Expiration date: 2/26/2025
The District Engineer, U.S. Army Engineer District, Omaha, Nebraska is evaluating a mitigation banking site plan (Elkhorn River Mitigation Bank) under Westervelt Ecological Services, LLC. Mitigation banks are used to satisfy compensatory mitigation requirements for permits issued under the authority of Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, which regulates the discharge of dredged or fill material in the nation’s waters. The purpose of this notice is to inform interested parties of the proposed mitigation bank and to solicit comments. Participation is encouraged, so that the U.S. Corps of Engineers is better able to complete a more thorough public interest review. Comments assist the District Engineer to make a reasonable decision based on public interest factors.
The proposed Elkhorn River Mitigation Bank site is located at 41.643964, -96.629270, in Section 4, Township 19 North, Range 7 East in Dodge County, Nebraska. Currently, the proposed Elkhorn River Mitigation Bank site is approximately 240 acres. The elevation of the site is approximately 1,250 feet above mean sea level.
This project aims to restore (re-establish and rehabilitate) and enhance wetlands and restore stream reaches for use as a compensatory mitigation bank for unavoidable impacts to waters of the United States. The Bank would provide stream and wetland compensatory mitigation credits 2 for impacts to regulated wetlands and streams under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. For over a century, most of the project area has been used for mixed agricultural (non-irrigated cropland) and recreational purposes. Anthropogenic manipulation of the site has resulted in the surficial detachment of the floodplain from the historical meandering floodplain and river system.
The proposed Bank would restore 98.5 acres of historical PFO wetlands, enhance/rehabilitate 102.3 acres of PFO and PSS wetlands, and restore approximately 2,770 linear feet of stream in Pebble Creek. Historical PFO, PSS, and PEM wetlands would be re-established, rehabilitated, and enhanced through earthworks, grading, drill- or broadcast-seeding, and noxious species eradication and management. Stream restoration would be done be addressing floodplain dysconnectivity and by re-establishing native vegetation along the banks of the stream.