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The United States Army Corps of Engineers (Vicksburg District)(“Corps”) issued a May 17th public notice regarding a Section 404 Clean Water Act application for a Saline County, Arkansas project.

The Benton, Arkansas Street Department is stated to have applied for a permit to conduct regulated activities in jurisdictional wetlands for the purpose of stabilizing stream banks.

The purpose of the stream bank stabilization is stated to prevent further erosion along 1,125 linear feet of an unnamed tributary to Depot Creek. Its purpose is further described as replacing:

. . . collapsed retaining walls to stabilize the stream banks to prevent further erosion. Old concrete retaining walls that previously covered the northern end of the project have collapsed and have resulted in channel degradation in recent years. Bank sloughing, loss of property, utility line exposure have all occurred as a result of failing stream banks. Work in jurisdictional areas will be related to construction of revetment gravity walls on the left and right stream banks along the entire reach and construction of in-stream grade control structures to reduce stream energy and maintain grade (prevent bed degradation, bad cutting). Approximately, 180 feet of channel would be straightened to reduce impacts to utility lines within the right-of-way. Mechanized equipment would be used to remove any remaining old failing structures and trees. Bank re-shaping and soil excavation would occur.

The applicant is stated to be proposing to mitigate for the unavoidable loss of jurisdictional impacts through the purchase of credits from a commercial mitigation bank.

A copy of the Corps public notice can be downloaded here.