stream restoration, permitting

Linville River Restoration Project

Client: PilotView RC&D
Location: Avery County, NC

 
Wildlands completed design, permitting, and construction observation for the restoration and enhancement of a high elevation riparian system.  Phase II construction was completed in 2009 on approximately 5,200 feet of trout waters on the West Fork of the Linville River in the Upper Linville River Watershed.  Several sections of the river design focused on total restoration of degraded stream corridors while other river reaches were enhanced for trout habitat.  The project design also included riparian habitat enhancement and pond and dam rehabilitation to protect water quality from a small agricultural tributary.  Wildlands performed all permitting for the project including 401/404 permits, erosion and sedimentation control, and floodplain permits. Wildlands also worked closely with the contractor during construction.  This project was funded by the NC Clean Water Management Trust Fund.

 

In 2012, Wildlands completed design and permitting for Phase III of the Linville River restoration project. This phase includes 2,425 linear feet of enhancement on the Linville River and 520 linear feet on an associated tributary as well as wetland restoration and creation in place of three acres of borrow pits that were originally excavated for the construction of Highway 105 through the Town of Linville.  A detailed hydraulic model was developed to support a no-rise floodplain development permit.

Devil’s Racetrack Full-Delivery Mitigation Project

Client: NC Division of Mitigation Services
Location: Johnston County, NC

 

To date, the Devil’s Racetrack Stream and Wetland Mitigation Project is one of the largest mitigation projects developed in North Carolina. The project was constructed in 2013/2014 and resulted in the restoration of a coastal plain stream and wetland complex. The ecological benefits of the project include reduction of pollutants, such as sediment and nutrients to downstream waters, restoration of natural aquatic and terrestrial habitats, and restoration of wetland hydrology to long drained agricultural fields. By closeout of the post-construction monitoring period, the site will have generated nearly 19,000 stream mitigation units and nearly 60 wetland mitigation units. The site is located in the Neuse River Basin and provides mitigation to support development from Roxboro, NC to Goldsboro, NC, including the Triangle area.

Owl’s Den Full-Delivery Mitigation Project

Client: NC Division of Mitigation Services
Location: Lincoln County, NC

 

Wildlands is developing this full-delivery project on the 75-acre Owl’s Den Farm, where blackberries are the primary production crop. The project will provide 2,400 stream mitigation units and 8.0 wetland mitigation units for the NC Division of Mitigation Services. The project includes existing site assessment, conservation easement acquisition, permitting, stream restoration design, construction, and seven years of post-construction monitoring of geomorphic stability and vegetation. Detailed hydrologic modeling was completed to study wetland-groundwater connections and assist with design development. Construction was completed in July 2015 and planted in fall 2015. The project is currently in the monitoring phase.

 

Scaly Bark Creek Mitigation Project

Scaly Bark Creek Full-Delivery Mitigation Project

Client: NC Division of Mitigation Services
Location: Stanly County, NC

 

Wildlands has completed ecological restoration work at a site near Albemarle, NC. At close-out the project  provided 6,453 SMUs on Scaly Bark Creek and six (6) unnamed tributaries in the Yadkin River basin. The project included categorical exclusion documentation, existing conditions assessment, landowner coordination, conservation easement acquisition, restoration design, permitting, construction, and five (5) years of post-construction monitoring. Because Scaly Bark Creek is located in a mapped floodplain, Wildlands performed detailed hydraulic modeling of the proposed restoration and successfully completed a Conditional Letter of Map Revision (CLOMR). Construction was completed in April 2011 by North State Environmental. A Letter of Map Revision (LOMR) was completed with the as-built survey. The project reached the close-out phase in July 2016.

 

Lyle Creek Full-Delivery Mitigation Project

Client: NC Division of Mitigation Services
Location: Catawba County, NC

 

Wildlands is currently performing ecological restoration work at a site northwest of Lake Norman in Catawba County, NC. The project will provide 5,779 stream mitigation units and 7.0 wetland mitigation units on unnamed tributaries to Lyle Creek in the Catawba River basin.

 

This project is located on an active tree farm. The site includes headwater tributaries to Lyle Creek. The farmer was maintaining these streams as canals, which were frequently mowed and dredged. The lack of riparian shading and heavy nutrient input from the adjacent farmland contributed to massive algal blooms and low dissolved oxygen concentrations. The stream beds were covered with over a foot of decomposed organic matter. Onsite wetlands were regularly mowed and ditched.

 

The design objectives were to restore the hydrologic connectivity of the stream and floodplain by raising the onsite streams, to maintain sediment transport through the valley transitions, and to decrease fine sediment input from bank erosion through creation of stable streams appropriate for the valleys.

 

Construction management techniques focused on reusing onsite materials wherever possible. Wetland grasses growing along the existing stream banks were harvested as sod mats and placed along the banks of the new channel. Brush cleared during construction was used to build brush riffles. Construction of the project was completed in 2011. The project is currently in the post-construction monitoring phase.