A PHASE I CULTURAL RESOURCES SURVEY FOR PROPOSED WATER MONITORING FACILITIES AT JOSEPH W. JONES ECOLOGICAL CENTER, BAKER COUNTY, GEORGIA

Upon request by RJRudy, LLC, of Ward, Colorado, Panamerican Consultants, Inc. (PCI) of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, performed a Phase I cultural resources survey for the proposed installation of National Ecological Observation Network (NEON) water monitoring facilities at the Joseph W. Jones Ecological Research Center in Baker County near Newton, Georgia. The Area of Potential Effect (APE) for the proposed construction includes the area of direct effect where the project will incur ground disturbances, such as the location of eight groundwater monitoring wells, a water level gage, and a power run (Figure 1). Each of the wells would involve ground disturbance that would extend more than a meter in areas less than a meter wide. The wells will use a two inch diameter schedule 80 PVC casing, topped with a two foot square surface seal measuring six inches thick (Figure 2). The well bore and equipment will be installed using a Geoprobe model 54 LT or similar direct-push equipment to limit disturbance. The power run will extend for 414.7 meters (1360.5 ft), though it will impact soil in an area less than a meter wide. The survey included a 100 ft (ca. 30 meter) buffer surrounding each proposed installation, corridors between each proposed facility and the power run. A map of the location of these proposed facilities and their buffers are illustrated in Figure 1. Specific plans and drawings for each is presented in Appendix A. Existing roadways will be used to access the facility, and there are no plans to alter, extend, or improve those roadways. The existing roadways are plotted in Figure 1. The total construction and buffer area is 6.8 acres. A visual APE of the immediate area was also established to assess indirect effects on nearby historical properties. The visual APE is determined by the surrounding topography and intervening vegetation and would include any structures 50 years or older within view of the proposed construction. No structures exist within one mile of the proposed facility due to topography and vegetation, no structures are visible from the survey area, and it is not visible from any structures. In addition to the power run and well locations, a buoy will be located in the Flint River channel. The size and location of this buoy has been reviewed by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Historic Preservation Division (HPD). In an email dated October 7, 2016, from Jennifer Dixon (Program Manager; Environmental Review and Preservation Planning) to Steven Meredith (PCI), it was communicated that HPD archaeologists reviewed the information provided by NEON regarding buoy design and they concurred that a maritime survey is not needed due to the minimal river bottom disturbance.

This survey was done to meet the requirements of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act in order to locate, identify, and record prehistoric and historic properties within the APE. Fieldwork and report preparation were performed by Steven Meredith, Principal Investigator (Appendix B), assisted by Erin Stacey between September 26 - 29, 2016. The lead federal agency is the U.S. National Science Foundation.