Meadow Spring

The Meadow Spring mitigation site is located three miles north of Smithfield and contains three parcels totaling 246-acres in Johnston County. The Site involved the restoration and enhancement of streams and wetland along an unnamed tributary to the Neuse River. The site is located within the Neuse River Basin, below Falls Lake, USGS HUC 03020201 and in the Meadow Spring Creek Watershed, a Targeted Local Watershed (TLW). RES’ efforts resulted in significant ecological improvements including water quality improvement, habitat restoration, and a decrease in non-point source pollution from stormwater and agricultural practices. Our design addressed degraded water quality and nutrient input from farming, items previously identified as major watershed stressors in the 2010 Neuse RBRP. These issues were combated with the restoration of riparian buffers to filter runoff from agricultural operations and improve terrestrial habitat, and through the construction of in-stream structures to improve habitat diversity. In addition to the stream restoration, the site provides nutrient offset mitigation and riparian buffer mitigation through the NC Division of Water Resources (DWR) Neuse Riparian Buffer Mitigation program. The buffer and nutrient offset mitigation were developed through a separate banking instrument.