Wetland Delineation Ascension Parish, Donaldsonville, Louisiana
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G.E.C., Inc. 8282 Goodwood Blvd. Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70806 (225) 612-3000 Fax (225) 612-3015 Verdi Adam, P.E., President Stephen Spohrer, P.E., Chief Operating Officer June 26, 2014 U.S. Department of the Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District Operations Division Surveillance and Enforcement Section P.O. Box 60267 New Orleans, LA 70160-0267 ATTN: Mr. Rob Heffner RE: Preliminary Jurisdictional Detemrination Schexnayder 1000-Acre Wetland Delineation Ascension Parish, Donaldsonville, Louisiana Dear Mr. Heffner: G.E.C., Inc. (GEC) recent conducted a wetland delineation on 1000 acres located between LA Hwy 18 and LA Hwy 70 at the intersection with LA Hwy. 3089 in Ascension Parish, Donaldsonville, Louisiana on behalf of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber (BRAC). The northern portion of the property is currently in agriculture row crops with the extreme southern portion being forested. Field surveys of the property were conducted during June 2014. The data gathered and a map of wetlands identified during these field surveys is provided in the enclosed report. With the submittal of this wetland delineation, GEC is requesting a Preliminary Jurisdictional Determination for the wetlands identified on the property. Please direct your official written correspondence to the following address: Mr. Barry McCoy 8282 Goodwood Blvd. Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70806 Thank you for your assistance with this matter. If I can be of any assistance during your review, or if you would like to arrange a meeting at the site, please do not hesitate to contact me at (225) 612-4174. Sincerely, Barry McCoy Senior Wetland Scientist Enclosures Engineering ▫ Economics ▫ Energy ▫ Environmental ▫ GIS ▫ Planning ▫ Transportation ▫ Surveying July 2014 WETLAND DELINEATION REPORT PROJECT ID. 213084.20.002 1,000-ACRE SCHEXNAYDER SITE ASCENSION PARISH, DONALDSONVILLE, LOUISIANA Prepared for Baton Rouge Area Chamber Baton Rouge, Louisiana Prepared by Baton Rouge, Louisiana WETLAND DELINEATION REPORT PROJECT ID. 213084.20.002 1,000-ACRE SCHEXNAYDER SITE ASCENSION PARISH, DONALDSONVILLE, LOUISIANA GEC Project Number: 0013.2122014.006 Prepared by 8282 Goodwood Boulevard Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70806 Phone – 225/612-3000 1,000-ACRE SITE July 31, 2014 ASCENSION PARISH, DONALDSONVILLE, LOUISIANA TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS Section Page INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 1 METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................. 1 RESULTS ........................................................................................................................... 7 CONCLUSIONS................................................................................................................... 9 Appendix A: DATA FORMS Appendix B: PHOTOGRAPHS LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Number Page 1 Project Site Location Map ......................................................................................... 2 2 Project Site Map ...................................................................................................... 3 3 Wetland Delineation Map ......................................................................................... 4 4 Wetland Delineation JD Map ..................................................................................... 5 5 Soils Map ................................................................................................................ 6 TOC-i WETLAND DELINEATION REPORT WETLAND DELINEATION REPORT 1,000-ACRE SCHEXNAYDER SITE ASCENSION PARISH, DONALDSONVILLE, LOUISIANA INTRODUCTION G.E.C., Inc. (GEC) recently conducted a wetland delineation on a 1,000-acre site for Baton Rouge Area Chamber in Ascension Parish, Louisiana (Figure 1). The project area consists of active agriculture fields, hardwood forests, agriculture ditches, and bayous (Figure 2). The property fronts the Mississippi River between river miles 173 and 174. Highways 18 and 3089 traverse through the property at the north end and Louisiana Highway 70 traverses along the eastern side of the property with two forested tracts situated on the east side of Highway 70. The purpose of this delineation was to determine the wetland boundaries within the approximately 1,000-acre site. METHODOLOGY GEC conducted the wetland delineation in accordance with Section D, Subsection 2 of Technical Report Y-87-1, Corps of Engineers Wetlands Delineation Manual as well as the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains Regional Supplement. Aerial photography, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Ascension Parish soil survey map, and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) topographic quadrangle maps were reviewed prior to the initiation of field work to identify the potential extent of wetlands present on the subject property. Routine Wetland Delineation Data Forms (Appendix A), as approved by Headquarters, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) 10/08, were completed for various vegetative communities encountered within the project area. These data forms contain sufficient information regarding the presence or absence of hydric soils, hydrophytic vegetation, and wetland hydrology, to support the demarcation of a wetland boundary. The location of each sample plot along with mapped wetlands and other waters are shown in Figure 3. Figure 4 provides the same information but without the aerial background for a black and white reproducible figure. Dominant vegetation was recorded on the data forms along with the indicator status as listed in the National List of Plant Species Occurring in Wetlands (Region 2) released by USACE in May 2012 (Release no. 12-005). Once dominant vegetation was recorded and evaluated, if more than 50 percent of the dominant vegetation had an indicator status of FAC, FACW, or OBL or the prevalence index was ≤ 3.0, the hydrophytic vegetation criterion was met. A soil pit was excavated to a depth of approximately 18 inches at each sample plot. The pit remained open for at least 15 minutes to allow the pit to fill with water, if present. Soils were sampled along the exposed stratum. Information recorded on the data forms included soil colors (hue, value, and chroma as per the 1992 revised edition of the Munsell Color Chart), size, color, abundance, and depth of mottles, as well as soil texture. Soil texture was determined using the “texture by feel” analysis. Figure 5 depicts the soils mapped by the NRCS within the project area. 1 ¯ Plot 6 (! Plot 1 (! Plot 3 Plot 4 (! (! Plot 5 Plot 2 ! (! ( Legend (! Sample Plots Project Boundary 0 0.25 0.5 1 Miles Site Location Map Figure: 1 Schexnayder Property Date: July 2014 Ascension Parish, Louisiana Scale:1:30,000 Source: ESRI/GEC Service Layer Credits: Sources: Esri, DeLorme, NAVTEQ, TomTom, Intermap, increment P Corp., GEBCO, USGS, FAO, NPS, NRCAN, GeoBase, IGN, Kadaster NL, Ordnance Survey, Esri Japan, METI, Esri China (Hong Kong), swisstopo, and the GIS User Community Copyright:© 2013 National Geographic Society, i-cubed Map ID: 12345-3136 Cre sent s Lafourche a m MISSISSIPPI RIVER u St Peter o ¯ChetimatchasNichollsH Opelousas Iberville Madison Charles Plot 6 (! 18 Church VU Railroad Monroe Lee Landry St VincentCalhoun Adam Williams Lessard Gautreau St Patrick Riverdale Clay Front Division Vickers D Thibaut First Nolan Second Schexnayder Fourth Plot 1 3089 (! Fifth UV Peytavin Se ve nth Chef John Folse VU70 Plot 3 Plot 4 (! (! Plot 5 Plot 2 (! (! Legend Belle(! TerreSample Plots 3127VU Project Boundary 0 1,000 2,000 4,000 Feet Project Site Map Figure: 2 Schexnayder Property Date: July 2014 Ascension Parish, Louisiana Scale:1:22,000 Source: ESRI/GEC Service Layer Credits: Source: Esri, DigitalGlobe, GeoEye, i-cubed, Earthstar Geographics, CNES/Airbus DS, USDA, USGS, AEX, Getmapping, Aerogrid, IGN, IGP, swisstopo, and the GIS User Community Map ID: 12345-3136 Opelousas Nicholls Madison CLegend la Plot 6 Charlesib!o (rn Sample Plots Paradise (! e e Church n Railroad Iberville 18 i Ditches VU r Lee Landry e Webster th OtherLessard Waters - 3.11 acres a St Patrick Calhoun C Adam St Vincent t S Gautreau Section 10/404 Wetlands - 12.82 acres Riverdale VU70 Williams Section 404 Wetlands - 254.35Clay acres Project Boundary Front First Division Vickers D Thibaut First Nolan VU945 Second Schexnayder Fourth Third Plot 1 (! Fifth UV3089 Peytavin Seventh Chef John Folse VU70 Plot 3 Plot 4 (! (! Plot 5 Plot 2 (! (! 3127VU Belle¯ Terre0 500 1,000 2,000 Feet WETLAND DELINEATION MAP Figure: 3 Schexnayder Property Date: July 2014 1:20,000 Ascension Parish, Louisiana Scale: Source: ESRI/GEC Service Layer Credits: Source: Esri, DigitalGlobe, GeoEye, i-cubed, Earthstar Geographics, CNES/Airbus DS, USDA, USGS, AEX, Getmapping, Aerogrid, IGN, IGP, swisstopo, and the GIS User Community Map Author: 12345-3136 Opelousas Nicholls Madison CLegend la Plot 6 Charlesib!o (rn Sample Plots Paradise (! e e Church n Railroad Iberville 18 i Ditches VU r Lee Landry e Webster th OtherLessard Waters - 3.11 acres a St Patrick Calhoun C Adam St Vincent t S Gautreau Section 10/404 Wetlands - 12.82 acres Riverdale VU70 Williams Section 404 Wetlands - 254.35Clay acres Project Boundary Front First Division Vickers D Thibaut First Nolan VU945 Second Schexnayder Fourth Third Plot 1 (! Fifth UV3089 Peytavin Seventh Chef John Folse VU70 Plot 3 Plot 4 (! (! Plot 5 Plot 2 (! (! 3127VU Belle¯ Terre0 500 1,000 2,000 Feet WETLAND DELINEATION JD MAP Figure: 4 Schexnayder Property Date: July 2014 1:20,000 Ascension Parish, Louisiana Scale: Source: