Fox Creek Park Ecolological Assessment - Wetland Delineation
III. WETLAND DELINEATION RESULTS
The following is derived from the initial Fox Creek Park Wetland Assessment document developed in Oct 2022 for USCOE to formally delineate wetlands on the property.
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
One area-based jurisdictional wetland and two jurisdictional streams occur within the property (Figure 2). The wetland comprises ~0.41 acres (~17% of property acreage). Four stream sections comprising ~415 linear feet occur onsite. Only “normal” wetland conditions exist onsite. No difficult wetland situations exist.
Wetlands are forested and dominated by native wetland Obligate (OBL) and Facultative Wetland (FACW) plants. The wetland zone is naturally occurring and is dominated by native plants, and hydric soils, and it may be relict and bordering or consisting of historical pond shallows after impoundment.
StreamStreams segments are described below and illustrated in Figure 3. Water sample locations (WS-01 to 03), unrelated to wetland delineation are also depicted in Figure 3.
1) Primary Fox Creek tributary (~190 linear ft); defines the western park boundary.
2) Springhouse tributary (~40 linear ft); contains a former headwater spring or seepage that was modified into a springhouse historically, and which intersects Fox Creek in the northwestern region.
3) Secondary (unnamed) tributary (~164 linear ft); defines much of the eastern boundary and bounds the eastern wetland edge, with headwaters in the northeastern park corner. It intersects Fox Creek at the dam and southern boundary.
4) Northeastern tributary (~30 linear feet); intersects the secondary tributary from the northern boundary where its headwaters are covered by fill on the adjacent private lot.
The former lake-bed is filled with sediment from a combination of stream sedimentation and colluvium, flood-based and/or fill material placement following pond abandonment and thus wetland conditions do not exist in this park region.
No federal Threatened and Endangered (T&E) species were observed.
WETLAND DESCRIPTIONS
Typical area-based small wetlands comprise the central-eastern region, while impaired streams comprise most of the eastern and western property boundaries as low gradient, small-cobble, small streams draining north to south. Boggy, hydric soil conditions comprise much of the forested wetland along the stream interface. Sphagnum moss, indicative of true bog conditions, was not observed. Streams onsite are typical of developed, residential areas in the region.
