How Much Does It Cost To Build A Duck Impoundment

Richard Hines | Originally published in GameKeepers: Farming for Wildlife Magazine. To subscribe, click here.

A few years ago a friend chosen and asked me about his thought of attracting more ducks to his subcontract. "All we demand to practise is build a levee across that little slough near Pino Creek," he said. Drawing more than mallards to his land sounded similar a good idea to me, but I told him in that location may exist a hoop or 2 to spring through. What he didn't know was that you cannot dam or block a creek that is marked on a USGS map as a "blue line stream." That'south because any work occurring in the floodplain of a stream potentially falls under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

My friend was perplexed and asked, "Even on my state?" I had to tell him yes because everything you lot exercise on or nearly any floodplain can potentially affect not only the wetland habitat of your land but all the country downstream from your location. You could unknowingly harm an unabridged ecosystem with a unmarried levee.

Anticipating and constructing a new waterfowl impoundment always brings visions of morning skies filled with teal, ducks and geese. The actual planning prior to starting can be very frustrating, to say the to the lowest degree. There is more than to creating a waterfowl habitat than scheduling earth-moving equipment. You accept to know what permits yous need and what agencies require them. Let'south look further into the process of getting a allow like the 404 permit.

The 404 Let Is the Commencement Step to Creating Better Waterfowl Habitat

Developing a projection on a floodplain is going to require a 404 permit. The permit states this cardinal point: Section 404 of the Clean Water Deed regulates the discharge of dredged or fill textile into waters of the United states, including wetlands (this includes fill for development and h2o resource projects such as dams and levees).

Depending on the size and location of your project, state and federal agencies take several options to provide support for landowners trying to navigate the 404 process. Many state wildlife agencies accept biologists who work with landowners interested in developing wetlands — and don't overlook organizations similar Ducks Unlimited who accept staff biologists. There are also individual wildlife/wetland consultants who can direct the project from start to finish.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has offices in most counties across the country and can provide technical advice on building levees. In many cases, their expertise in local wetland development is invaluable. They often aid landowners save the time and money associated with poorly planned wetland habitat projects. They empathize the state and federal laws and regulations associated with migratory birds like ducks and geese. They also take wetland conservation resource from across the nation a telephone call away.

Some landowners prefer the "do it yourself" approach to the 404 application. Landowners who get the DIY route should pay conscientious attention to the instructions of the 404 application. Attention to particular is a must and a well-thought-out 404 application is a large help to all those involved. Virtually of the regulatory staff encompass large areas with heavy workloads. Having a carefully planned application makes their job easier and will assist speed up the procedure.

Section 404 Permit Process

First, yous need to determine which Corps District your project is located in because across the 21 Districts there are slight variations on permitting. To observe your district, visit the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Website.

Tim Flinn, Eastern Section Chief with the U.South. Army Corps of Engineers, told me the offset questions nosotros enquire are obvious — where is the site, how large is it, is information technology on a floodplain? Flinn suggested that if you accept a sizable project "it may be all-time to rent a consultant who is versed in wetland projects" and tin can become through the steps. Flinn added: "There are a lot of wetland consultants out there who can furnish technical guidance for these types of projects."

For the DIY person, I have plant Corps staff helpful, but the let process will run smoother if you review the "instructions for preparing an awarding." Near questions are like shooting fish in a barrel — who, when and where — but pay shut attention to questions on "Nature of Activeness." Here you lot need to describe where the building material (soil) is coming from and going to, as well as the size (height and length) of the levee. The allow besides requires drawings. The good news is you can mitt draw i on paper. Simply make it articulate and precise. Again, there are examples on the website.

Make up one's mind the Total Cubic Yards of the Levee

Once yous know the size of the levee, there are conversion charts on the internet that assist yous calculate cubic yards. You lot volition have to provide the total cubic yards of material yous plan to motility. "Full cubic yards" is an important number, but information technology does not need to be exact. The estimate immediately helps engineers determine the magnitude of the project. Just remember that as the levee height increases, and then does the complexity of the projection.

Provide a Map

The application needs a map and Google Earth works perfectly. The toolbar setting allows you to sketch the outline of the impoundment, levee location and where soil will be taken from. A 2d map should be on a smaller scale showing the site in relation to nearby towns and other features. Attach your hand cartoon here and make sure you are showing the levee design including height, slope, length and location of the h2o command construction.

Department 404 Permit Requirements

Very often, mitigation or replacing lost habitat is required due to the projection changing elevations on the floodplain. Obviously, adding fill up at the levee changes the elevation. It has been found that an elevation change of merely one foot in a floodplain could modify constitute limerick and habitat.

If mitigation is required, landowners may be able to mitigate the project on their land. An case of mitigation would be replanting trees on a portion of bottomland where a wood was cleared for farming. Restoring this small amount of subcontract basis not only offsets the disturbance simply provides habitat for waterfowl, deer and turkey. If you practise not desire to mitigate on your land, there are "Mitigation Banks" where you pay someone to restore country at another location. Again, before you showtime in this direction, you must have an approved mitigation plan describing how you will restore and replant the site. For mitigation projects, it is highly recommended that yous hire a consultant to walk you lot through this process.

I asked Flinn a mutual question I often hear: "Why mitigate a wetland when yous are constructing a wetland?" Flinn told me the Corps understands that you are putting in a wetland. However, information technology will only be wet for a few months each twelvemonth. Considering of its temporary nature, additional measures are needed so there is not a full loss of wetlands. Back in the 1990s, President Bush signed an order so from that point on there would exist a "no net loss of wetlands." Mitigation is the tool that assures our remaining acres are retained.

Another situation you may encounter is that the Corps requires that more acres be mitigated than are existence altered. If landowners construct levees in a forested habitat where older trees are removed, the additional acres of immature trees get-go the loss of mature trees. This mitigation is by and large for the surface area where permanent fill (levee) is placed in a wetland.

The Corps may also add stipulations to your let. For instance, when constructing a Dark-green Tree Reservoir (GTR), you might be required to break the impoundment upwards into iii separate units. Each year, one unit remains dry out. These types of rotations are a normal management practise for GTRs. Enquiry has shown that woodlands that are flooding continuously each winter are not equally healthy as those with occasional dry periods through wintertime months.

Using a District Conservationist

If all of this sounds rather hard, think you lot are simply a few minutes away from your local Natural Resource Conservation Service role. At each part, y'all volition find a District Conservationist or DC who can walk you through the process. Chase Coakley, the NRCS Area Resources Biologist in Tennessee, told me that practices and assistance are available to anybody, but programs and assist do vary per locality.

Each DC has their own line of expertise, but if they are not familiar with designing wetland projects, they have access to other NRCS professionals including engineers, soil scientists and biologists who can assist complete a projection design.

Using the NRCS Office

When you visit an NRCS office, the DC will review objectives and location maps, as well as soil capabilities and watershed information. At this point, they volition suggest you about the technical help NRCS tin provide and fifty-fifty if cost-share assist is available. Coakley told me that "there are sometimes split up pools of money that help underwrite projects, but this varies from state to state and year to year."

After the part visit, the DC will make a site visit before making any decisions on the concluding project. If the DC feels that additional expertise is needed, they will schedule an NRCS engineer or biologist to aid decide if the project will exist a viable wetland for waterfowl.

Next is the permitting process and here is the big plus for going to the NRCS. If price-share assistance is existence used, NRCS will take the lead on the 404-permitting procedure. Coakley added, "If it is just technical help such every bit providing a design or management information, we can still offer that service of helping landowners go through the permitting process."

Although the NRCS is a non-regulatory agency and everything you practice with them is on a volunteer basis, yous withal need to be enlightened of compliance bug. If you lot are farming and receive USDA benefits, you must comply with the rules. For instance, if yous decided to clear a woodland to construct a wetland that would potentially accept a commodity crop planted on it, you need to have NRCS evaluate the site. Additionally, if you are going to construct your impoundment on existing pasture or cropland, you should go approval on electric current wetland provisions.

If you are a new landowner or have never worked with the NRCS before, Coakley suggested going to the Farm Service Agency (FSA) to get subcontract records established. FSA will check your eligibility and create a farm record.

Additionally, if you construct the levee with government funds, at that place may be some guidelines yous need to follow. An example might be planting only a portion of the impoundment in crops such as corn or milo each year. The remaining portion would be moist soil or native wetland plants such as millet. Once more, these recommendations will vary from region to region. Other management guidelines could specify the timing of drawdown to assure the impoundment has water at critical times, such as spring migration periods.

The Awarding Is Worth the Ducks

Why all the fuss? Consider that many states have lost over 95 percent of their original wetlands. Because of this, President Bush signed the social club for a no internet loss of wetlands. Every remaining acre is of import to waterfowl and the other wildlife species we all bask. These regulations assure we will maintain this habitat for years to come.

Working on 404 applications takes time and you volition observe it is easier to get-go correct than to take to back upward and commencement over! Allow time to obtain the permit — and with proper planning and design, you lot will see those flights of ducks when first light begins to brighten the morning time heaven!

Once your swimming is congenital, you'll want to make certain incoming waterfowl take everything they demand to feel comfy, safe and fed. What starts every bit a pond to draw mallards, oftentimes creates an ecosystem that benefits all wild fauna. To acquire more than well-nigh keeping ducks on your belongings and creating the best Duck Accommodations possible, click here!

Source: https://www.mossyoak.com/our-obsession/blogs/waterfowl/building-wetland-habitat-for-ducks-the-process-of-404-permits

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