RES Receives Project Merit Award from EBJ

Environmental Business Journal®* (EBJ), a strategic business intelligence provider to the environmental industry, has honored RES with a Project Merit award for the Bois d’Arc Lake Mitigation Project in north Texas.

The project, which offsets the impacts of the construction of a large reservoir, is one of the largest of its type in the country. The award acknowledges both the progress made during the first full year of operations and the long-term benefits to the watershed, once it is completed.

The North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD) is constructing a 16,000-acre surface water reservoir in Fannin County, Texas, to supply the needs of about 80 communities. Ecological impacts from Bois d’Arc Lake are being mitigated by restoring, enhancing and preserving over 14,500 acres of wetland and upland habitats and 70 miles of streams within the same watershed.

RES was awarded a full-delivery contract for this mitigation in 2018. Design work started immediately, and construction will be completed by 2023. Over 6,400 acres of habitat and 29 miles of stream have been enhanced and restored to date, which included planting over 2.8 million trees. The project has required unparalleled design collaboration and operational controls, which RES is capturing in a docuseries called Restoring at Scale.

The scale of this project, along with RES’ unique approach to integrated design and a 20-year stewardship period, are enabling the team to meet NTMWD’s regulatory permit requirements while restoring the land to its pre-agricultural condition. The benefits to the watershed are significant. Restoration and perpetual protection of these habitats will decrease erosion, sedimentation, and nutrient loads in Bois d’Arc Creek and, ultimately, the Red River and the surrounding landscape.

EBJ will present the award at its annual Environmental Industry Summit on March 19, 2020, in San Diego, California.