20170637 Ver 2_Meeting Minutes_20190823 (4)

Wanucha, Dave
From:Leslie, Andrea J
Sent:Thursday, August 22, 2019 1:58 PM
To:Wanucha, Dave; Hining, Kevin J; Blanton, James J
Cc:Russ, W. Thomas; Johnson, Thomas C; Hodges, Kinnon B; Rash, Jacob M.
Subject:RE: Joes Creek, Watauga County__
Thanks Dave. If any WRC staff want to talk about this further, please reach out to Dave.

Andrea

_____________________________________________
Andrea Leslie
Mountain Habitat Conservation Coordinator
NC Wildlife Resources Commission
645 Fish Hatchery Rd., Building B
Marion, NC 28752
828-803-6054 (office)
828-400-4223 (cell)
www.ncwildlife.org

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From: Wanucha, Dave <[e-mail]>
Sent: Thursday, August 22, 2019 12:19 PM
To: Leslie, Andrea J <[e-mail]>; Hining, Kevin J <[e-mail]>; Blanton, James J
<[e-mail]>
Cc: Russ, W. Thomas <[e-mail]>; Johnson, Thomas C <[e-mail]>; Hodges,
Kinnon B <[e-mail]>; Rash, Jacob M. <[e-mail]>
Subject: RE: Joes Creek, Watauga County

Hey Andrea,
th
To follow-up on project concerns, on August 20 I met with several DOT Division 11 staff (Ivan Dishman, Resident
Engineer; Brandon Greer, Assistant Resident Engineer; Kevin Hining, Division Environmental Officer; Jarret Blanton,
Roadside Environmental Engineer; and, Kevin Whittington, Maintenance Engineer) at the Sampson Road project to
review the entire project from beginning to end.

401/404 permits were issued for this project in June, 2017. A few minor permit revisions have been made along the way
all of which have been communicated to agencies as they were encountered. No work was conducted in jurisdictional
areas during the trout moratorium period of Oct 15 – April 15.

All impact sites (culvert and pipe installations), stormwater discharge outfalls, erosion control measures and NPDES
records were reviewed. The project was well maintained, slopes and bare soil areas were vegetated, matted with
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organic fiber or straw covered and seeded. Pipes were installed per the plans. At one station, there were a few pieces
of Class B riprap that had fallen into the channel below a culvert outlet. Those rip rap pieces were removed
immediately.

While erosion control devices are not part of DWR’s purview, in my opinion, they were in good condition and
functioning properly. DOT is required to conduct weekly inspections of erosion control measures and monitor
precipitation. Records of their inspections including maintenance/repair efforts are kept on site. Project inspectors
recorded a substantial storm event (over six inches) during the first weekend of June with some sediment lost off
site. Per the permit, Div 11 DEO reported that incident to our office. Maintenance of erosion control measures were
noted in the records the week following the storm event.

DOT informed me that the project is on hold until budgets are back to normal. In the meantime, DOT’s Roadside
Environmental Unit will continue to monitor the project until vegetation is at 80% coverage. At that time, the project
may be handed over to DOT’s Maintenance staff to monitor and conduct repairs as needed until the project is active
again. As I understand, there is paving to be completed, a small section of shoulder widening, minor channel work and a
pipe extension that still needs to be done. DWR will continue to monitor the project during this idle period because
DOT’s permit remains active until the project is certified complete.

All in all, in my opinion the project looks to be in good shape and is managed well. DOT is in compliance with their 401
and Stormwater Permits. Please let me know if you need anything further.

Dave Wanucha
Division of Water Resources
401 & Buffer Transportation Permitting
NC Department of Environmental Quality

336-776-9703 office
336-403-5655 mobile
[e-mail]

NC DEQ Winston Salem Regional Office
450 West Hanes Mill Road, Suite 300
Winston Salem, NC 27105

Email correspondence to and from this address is subject to the
North Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties.

From: Leslie, Andrea J <[e-mail]>
Sent: Thursday, August 15, 2019 1:05 PM
To: Hining, Kevin J <[e-mail]>; Wanucha, Dave <[e-mail]>
Cc: Russ, W. Thomas <[e-mail]>; Johnson, Thomas C <[e-mail]>; Hodges,
Kinnon B <[e-mail]>; Rash, Jacob M. <[e-mail]>
Subject: FW: Joes Creek, Watauga County

Hi Kevin and Dave,

WRC staff have some real concerns about a DOT project on Sampson Road along Joes Creek. Can you help us
address this issue? TR attached a telling photo and video of what’s going on there.

Thank you!
Andrea
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_____________________________________________
Andrea Leslie
Mountain Habitat Conservation Coordinator
NC Wildlife Resources Commission
645 Fish Hatchery Rd., Building B
Marion, NC 28752
828-803-6054 (office)
828-400-4223 (cell)
www.ncwildlife.org

Get NC Wildlife Update delivered to your inbox from the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.

Email correspondence to and from this sender is subject to the N.C. Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties.

From: Russ, W. Thomas <[e-mail]>
Sent: Thursday, August 15, 2019 12:16 PM
To: Rash, Jacob M. <[e-mail]>; Hodges, Kinnon B <[e-mail]>
Cc: Johnson, Thomas C <[e-mail]>; Leslie, Andrea J <[e-mail]>
Subject: Joes Creek, Watauga County

Hey yall, I think we have an issue in Joes Creek that needs Fisheries attention, again. This week I’ve heard from 3
landowners that live on or have property along Sampson Road, and they are highly frustrated with NCDOT. Apparently,
DOT has run out of money and Sampson Road is not going to get paved after all. The word on the street is they have
until October to pull out and stabilize what has been blasted. As you would imagine the amount of blasting and erosion
that has occurred along Joes Creek this year has been crazy. On top of this it seems like it rains up there every day! Joes
Creek and Buffalo Creek are suffering. We snorkeled Buffalo Creek this week and it was very bad, full of sediment and
very few mussels. I can’t imagine any trout still living in Joes Creek.
Sterling Carroll is involved and will likely get DWR involved; they have used his land for staging and mobilizing but now
they won’t finish the job. His motives are different than ours, but I think we should raise concern about what is
happening to Joes Creek and the Buffalo watershed as a whole.

I don’t believe DOT ever runs out of money; can we express concern? From a trout perspective do yall think we should
contact DOT or DWR? My data and views are somewhat anecdotal but erosion from road construction is obvious, I’m
happy to raise concerns on mussels but they are 10 miles downstream.
Thanks for any help.

TR
William T. Russ // Foothills Coordinator, Aquatic Wildlife Diversity Program
Division of Inland Fisheries

NC Wildlife Resources Commission
645-A Fish Hatchery Road
Marion, NC 28752

office: 828-803-6035
mobile: [phone]
[e-mail]

ncwildlife.org

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The Wildlife Diversity Program depends on the NC Tax Check-off for Nongame and Endangered Wildlife on line 31 of
your NC income tax form. Learn more about the Wildlife Diversity Program.

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Inbox from the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.

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