20090577 Ver 1_More Info Received_20090924

Wetland and Natural Resource
Consultants, Inc.
r^? rte, ??''aMt'? September 22, 2009
J
ti` E P 2 4 2009
N.C. Division of Water Quality U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
'Mm"A m oRmUhevi Ile Regulatory Field Office
Surface Water Protection Section
Attn: Ms. Susan Wilson Attn: Ms. Lori Beckwith
2090 U.S. Highway 70 151 Patton Avenue, Room 208
Swannanoa, North Carolina, 28778 Asheville, North Carolina 28801
Re: Highland Forest Development
DWQ #09-0577 / Nationwide Permit 29 / Notice of Violation
Haywood County, North Carolina
Susan / Lori:
The purpose of this letter and the attached documents is to respond to requests and
comments made during the agency meeting and request approval of the previously
submitted Nationwide 29 permit application. Highland Forest would like to move
forward with the permit application and getting the Notice of Violation resolved. A
package was submitted to your offices on July 2, 2009 that provided updates to the
Nationwide 29 permit application and responded to the Notice of Violation received
from DWQ dated June 18, 2009. Please refer to this package to determine if there is
any additional information that will be required.
During the meeting with the Division of Water Quality, the Army Corps of Engineers, the
US Fish and Wildlife Service, and the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission on
July 9, 2009, an "aquatic swap" was discussed to remove culverts #1 and #16 in order
to allow culvert installation at impact sites #21 and #23 where bridges or arched spans
are proposed. This is not practicable due to the existing buried power lines located
over culvert #1. Culvert #1 which was in place when the previous owner purchased
the property is not perched more than one foot. The current placement of culvert #16
and #17 will remain in place; however, to offset aquatic life passage deficiencies due to
the perched culverts, we resolved to create a step-pool sequence that would allow fish,
if ever present, to migrate upstream. It was agreed that the elevation difference
between the invert of any structure and the water surface elevation shall not be greater
than one foot. It was also discussed that maximum pool depth should be at least 1.6
Canton Office
PO Box 882
Canton, NC 28716
828-648-8801
828-648-8802 Fax
feet and that the invert elevation of the first structure should be above the culvert
elevation in order to create a backwater effect within the culvert. Using these design
criteria, we designed a series of step pools below each culvert to achieve the goal of
allowing for aquatic life passage.
Also discussed during the meeting was that WNR personnel may be required to be
present during construction of the designed structures. There will be a five year
monitoring plan required which will be implemented to ensure that the structures
remain stable. Monitoring will include an as-built report, 6 month report, 3 year report,
and final report at year 5.
Highland Forest has requested a site visit with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Bryan
Tompkins) and the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (Chris Kelly) to
determine if suitable habitat exists for the Northern Flying Squirrel. Once this site
evaluation is conducted Highland Forest will be requesting a meeting with the US Army
Corps of Engineers and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to discuss the permitting process
if it is determined that suitable habitat exists.
Enclosed Attachments:
Adjusted Design Plans (4)
Please feel free to call with questions or any additional information.
Best regards,
Jennifer L Robertson
2 Canton Office
PO Box 882
Canton, NC 28716
828-648-8801
828-648-8802 Fax
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