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Southeast Union County, South Carolina

Gregorys Creek Mitigation Site

SWCA provided construction observation services for the restoration and enhancement of approximately 34,500 linear feet of Gregorys Creek and 13 of its tributaries.

Details

Completion

2024

Client

Confidential

Description

SWCA provided construction observation services for the restoration and enhancement of approximately 34,500 linear feet of Gregorys Creek and 13 of its tributaries. Decades of manipulation and watershed impacts have caused Gregorys Creek to become severely incised with vertical banks in excess of 10 feet. A heavy sediment load and lack of appropriate dimensions created indistinct channel features with no bed diversity and little habitat. Base level shifts in Gregorys Creek subsequently created similar conditions in the adjacent tributaries, where land management practices and buffer infringement also exacerbated the channel impacts.

Enhancement activities for Gregorys Creek (DA=10mi2) include grading and revegetating banks, as well as installing bed structures to protect banks, increase habitat and food supplies, and induce local scour for channel bed diversity. The tributaries (DA=.02-.5mi2) are being improved via Priority 1 and 2 restoration or enhancement, including significant improvement to in-channel structure and habitat. Structures vary to accommodate widely varying conditions and constraints.

Project constraints include the following: minimizing impacts to existing wetlands and hardwood buffers; working in narrow, steep valleys with limited access; steep valleys and channel transitions; completing work directly adjacent to property lines and state highway right-of-way; and managing excess spoil materials in a Federal Emergency Management Agency flood zone.

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No Stone Left Unturned: Restoring One of the Largest Mitigation Sites in South Carolina

Deep in the woods of South Carolina, native vegetation and aquatic wildlife begin to flourish across 530 acres of a forested watershed. Only a few years ago, this ecosystem looked much different. Generations upon generations of agricultural and outdated land use practices took their toll — degrading miles of streams, eroding large amounts of sediment along the banks, and diminishing aquatic habitat, among other impacts.

The client has long recognized its responsibility to keep forests healthy and wanted to restore these ecologically significant freshwater streams and wetlands within the Lower Broad River Watershed by establishing a mitigation bank on the land, as a part of the company’s sustainability ambitions.

Ecologically significant mitigation and high-quality work were top considerations for the client in selecting a partner. The team of ecological restoration engineers now at SWCA collaborated with the client throughout the entire process, including identifying potential mitigation sites, developing concept designs, providing engineering expertise and permitting support, and overseeing construction and monitoring.

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