings also suggested that the motorized gate
could be digitally opened or closed based on inflow data collected upstream by a gauging
station. This would therefore prevent the Town from having to supplement the reservoir with
an alternative water source to meet prior permit requirements, i.e. outflow need not exceed
inflow. The agencies agreed that this could be a reasonable way to determine outflow levels.
WRC proposed that when the primary inflow into Buckeye Reservoir drops below the minimum
release flow, the minimum release becomes the measured inflow. WRC recommended the
outflow be designed with a bottom (hypolimnetic) intake, if possible.
10. Greg Jennings suggested contracting the US Geologic Survey to install, maintain, and manage
data from the proposed gauging stations.
11. DWR referenced their 2016 proposal which suggested a 3 -tier system for outflow levels and
encouraged adapting a similar system with new inflow levels determined by an installed gauge
station up and downstream of the reservoir.
12. The group conducted a site walk of the area both upstream and downstream of the reservoir.
Meeting adjourn: 12:30pm
Permit Modification Synopsis:
1. Outflow levels can be set to equal inflow amounts. The most effective way to accomplish this is
to install gauging stations.
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2. outflow levels should be able to sustain wild rainbow trout during seasonal spawning periods
between January 1—April 15.
3. The Individual Permit modification should propose appropriate downstream flows that will
support current aquatic life during normal and drought conditions and determined flows should
be able to be measured/monitored. Future actions regarding water supply supplementation will
be addressed as a new/separate permit application through additional/on-going coordination
with the Town to determine if a 404 permit is needed and what type of ACE authorization is
appropriate/needed based on the work proposed at that time.
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