FEATURED RESTORATION PROJECTS
TAR RIVER HEADWATERS STREAM MITIGATION BANKS
TAR RIVER HEADWATERS RIPARIAN BUFFER
& NUTRIENT OFFSET MITIGATION BANK
The Tar River Headwaters family of restoration projects includes the Tar River Headwaters Stream Mitigation Bank, Tar River Headwaters Riparian Buffer and Nutrient Offset Mitigation Bank and the Full-Delivery Tar River Headwaters Wetland Restoration Project. The properties are located in Person County, NC on the 228-acre Huff Family Farm owned by Roy & Joyce Huff. The service area for this project is the Tar-Pam 03020101 Hydrologic Unit Code. MMI has developed these projects over the last 10 years and are in the third year of successful monitoring.
Cattle were fenced out, stream geometry was restored to a more natural pattern, profile and dimension, and tens of thousands of bottomland hardwood trees were planted. The stream mitigation bank was approved by the NC IRT while the riparian buffer bank was approved by the NCDEQ-DWR and the wetland project was approved by the NCDMS.
The Tar River Lands Conservancy now holds the conservation easement for the mitigation bank property while the Huffs still own the farm. All of these projects are trending toward a successful ecological trajectory and will be monitored until 2024. This complex of restoration sites is the signature project for MMI. Stream, buffer and nutrient (N&P) credits are available for permit mitigation obligations in the service area.
FORREST CREEK STREAM AND BUFFER MITIGATION BANK
Forrest Creek Stream and Buffer Mitigation Bank (2006), The Forrest Creek Stream and Buffer Mitigation Bank is located approximately seven miles northeast of Hillsborough, NC (Neuse River Basin 03020201). The mitigation bank is designed to replace lost functions and acreage or linear footage of streams and buffers adversely impacted by permitted activities under CWA Section 404/1. The Forrest Creek site is located on one of the last remaining dairy farms in Orange County, NC owned by the Latta Brothers. Over 10,000 linear feet of main stem and tributaries to Forrest Creek were restored, enhanced and/or preserved. This area is undergoing active development pressure and this farm is being preserved through conservation easements on both uplands (Orange County Open Space) and stream corridors (FC Mitigation Bank).
Degraded streams were restored using Natural Channel Design concepts. The design created a stable pattern, profile and dimension along the degraded streams. These techniques included the installation of rock cross-vanes, single-arm rock vanes and onsite rootwads. Cattle were fenced out of the flood plain areas and alternative watering devices were installed for the cattle. The bank is one of the first approved under separate federal and state laws within the same site. Both stream mitigation units (SMU’s) and buffer mitigation units (BMU’s) were generated for sale in the Neuse 01 watershed.
POTT CREEK STREAM RESTORATION PROJECTS
Catawba County, NC
Pott Creek I - Mitigation Bank, NC - While at Marsh Resources Inc. (a subsidiary of the Williams Companies) - NC Department of Transportation (Client). Responsible for approval, conceptual design, construction implementation and monitoring of a 75-acre bottomland hardwood wetland and stream restoration project in the Catawba River Watershed.
Catawba County, NC
Pott Creek II - Stream Restoration Project is an former cattle pasture in Catawba County, NC. It is now a bottomland hardwood wetland and stream restoration project. Over 10,000 linear feet of stream restoration was developed for the NCDOT for future road projects in the Catawba River Watershed. Construction was completed in spring 2004.
The site was a cattle pasture and corn field, which allowed the cattle direct access to the main branch of Pott Creek and Rhodes Mill Branch. Historically, both creeks were dredged and straightened and were actively eroding. An unnamed tributary to Pott Creek flows on the property from the northwest and is degraded due to cattle use. The creeks had pattern, profile and dimension restored and were revegetated with native plant species.
BOG BROOK ENHANCEMENT BANK
The Bog Brook Wetland Enhancement Bank was the first operating mitigation bank in the State of New Jersey approved in 1994 and was successfully closed in 2004. While at Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Corp. (Transco), Rich Mogensen was responsible for approval, design, implementation and monitoring of the first operating private wetland mitigation bank in the State of New Jersey. This was the first mitigation bank in NJ to achieve all success criteria and be successfully closed. The site is located in East Brunswick, NJ and was a 7-acre restored forested wetland immediately adjacent to Bog Brook which flows into Mill Pond, a historic pond in Milltown NJ. A small vernal pond highlights this pioneering mitigation bank. The credits were used for pipeline expansion projects that impacted forested wetlands in the same watershed as the bank.
The bank was one of the very first banks approved by the NJ Freshwater Mitigation Council and was used exclusively for NJDEP permits for Transco pipeline expansion projects. The project is the only bank successfully closed in New Jersey.
Past MMI Projects:
Hope Mills Lake Restoration – Hope Mills, NC:
Gerald prepared and obtained a Section 404-401 Individual Permit for rebuilding Hope Mills Lake dam, which had breached during a storm seven years earlier, are required re-flooding 23.7 acres of wetlands and 11,400 feet of streams that had naturalized during the 7-year drained period. Special permit conditions imposed by USACE or NCDEQ included monitoring forest health in the re-flooded cypress-gum swamp, monitoring temperature and dissolved oxygen in Little Rockfish Creek below the dam, and providing passage for American eels over the dam. Gerald installed Onset Hobo loggers in the stream and prepared quarterly water quality reports for the first two years after re-impoundment, developed design plans for the eel ladder (now operated by Town staff), and is presently monitoring forest health for four years using visual ratings of 220 tagged trees and plant community sampling along transects from the lake pool edge to the uplands.
Brunswick H2go Water Supply EA – Leland, NC:
Gerald prepared and managed the inter-agency review of an EA for Brunswick H2GO’s proposed new groundwater-based water supply system with five well sites, nine miles of water lines, reverse osmosis treatment plant, and process water discharge into the Brunswick River. He served as lead field scientist for the wetland and stream delineation, habitat mapping, and rare species survey work, and was principal author of the EA and subsequent Clean Water Act 404-401 and CAMA permit applications.
Falls Dam Hydroelectric Retrofit -- Raleigh, NC:
Gerald prepared the environmental components of a feasibility study for a proposed hydroelectric turbine retrofit on Falls Dam, a USACE reservoir operated for water supply by the City of Raleigh. He evaluated potential ecological and environmental impacts and participated in multiple inter-agency meetings with federal and state regulatory agencies, engineering consultants, and City staff. He prepared reports and presentation materials on impacts to upstream and downstream fish passage, anadromous fish spawning habitat, downstream water quality impacts, recreational fishing and boating, and rare aquatics species.
Other Mitigation Banks:
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Marsh Resources Meadowlands Mitigation Bank
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Richard P. Kane Wetlands Mitigation Bank
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West Virginia Mitigation Bank
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Tar River Headwater Stream Mitigation Bank
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Tar River Headwater Riparian Buffer & Nutrient Offset Mitigation Bank
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Pott Creek Stream and Wetland Mitigation Bank
Other Environmental Restoration Projects:
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White Oak Creek Wetland Mitigation Site
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Hilcrest Bay Wetland Mitigation Site
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Stricker Branch Stream Restoration Project
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Harper's Crossroad Stream Restoration Project
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Tarlton Stream and Wetland Restoration Site
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Reeds Creek Stream and Wetland Restoration Site