20090901 Ver 1_Restoration Plan Review_20090824

Beverly Eaves Perdue
Governor

RA
NCDENR

North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources
Division of Water Quality
Coleen H. Sullins
Director

Dee Freeman
Secretary

August 24, 2009

Mr. M. Randall Turner
Restoration Systems, LLC
1101 Haynes Street
Raleigh, NC 27604

Re: Shoal Falls Farm Mitigation Project
Henderson County
DWQ #09-0901

ON HOLD/REQUEST FOR MORE INFQRMATION

Dear Mr. Turner:

The Division of Water Quality (DWQ) 401 Oversight and Express Review Permitting Unit has
reviewed the above-referenced application and Restoration Plan. As we have stated previously,
this site is an excellent candidate for stream restoration and enhancement.

However, I wish to reiterate our comments provided on-site on numerous occasions by DWQ
personnel and in our January 26, 2006 letter to Amanda Jones regarding the lower portion of
Shoal Creek (Reach 4 in the Restoration Plan).

The Shoal Falls Farm Mitigation Site - Technical Report (May 2008), submittedas part of the
Cliffs at High Carolina Individual Permit application, indicated that Enhancement 2 was the
proposed approach for lower Shoal Creek (Table 4, and Figure 6).

The Restoration Plan submitted with the Pre-Construction Notification indicates that a Priority 2
restoration is proposed for this reach. DWQ does not approve of a restoration approach on this
reach, as this stream appeared to exhibit fairly high aquatic function during the site visits. As
indicated in our January 26, 2006 letter, re-shaping of the stream banks and establishment of
I
vegetation is recommended. Construction ofa new channel (e.g. Priority 2 restoration) is not
warranted.

Please note that the 401 Water Quality Certification (GC No. 3689) will not be issued for this
project until a revised approach for Reach 4 is proposed.

401 Oversight/Express Review Permitting Unit
1650 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1650
Location: 2321 Crabtree Blvd., Raleigh, North Carolina 27604
Phone: [phone] \ FAX: [phone]
I ntemet: hltp:/lh2o ,enr,state ,nc. us/ncwetlandsl

N~rth Carolina
;VOIUfOllu

An Equal Opportunity \ Affirmative Action Employer

Mr. Turner
Shoal Falls Farm Mitigation Project
Page 2 of2
8/24/2009

We look forward to your response to the comments listed above. Please feel free to contact Eric
Kulz at [phone] if you have any questions regarding this project or our comments.

Sincerely,

~'^~

Cyndi B. Karoly, Program Manager
401 Oversight and Express Review Program

cc: File Copy (Eric Kulz)
Kevin Barnett - DWQ ARO
Steve Lund - USACE Asheville Regulatory Field Office
John Hennessy - DWQ Non-Point Source Compliance and Assistance Unit