20190276 Ver 1_WRC Comments_20190417

1�1 North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission 0
Gordon Myers, Executive Director
April 17, 2019
Mr. David Brown
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Regulatory Branch
151 Patton Avenue, Room 208
Asheville, North Carolina 28801-5006
SUBJECT: High Hampton Maintenance and Water Intake Structure
Fowler Creek and UT, Jackson County
Dear Mr. Brown:
Biologists with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) reviewed an
application to repair three dams on Fowler Creek and an unnamed tributary (UT) to Fowler
Creek, temporarily impacting 90 ft of stream, and to dredge sediment and replace a dam valve on
High Hampton Lake, impacting 0.06 acre of open water in Jackson 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).
Wild trout should not be impacted by project activities and a moratorium is not needed. There
are Yellowfin Shiner (Notropis lutipinnis, NC Special Concern) in Fowler Creek downstream of
the project areas.
The applicant proposes to repair the faces of High Hampton Lake dam, Jewel Lake dam, and
McDowell Lake dam by installing temporary in -stream gravel pads. In addition, a new irrigation
intake structure will be installed and the dam gate valve replaced at High Hampton Lake. To
accomplish the latter, the lake will be drained with a pump or siphon, the area immediately
surrounding the gate valve dredged, and the gate valve cut out and replaced. The dredging area
will be kept dewatered with pump just upstream of a coffer dam placed above the dredging area,
as well as a supplemental pump within the dredging area. Silt curtains will be installed in
downstream Jewel Lake, and turbidity will be monitored at the outlet of Jewel Lake. 7Q10 flows
will be maintained downstream of High Hampton Lake.
Mailing Address: Habitat Conservation • 1721 Mail Service Center • Raleigh, NC 27699-1721
Telephone: [phone] • Fax: [phone]

High Hampton Dam Repair Page 2 April 17, 2019
UTs to Fowler Cr, Jackson County
We offer the following recommendations to minimize impacts to fish and wildlife:
1. Project activities should be accomplished as quickly as possible and vigilance used in
sediment and erosion control during site preparation, construction, and clean up.
2. Disturbed areas should be seeded, mulched and/or matted as soon as possible. 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. For dam repairs, concrete should be poured and allowed to cure away from water at least 24
hours in order to avoid dangerous pH levels in streams.
4. We recommend that the applicant work with the NC Division of Water Resources to develop
turbidity monitoring protocols and upper turbidity limits for the outflow of Jewel Lake. If
turbidity limits are exceeded, sediment source issues should be addressed and water be
allowed to clear before activities are allowed to begin again.
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: Anna Priest, Clearwater Environmental
Kevin Mitchell, NC Division of Water Resources
Byron Hamstead, US Fish and Wildlife Service