PROJECTS ARCHIVES - ECOSYSTEM PLANNING & RESTORATION

The North Carolina Department of Mitigation Services has awarded a contract for the Stoney Creek Pilot Project to Ecosystem Planning & Restoration, LLC. The project will mitigate flooding using natural infrastructure, which mimics natural processes.

“As experts in Nature-Based Solutions and a long-standing consultant to NC Department of Mitigation Services, EPR is uniquely qualified to lead a successful pilot project that will inform future phases of work in North Carolina,”Kevin Tweedy, EPR Principal and Project Manager.

Team members, Moffit and Nichol, Greenman Pedersen, Inc, and WSP USA join EPR, forming a team that will utilize local knowledge and extensive experience to natural infrastructure solutions that alleviate flooding.

“EPR Team members have spent their careers developing successful projects in local communities. Efforts to make improvements within a local community are best achieved when there is active engagement, input, and direction from the community being served.” Sonny Kaiser, EPR Principal.

The Team will provide planning, stakeholder engagement, and implementation of flood mitigation projects within the Stoney Creek watershed, a subwatershed of the Neuse River Basin, that encompasses much of the City of Goldsboro. Other critical components of the project include acquisition, permitting and agency coordination, construction oversight and surveying, operations and maintenance planning, and performance monitoring.

The Stoney Creek Pilot Project will target flooding which impacts businesses, roadways, and access to emergency services in Wayne County and Goldsboro. These systems can include strategies like building wetlands and restoring streams and floodplains which help store water and attenuate flooding.

Success in the Stoney Creek watershed will serve as the basis for expanding natural infrastructure flood mitigation projects to additional watersheds. Lessons learned through the Stoney Creek project will help develop scaling solutions to enhance community flood resilience across North Carolina.

The Stoney Creek Pilot Project kicked off in early January 2023.

CONTACT: Kevin Tweedy, EPR Principal and Project Manager
Phone: 832-399-3400
E-Mail: ktweedy@eprusa.net
Ecosystem Planning and Restoration, LLC
www.eprusa.net


In 2020, the NC General Assembly created the Natural Infrastructure Flood Mitigation Program (NIFMP) within DMS, incorporating flood storage capacity enhancement projects into the Department’s activities. The 2021 Appropriations Act further supported this mission by setting aside $3.5 million to create pilot projects addressing chronic flooding in the Stoney Creek watershed. DMS also received funding through the NC Office of Recovery and Resilience from the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) to be used for NIFMP development.

EPR believes we all have a responsibility to provide a healthy environment for our neighbors and future generations. Periodically, we will spotlight our staff coming together to Give Back to the communities and ecosystems where we live and work. Follow our collective efforts at www.eprusa.net to learn more about how we support healthy and sustainable communities.

Giving Back to Bolivar Beach

EPR staff have a special connection to Bolivar Beach, located in Port Bolivar, Texas and a short ferry ride from Galveston. Over the past several years, we’ve worked tirelessly to assist in an ongoing project to restore 125 acres of coastal habitat to this community. The project upcycles material dredged from the nearby ferry landing to replenish eroded areas of Bolivar Beach, and to restore recreational opportunities, wildlife habitat, and water quality to the community.

Environmental stewardship, one of EPR’s main values, serves as a constant inspiration to our team who truly cares about the environment. As stewards of the land, we feel a deep responsibility to future generations, which is why EPR partnered up with the Texas General Land Office’s Adopt-A-Beach program to help keep Bolivar Beach safe and clean. EPR staff, working in conjunction with Keep Bolivar Beautiful, have committed to collecting and responsibly disposing of litter throughout the year.

With new recreational opportunities also come new challenges, but EPR strongly believes that positive change happens one step at a time. We are proud to say that our first two cleanup events were a great success! As the beach continues to grow, so will our special connection to this community and the coastal environment. If you’re in the area, see the progress on Bolivar Beach and meet the people of the historic Port Bolivar community!

Through the Texas GLO Program, 552,788 Adopt-A-Beach volunteers have cleaned 11,057 miles and picked up 9,732 tons of trash. Consider becoming a Beach Adopter and join thousands of other stewards of the land working towards a better future!

CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PA — Ecosystem Planning and Restoration (EPR) was contracted by the East Pennsboro Township Authority to conduct rapid stream assessments of 10 separate stream systems within the Township jurisdiction. The purpose of this comprehensive assessment was to identify restoration sites that would fulfill the Township’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) General Permit (more…)

MOUNT AIRY, N.C. — Conservationists have restored more than 3,000 feet of eroded streambank along the Fisher river in Surry County.

Surry County Commissioner Ed Harris said, “the restoration work comes at a time when more residents are seeking outdoor physical activity and ways to practice social distancing.”

“These resources are really valuable to Surry County, especially now in the height of a pandemic”
Harris said.

The 60 mile long Fisher River is heavily used for kayaking and fishing. The project was led by Surry County, Resource Institute, and several other environmental organizations.

Harris said the area surrounding the river had become unsafe.

“We actually had to tape it off with a barrier to prevent anyone from getting near the stream,” he said. “And it was several hundred feet that we restored, and it was right in the main part of the park. Sediment is the biggest pollutant in North Carolina, and this river system was contributing a large amount”.

Project Engineer, Jake Byers said, “the changes will improve aquatic habitat, restore floodplain connectivity and boost the biological health of the waterway.”
Nadia Ramlagan, Public News Service – NC

Original story at https://www.publicnewsservice.org/2020-03-31/environment/stream-restoration-project-improves-surry-co-recreational-hub/a69727-1

EPR is working with the Blue Ridge Resource Conservation and Development Council, Inc. (BRRCD) on the Grassy Creek Stream Restoration Project (Project) in Mitchell County, NC. The goal of the project is to improve water quality, aquatic habitat, floodplain connectivity, and riparian vegetation density/diversity of Grassy Creek. BRRCD seeks to remove Grassy Creek from the State 303d list and ultimately reintroduce native fish species to Grassy Creek, keeping with their mission statement to improve the natural and human resources to make the Seven County Area a better place to live, work, and play. BRRCD is supporting this project through State 319 and other grant funding sources. EPR is working with BRRCD to ensure that the project goals are met, and all project stakeholders are satisfied with the outcome. EPR conducted an existing condition geomorphic assessment of the site, evaluated project feasibility and alternatives, worked closely with BRRCD to select a final design approach, developed detailed designs, and provided bid-phase services and construction observation during project construction. EPR also coordinated with the NC Wildlife Resources Commission to relocate fish and other aquatic wildlife, including several eastern hellbender salamanders, from the existing channel to the newly constructed stream.