Little Sandy Mitigation Bank

Location

Elliot County, KY

Resource

Stream

Solution

Mitigation Bank

Status

Approved

Kevin Roush

Assistant Director of Business Development

LITTLE SANDY MITIGATION BANK is one of EIP’s two stream restoration projects in the former Big Sandy service area of eastern Kentucky (now portions of the new United States Army Corps of Engineers’ pre-defined service areas 9 and 10). EIP is working to reverse impacts including sedimentation, physical alterations of streams by agricultural and silvicultural practices, bacteria from sewage, nutrient loading and algal blooms, various pollutants from mining and industrial wastewater and acid mine drainage. EIP’s restoration thus far has reduced downstream sediment loading, improved water quality, restored riparian buffers, and increased habitat for local native flora and fauna.

Credits from Little Sandy Mitigation Bank are approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to fulfill mitigation requirements of Section 404 Clean Water Act permits. Credit purchases also promote large-scale conservation and restoration of Kentucky’s stream corridors for future generations.

CREDITS AVAILABLE
Stream

SERVICE AREA
Portions of USACE Pre-Defined Service Areas 9 and 10, including HUC 8 Watersheds
– Ohio Brush-Whiteoak (05090201)
– Little Scioto-Tygarts (05090103)
– Little Sandy (05090104)
– Big Sandy (05070204)
– Lower Levisa (05070203)
– Tug (05070201)
– Upper Levisa (05070202)

Little Sandy Mitigation Bank

Construction machines mark the start of EIP's work to bring degraded streams back to natural patterns.

Little Sandy Mitigation Bank

Following EIP's mitigation, a stabilized stream shows a flourishing riparian buffer.

Little Sandy Mitigation Bank

In September 2020, new native plants repopulate the area, including this red trillium (Trillium erectum).

Little Sandy Mitigation Bank

A native False solomon's-seal (Maianthemum racemosum) blooms on the site.

Across Appalachia, restored streams are bringing back flora and fauna

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beaver-creek-hydrology

Our Partners

Beaver Creek Hydrology’s expert team understands the complexities of stream restoration and addresses them with the highest degree of innovation and creativity. They work with EIP to help us design our large-scale stream restoration projects across Appalachia. BCH, one of the leading stream design firms in the country, invented the natural channel design software, BANKFULL, that efficiently tackles our large-scale projects. They have published and presented widely about hydrologic and hydraulic modeling.

SRS Stream Restoration Specialists

Stream Restoration Specialists, based in Corbin, Kentucky, is one of the best stream builders in the industry. EIP has worked on multiple projects with SRS’s expert construction team. Their team members from a range of backgrounds, including former road builders, coal miners, and self-taught stream contractors, are efficient, self-sufficient, and top-notch with project logistics and scheduling. Working in tandem with both EIP and Beaver Creek Hydrology, SRS’s stream building expertise takes design concepts and turns them into reality.

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