Environment Assessment and Mitigation Plan Proposed Henry/Spalding Water Supply Reservoir System

The Henry County Water and Sewerage Authority and the Spalding County Water and Sewerage Authority have proposed the construction of an integrated network of three water supply reservoirs which will be required to meet water demand projections for the year 2030. The Upper and Lower Towaliga Reservoirs will be located on the Towaliga River and the Long Branch Reservoir will be located on Long Branch. Law Environmental, under contract to the Henry County Water and Sewerage Authority, conducted the environmental assessment and cultural resources survey for the proposed reservoir sites. From data obtained during these investigations, a conceptual mitigation plan was developed by Law Environmental to offset unavoidable impacts to local ecological and cultural resources.

During the alternative site analysis process, 21 reservoir alternatives were evaluated, as well as Lake Jackson and available ground water resources. The preferred alternative, the Revised Strickland Plan, will marginally meet the projected water demands of Henry and Spalding counties, and has the least wetland impacts. With a cumulative surface area of approximately 575 acres, the integrated three-reservoir system will impact approximately 352 acres of jurisdictional wetlands. Combined construction costs ·associated with the Revised Strickland Plan is approximately $7.4 million.

In-house research indicated five protected animals and eight protected plants potentially occurring within the project boundaries. Extensive field surveys however, did not reveal the presence of any of these protected plants and animals.

Cultural resources surveys were conducted for the proposed Upper and Lower Towaliga Reservoirs and the Long Branch Reservoir. A cumulative total of 92 archeological sites were discovered during the surveys, 65 within the Upper Towaliga impoundment, 18 within the Lower Towaliga and rune within the Long Branch impoundment. After adjusting the Upper Towaliga pool level from 720 to 698 feet above mean sea level, the number of archeological sites was significantly reduced. Only 16 sites would be impacted in the reduced impoundment area.

Of the 16 sites, only 15 are considered "potentially eligible" for the National Register of Historic Places. Thirteen of these sites (HRW-1-13, 27, 28, 30, 56 - Upper Towaliga River Reservoir; HRW-2- 4, 5, 7, 8, 14, 15, 16, 17- Lower Towaliga River Reservoir) will require evaluative testing to determine their National Register of Historic Places eligibility status. Two sites (HRW-2-13, 13) may require testing if they cannot be avoided. The remaining sites are "clearly ineligible" for the National Register.

To compensate for the unavoidable loss of approximately 352 wetland acres, a conceptual mitigation plan was developed. The proposed restoration of approximately 355 acres of wetlands will be conducted in bottomland agricultural fields adjacent to the Towaliga River, Cabin and Troublesome Creeks, and their tributaries. Restoration will be accomplished through a combination of hydrologic modifications and revegetation of the fields in bottomland hardwood wetland tree species. This conceptual mitigation plan will provide an on-site and in-kind bottomland hardwood forest, ultimately exhibiting wetland functions and values equal to those of the wetlands within the proposed reservoirs' boundaries, and far exceeding the wetland functions and values currently exhibited by the proposed mitigation areas. Monitoring and contingency guidelines were developed to measure the success of the proposed mitigation efforts.