Public Notice Project Plans Attachment A-Alternate Analysis Attachment B-Habitat Creation Plan
The applicant’s proposed project consists of six components, as discussed further below. The applicant’s proposal is for the discharge of non-beach quality sand material for thin layer dredged material placement, fill material placed for construction of elevation improvements (oak motte), fill material placed for temporary construction access paths, temporary thin layer dredged material pipe placement, a temporary staging/laydown area, excavation of four ponds to obtain beach quality sand material, enhancement of the four ponds with wetland creation and vegetative shelves, construction of moist soil management areas, and fill material placed for the construction of berms, berm bumpouts, excavation of swales, and placement of three separate culvert systems, and one manual water control structure. Some of the work and/or structures of this proposal occurs outside of waters of the US. The six components are described below in further detail.
The applicant’s proposed project will temporarily impact a total of 12.28 acres of wetlands and 13.24 acres of open water by the discharge of fill material and excavation activities to create the berms, berm bumpouts, elevation improvements, culverts, swales, and four ponds. The details are as follows:
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4.11 acres of wetlands and 0.18 acre of open water (4.29 acres) from the berms, berm bumpouts, elevation improvements, and culverts
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4.94 acres of wetlands and 13.05 acres of open water (17.99 acres) from the swales and four ponds
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2.47 acres of wetlands and 0.01 acre of open water (2.48 acres) from the temporary access path
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0.76 acre from the temporary thin layer dredged material placement pipeline
The applicant’s proposed project will permanently impact a total of 57.45 acres of wetlands and 0.26 acre of open water by the discharge of fill material and excavation activities to create the berms, berm bumpouts, elevation improvements, culverts, swales, and four ponds. The details are as follows:
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10.31 acres of wetlands and 0.16 acre of open water (10.47 acres) from the berms, berm bumpouts, elevation improvements, and culverts
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47.14 acres of wetlands and 0.10 acre of open water (47.24 acres) for the swales and four ponds
Thin layer dredged material placement
The estimated 23,898 cubic yards of non-beach quality sand or top layer of material excavated from the ponds will be hydrolyzed and pumped through dredge pipes and placed in a thin layer over the northwest 22 acres of the tract situated parallel to Sportsman Road.
Elevation improvements (oak motte)
A portion of the non-beach quality sand or top layer of material excavated from the ponds will also be utilized as grade improvements to support construction of 16.31 acres of oak mottes that provide habitat diversity. These elevation improvements (oak mottes) will be situated around Pond 2 and located beneath Pond 3 before the moist soil management area and Pond 4. An estimated 25,278 cubic yards of material will be utilized to elevate uplands, to an elevation of 4.3 feet, for 10.38 acres of prairie plantings.
Temporary access paths, pipe placement, staging/laydown area
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An estimated 9,405 linear feet of temporary access paths will impact 2.48 acres of wetlands and open water. The temporary access path will be constructed through the tract to allow for construction of the various components of the proposed project.
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An estimated 0.76 acre of temporary impacts will occur from temporary placement of the thin layer dredged material dispersement pipeline.
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A temporary staging/laydown area will occur in the southern portion of the tract and be situated adjacent to the moist soil management area and west of the elevation improvement (oak motte).
Ponds with vegetative shelves
The excavation of 1,049,986 cubic yards of beach quality sand from the proposed locations of the four ponds will be utilized for previously authorized and/or proposed beach nourishment projects for Galveston Island beaches. This excavation will create four separate ponds which will be enhanced with vegetative planting consisting of floating/submerged, tall emergent marsh, shallow emergent marsh, and marsh margin.
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Pond 1, 20.89 acres and 20 feet deep, will be a saltwater pond with a 1.03 acres of vegetative edge of fringe marsh.
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Pond 2, 15.31 acres and 20 feet deep, will be a brackish/intermediate pond with 0.99 acre of vegetative edge fringe marsh. The elevation improvement (oak motte) will border the south and southwestern edge of this pond.
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Pond 3, 4.80 acres and 10 feet deep, will be a freshwater/intermediate pond with four separate plantings along the elevation gradient. The vegetative plantings will be 3.95 acres of floating/submerged vegetation, 3.51 acres of tall emergent marsh, 3.81 acres of shallow emergent marsh, and then 3.88 acres of marsh margin.
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Pond 4, 1.71 acres and 5 feet deep, will be a freshwater pond with the four separate plantings along the elevation gradient. The vegetative plantings will be 1.69 acres of floating/submerged vegetation, 1.52 acres of tall emergent marsh, 1.55 acres of shallow emergent marsh, and then 2.64 acres of marsh margin. The elevation improvement (oak motte) will border the western and southern edge of this pond. This pond will also be bordered with 5.86 acres of coastal prairie planting.
Moist soil management
The two parallel areas totaling 37.10 acres situated in the middle portion of the tract will be designated as four separate moist soil management areas. These areas will be situated south of Pond 2, around Pond 3, and north of Pond 4.
Berms, Swales, Culverts, and water control structure
An estimated 7,992 linear feet of constructed berms, excavation for the creation of 4,241 linear feet of swales, three culvert locations, and one manual water control structure will be constructed to prevent saltwater intrusion within the tract and to manage water flow from adjacent properties.
The proposed berms will impact 3.64 acres of wetlands and 0.16 acre of open water by the placement of 13,502 cubic yards of onsite material. The berms are proposed to be 3.2-foot-high by 10-foot-wide at the top with an additional 0.93 acre of berm bumpout to be constructed to provide habitat diversity.
The two proposed vegetative swales will impact a total of 1.34 acres of wetlands and 0.10 acre of open water and will manage drainage from adjacent properties.
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Swale 1, 4 feet deep x 4 feet wide x 3 feet wide, is situated parallel to the western boundary of the tract and will flow towards the proposed culvert and manual water control structure.
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Swale 2, 3 feet deep x 4 feet wide x 3 feet wide, is situated parallel to the eastern boundary of the tract and adjacent to 8 Mile Road (Anderson Ways Road) and will flow towards Pond 1.
The three culvert locations and one manual water control structure will impact 0.01 acre of wetlands within the tract.
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Culvert 1 location will involve installation of two, 25-foot-long by 12-inch-diameter pipes placed within the vegetative swale situated on the eastern boundary of the tract and adjacent to 8 Mile Road (Anderson Ways Road).
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Culvert 2 location will involve installation of three, 22-foot-long by 12-inch-diameter pipes placed within the constructed berm along Zone 3 of the moist soil management area situated on the western boundary of the tract.
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Culvert 3 location will involve installation of one, 30-foot-long by 24-inch-diameter pipe placed within the vegetative swale situated on the western boundary of the tract.
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The manual water control structure will be placed within the constructed berm along Zone 3 of the moist soil management area situated on the western boundary of the tract.