Duck River Dam - Corps of Engineers

Duck River Dam
Department of the Army
Mobile District, Corps of Engineers

REPLY TO
ATTENTION OF:

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
MOBILE DISTRICT, CORPS OF ENGINEERS
P.O. BOX 2288
MOBILE, ALABAMA 36628-0001

10 April 1996

CESAN-OP-S

PUBLIC NOTICE NO. AL96-00912-U

JOINT PUBLIC NOTICE
U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS
AND
STATE OF ALABAMA
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

PROPOSED DAM AND 650-ACRE RESERVOIR
NEAR CULLMAN, ALABAMA

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

This District has received an application for a Department of the Army permit pursuant to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (33 USC 1344). Please communicate this information to interested parties.

APPLICANT: Cullman-Morgan Water District/City of Cullman

Post Office Box 1009

Cullman, Alabama 35056-1009

WATERWAY: Duck River, Cullman County, Alabama.

WORK: The applicants propose to construct a 2,100-foot-long rock- fill dam to an elevation of 745 feet, National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD). The dam site is located on the Duck River, 0.4 mile north of U.S Highway 278. A 650-acre water supply reservoir with a pool elevation of 732 feet, NGVD will be impounded by the dam. The proposed reservoir has a design capacity of 36 million gallons per day and a total storage capacity of 26,000 acre-feet.

The purpose of the project is to provide an emergency/alternative water supply source for nine existing water systems within the Cullman-Morgan Water District.

The proposed dam and reservoir will inundate 6.8 miles of Duck River and 5.4 miles of smaller tributaries. A preliminary review indicates few, if any, wetlands will be filled or inundated. The majority of the dam and reservoir site will be located in upland hardwood forested areas. Eleven residences will require relocation. Four road crossings, including Turner Bridge, will be either closed or rerouted around the proposed reservoir.

The applicants have applied for certification from the State of Alabama in accordance with Section 401(a)(1) of the Clean Water Act, and upon completion of the required advertising, a determination relative to certification will be made.

The applicants have certified that the proposed activity complies with and will be conducted in a manner that is consistent with the State Coastal Zone Management Program. Upon completion of the required advertising, a determination relative to consistency will be made by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management.

This public notice is being distributed to all known interested persons in order to assist in developing facts on which a decision by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) can be based. For accuracy and completeness of the record, all data in support of or in opposition to the proposed work should be submitted in writing setting forth sufficient detail to furnish a clear understanding of the reasons for support or opposition. The decision whether to issue a permit will be based on an evaluation of the probable impact, including cumulative impacts, of the proposed activity on the public interest. That decision will reflect the national concern for both protection and utilization of important resources. The benefit which reasonably may be expected to accrue from the proposal must be balanced against its reasonably foreseeable detriments. All factors which may be relevant to the proposal will be considered, including the cumulative effects thereof; among those are conservation, economics, aesthetics, general environmental concerns, wetlands, cultural values, fish and wildlife values, flood hazards, flood plain values, land use, navigation, shoreline erosion and accretion, recreation, water supply and conservation, water quality, energy needs, safety, food production, and in general, the needs and welfare of the people.

The Corps is soliciting comments from the public; Federal, State, and local agencies and officials; Indian Tribes; and other interested parties in order to consider and evaluate the impacts of this proposed activity. Any comments received will be considered by the Corps of Engineers to determine whether to issue, modify, condition or deny a permit for this proposal. To make this decision, comments are used to assess impacts on endangered species, historic properties, water quality, general environmental effects, and the other public interest factors listed above. Comments are used in the preparation of an Environmental Assessment and/or an Environmental Impact Statement pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act. Comments are also used to determine the need for a public hearing and to determine the overall public interest of the proposed activity.

Any person may request, in writing, within the comment period specified in this notice, that a public hearing be held to consider this application. Requests for public hearings shall state with particularity, the reasons for holding a public hearing.

Evaluation of the probable impacts involving deposits of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States will include the application of guidelines established by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

The National Register of Historic Places has been consulted and no properties listed in or eligible for the National Register are known to exist which would be affected by the proposed work. However, the permit area is a high potential setting for historic resources and surveys for historic resources will be conducted within the permit area. The report of survey will be coordinated with the Alabama Historical Commission, State Historic Preservation Officer prior to issuance of a permit. If significant historic resources are identified within the permit area, a plan for avoidance, in place preservation or mitigation will be developed and implemented. Copies of this notice are being sent to the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Division of Archeological Services.

Preliminary review of this application and the U.S. Department of the Interior List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants indicates that there are no known Federally protected species or critical habitat in the project area. The flattened must turtle and several mussel species (threatened and/or endangered) are present downstream in the Black Warrior drainage basin. Possible impacts on Federally listed threatened and endangered species will be coordinated with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Correspondence concerning this Public Notice should refer to Public Notice Number AL96-00912-U and should be directed to the District Engineer, U.S. Army Engineer District, Mobile, Post Office Box 2288, Mobile, Alabama 36628-0001, Attention: Regulatory Branch, with a copy to Department of Environmental Management, 2204 Perimeter Road, Mobile, Alabama 36615, in time to be received prior to 11 May 1996.

If you have any questions concerning this publication, you may contact this office, Mr. John B. McFadyen, telephone number (334) 690-3261. Please refer to the Public Notice number.

MOBILE DISTRICT

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Enclosures

DUCK RIVER RESERVOIR PROJECT
Cullman, Alabama

Updated: 11 March 1999