Renee Hanna Lost Bear Timber Sale EA - Attachment C 



2/24/03 

 Page 3 of 6 



or at crossings. The proposed sale area is currently accessed by county and lower 

 standard roads, of mixed ownership 



Effects on Water Quality 



No Action Alternative 



Under the No Action Alternative, existing substandard roads with inadequate surface 

 drainage would continue to impact water quality unless mitigations or remedial actions 

 are taken. 



Action Alternative 



The primary risk to water quality is sediment delivery from roads, especially new road 

 construction or at stream crossings. Under the Action Alternative approximately 1 .9 

 miles of new road is to be constructed in section 36. Section 14 will have approximately 

 0.7 miles of new road construction. The DNRC would implement reasonable mitigations 

 and erosion control practices during the design and construction of roads and stream 

 crossings. 



All existing roads planned for use and occurrmg on school trust land within the proposed 

 project area were evaluated. Some roads in the project area do not fully comply with 

 BMP standards. Existing roads would be improved to meet BMP standards and therefore 

 improve long-term water quality. There are ephemeral draws and wet areas that lack 

 discemable stream channels. Equipment restrictions and designated draw crossings 

 would be utilized to protect all wet areas and ephemeral draws. 



Short-term and long-term impacts to water quality would be minimal as a result of new 

 road construction. There are no live streams in the proposed construction area and 

 surface drainage would be installed to route surface flow to a sufficient buffer that would 

 efficiently catch and filter any sediment. Site-specific designs and recommended 

 mitigation measures would be implemented, resulting in minimal risk of direct and 

 indirect effects. 



In section 36, the headwaters of Fish Creek crosses an old roadbed with no crossing 

 structure and is currently a sediment source to Fish Creek. This crossing would be 

 reconstructed and a new culvert installed. A slash filter windrow would be installed over 

 the outlet and rock armoring would be placed at the inlet and outlet. Stream channels 

 would be well buffered from harvest units in sections 14 and 36. The Streamside 

 Management Zone Law and Rules would be followed on all streams and wetland areas. 

 Site-specific mitigations and erosion control measures during design and reconstruction 

 of the stream crossing would result in minimal direct and indirect effects. 



Cumulative W atershed Effects 



