# Presentation: 911178

## Brigham City Municipal Airport Enhancement Project

- Wetland Related Issues

## BACKGROUND

- The Brigham City Municipal Airport is located two miles northwest of Brigham City.  It is located adjacent to Interstate Highway 15 (I-15) and State Route 13.  It consists of a single north-south runway which is 7500 feet long and 100 feet wide.  Runway 16/34 is served by a partial parallel taxiway, 2750 feet in length.
- Instrument approaches serving the airport include a Non-Directional Beacon (NDB) and a Global Position System (GPS) approach with visibility minimums of 1 or 1-1/2 miles and 500 feet AGL, ceiling minimums.
- The airport, in past years, has been developed to meet airport design standards for an Airport Reference Code (ARC) of B-II.

## BRIGHAM CITY MUNICPAL AIRPORT

## Historic Box Elder Lake

## Project Need

- Improvement of Brigham City Municipal Airport is an action that increases safety for the current and forecasted airport users. The existing airport currently receives larger and faster approach speed aircraft that exceed the intended design levels.
-    To increase operational safety and value of the existing Airport facility and accommodate forecasted operations improvements to the airfield configuration and runway extension are essential.

## Environmental Process

- 1.  Assemble a team of qualified consultants to complete an Environmental Assessment.
- 2.  The existing wetlands in the vicinity of project were Mapped and assessed.
- 3. The construction limits of the propose project were identified.
- 4. The total acreage of jurisdictional wetland habitat impacted by the project was calculated and assessed.  The acreage of the direct and indirect impacts were identified by habitat type to determine the total impact.

## Area impacted by construction

## Acreage of Direct and Indirect Impact

| HABITAT TYPE | DIRECT IMPACT | INDIRECT IMPACT | TOTAL |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Wetlands |  |  |  |
| Mud flats | 47.83 | 4.27 | 52.10 |
| Emergent Wetland | 9.40 | 3.63 | 13.03 |
| Open Water | 11.60 | 0.37 | 11.97 |
| Total Wetlands | 68.83 | 8.27 | 77.10 |
| Uplands |  |  |  |
| Rangeland | 13.63 | 0.79 | 14.42 |
| Disturbed Upland | 36.47 | 3.52 | 39.99 |
| Total Uplands | 50.10 | 4.31 | 54.41 |
| Total  | 118.93 | 12.58 | 131.51 |

## Mitigation Opportunities

- 1.  On-site mitigation opportunities to restore wetlands within the limits of the Box Elder Lake would have been relatively simple because the area historically supported an expansive wetland ecosystem which still remains in a landscape of numerous isolated wetlands fragmented by hydrological alterations.  However, FAA safety standards discourage the establishment of wetland mitigation sites within 10,000 feet of an airport that services turbine powered aircraft as a measure to reduce the likelihood of bird strikes.

## 2.  Wetland mitigation banks, such as the Inland Sea Shorebird Reserve, located in Toole County, Utah had available credits for mudflat/playa wetlands.  The Brigham City Municipal Airport is within their geographic service area and credits were available for immediate purchase pending Section 404 approval by the Corps of Engineers.  However, the Corps required the mitigation to occur in Box Elder County adjacent to the Black Slough.

## An aggressive search for potential wetland mitigation sites located outside the FAA’s recommended 10,000 foot zone was initiated.  Three sites were located and each site was independently evaluated by a team made up of regulator agency personnel, the FAA and our airport consultants.  

- The final site was selected  and based on the existing habitat conditions a mitigation ration of 3:1 (3 acres of mitigation for 1 acre of impact) was established.

## High Resolution Multi-Spectral Imagery

## Slide 13

## Finalizing The 404 Permit

- The conceptual mitigation plan has been accepted by the ACOE subject to their approval of a final wetland mitigation plan prior to construction.
-    The Best Management Practices, covenant and conditions  that apply to the permit have been properly recorder.
-    The land was purchased and bids will be opened on March 31st for construction of the wetland mitigation project.

## Conceptual Mitigation Site Plan

- S

- Keeping the City Council in the game

## Words of Wisdom

- 1. Assemble a credible team of consultants that are willing to work together to achieve your goals.
- 2.   Establish and maintain communication with the ACOE and the FAA so all entities understand the purpose, need and process.
- 3.  Never give up.

## 1903 Wright Flyer Replica