8/9/2019 Fall Off Article

1/2

Fall-off creek mitigation bankCoryell county, texas:Future Planning and benefits

Fall-Off Creek Mitigation Bank (FOCMB) is proposing to return a portion of the Leon River to its

historic channel and to breach internal private ranch levees located on the property. Theprimary goal in taking these actions is to return natural function to this portion of the river,

which should in turn increase on-property flood storage, restore wildlife and vegetative habitat

in and adjacent to the river system, and improve water quality in the river.

Property History

According to historical evidence, during the early 1900s the owner of the property built levees

adjacent to the original channel of the Leon River to protect his property from flooding, all of

which are still in place and functioning today. Later, during the 1940s or 1950s, a subsequent

owner built a water storage ditch through the property where water was pumped from the

Leon River or captured during flood events and stored in this ditch to irrigate crops or pasture.

During a significant rain event in the late 1950s the Leon River flooded and eroded the upland

that separated this ditch from the river. The end result of this erosion was the diversion of the

river into the ditch, which became the permanent (and current) channel for the river.

Subsequently, a levee was constructed adjacent to the Ditch Channel for the purpose of

restricting high water events to the channel. Because of these new levees, flood levels had to

rise an additional two to three feet before overflowing into the adjacent flood plain. The levees

along the Original Channel of the river (which still remained after the rerouting of the river),

coupled with the levees placed along the Ditch Channel, work as dams that restrict flood water

from spreading across the flood plain on our property.

Project Benefits

Flood Storage. The proposed FOCMB will allow the river to once again flow through portions of

the historic river channel located on the property, providing additional capacity for the river. In

addition, our project will remove the levees along both the Original Channel and the Ditch

Channel, thus allowing flood water to once again spread out onto the floodplain located on the

property. These steps should allow the bank property to store much more flood water than

the property will in its current condition, as the proposed activities will allow as much as 600

additional acres of the banks pasture and crop land to flood during high water events. The net

effect of this additional flood storage should be relief from some upstream flooding.

Water Quality Benefits. The proposed FOCMB should improve water quality upstream and

downstream of the property. The river utilizing the Ditch Channel as its primary channel has

created problems not related to flooding. The elevation change previously covered in 4.5 miles

of the Original Channel is now concentrated into the 1.2 mile-long ditch. This makes the

gradient of the river steeper, causing the water, during normal flows, to move relatively faster

8/9/2019 Fall Off Article

2/2

as it flows downstream. The erosion caused by quickly moving water that is unimpeded by

river bends and meanders has caused the bottom of the ditch to erode significantly and at a

much faster rate than it would under normal conditions. The resulting deeper, eroded Ditch

Channel has caused the river bank to undercut and destabilize; therefore, causing the banks to

cave, or slide into the river. Unfortunately the river does not recognize landowner boundaries

and this process (erode-undercut-cave) continues today, not only on FOCMB property, but on

adjacent landowners upstream as well. The eroded sediment has destroyed fish habitat,

decreased water quality, increased siltation in Lake Belton, and destroyed valuable farm and

ranch land of property owners along the Leon River who depend on this land for their

livelihood.

Coordination with Other Restoration Efforts

The process of restoring and enhancing the Leon River is not limited to just FOCMB. Millions of

federal and state dollars have been spent on, or are earmarked for, projects to clean up the

Leon River. In 1998, the reach of the Leon River from below Lake Proctor to Lake Belton waslisted as impaired on the State of Texas Clean Water Act Section 303(d) List for having bacteria

concentrations that exceeded the states water quality standards. A watershed protection plan

is currently in place and is being facilitated by the Brazos River Authority, funded with federal

and state dollars granted by the Texas Soil and Water Conservation Board in an effort to

improve water quality throughout the Leon River watershed.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has also begun developing total maximum

daily load (TMDL) requirements for the Leon River, targeting a reduction in bacteria loadings by

21% to meet water quality standards and support contact recreation use (e.g., swimming,

wading, etc.). Additional efforts targeting water conservation measures in the watershed

include U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resource Conservation Service funding for the

Leon River water quality improvement project for which several million dollars of federal

money was recently earmarked. FOCMB is poised to assist in this clean-up process using

natural mechanisms.

Advanced Ecology is excited about our newest endeavor into stream mitigation, and continues

to look forward to studying the Leon River and meeting the mitigation needs of central Texas.

If you have additional questions, or require additional information about FOCMB or other

projects, please do not hesitate to contact us at cgreer@advancedecology.com or see our new

Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fall-Off-Creek-Mitigation-

Bank/498274685011 where we will post regular updates on FOCMB.

Fall-Off Creek Mitigation Bank launches new Facebook page to allow the public to follow the progress

of the permitting process, and see how our work is benefiting the local watershed and ecoregion. Documents

associated with the bank permitting will be posted, as well as pictures of the project site. Currently, the

Prospectus and Public Notice are available for viewing. We encourage comments and questions. Please

become a fan today!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fall-Off-Creek-Mitigation-Bank/498274685011http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fall-Off-Creek-Mitigation-Bank/498274685011http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fall-Off-Creek-Mitigation-Bank/498274685011http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fall-Off-Creek-Mitigation-Bank/498274685011