Finding of No Significant Impact - Shenandoah National Park Meadow Run Watershed Restoration Project Environmental Assessment

National Park Service

Meadow Run is a stream located on the west side of the park's South District. The stream's watershed is underlain by silica-rich bedrock, which is particularly poor in base cations. Soils that form on this type of bedrock have limited capacity to neutralize acidic deposition. The resulting acidic groundwater within these soils eventually flows into the tributaries of Meadow Run, affecting its water quality. Consequently, some fish species (including brook trout), many insect species, and other aquatic organisms struggle to survive in Meadow Run. Acidification also adversely affects songbird, plant, and forest health. Degraded ecosystem health in turn diminishes the visitor experience. Because low pH is affecting Meadow Ru n's aquatic life, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VADEQ) formally lists the stream as impaired waters under Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act (VADEQ 2020). The National Park Service (NPS) proposes to mitigate acidic deposition by applying limestone sand on the terrestrial watershed (referred to as limestone sand application or liming hereafter) using a helicopter (proposed action). Watershed liming is a type of project identified in the 2016 Consent Decree as an appropriate use of the settlement funds. The public was provided three opportunities to comment. The National Park Service accepted public comments for the Meadow Run Watershed Restoration Project from June 5 to July 28, 2019, and again from October 30 to November 15, 2020. The Meadow Run Watershed Restoration Project Environmental Assessment (environmental assessment) was released to the public for review on January 29, 2021 and was open for comment until February 28, 2021. The National Park Service analyzed three alternatives in detail in the environmental assessment. Based on this analysis, the National Park Service selected Alternative B: Split-dose Liming as the alternative for implementation because it best meets the purpose of, and need for, action without causing significant impacts on park resources. Alternative B will resolve the degraded existing conditions that would continue under Alternative A: No Action and provide spatially more consistent benefits throughout the Meadow Run project area than Alternative C: Uniform-dose liming. Alternative B will also be more closely tailored to site specific soil conditions, which in turn will have more site-specific benefits on other resources such as water quality, wildlife, and vegetation. The project is expected to improve the water quality in Meadow Run, allowing the Commonwealth of Virginia to remove the stream from the Section 303(d) list of the Clean Water Act. The targeted split-dose approach was developed based on conditions in the project area determined in multiple studies. Under the selected alternative, the park will use two doses (split-dose) for different parts of the project area to replace base cations lost from soils and increase the acid neutralizing capacity (ANC) in the stream. Parts of the project area with soils more depleted in base cations will receive a higher dose of limestone sand (3.0 tons/acre); generally, these parts include soils in the eastern half of the Meadow Run project area, closest to Skyline Drive. Other parts of the project area with soils less depleted in base cations will received a lower dose of limestone sand (2.25 tons/acre). In total, approximately 5,250 tons of limestone sand will be applied via helicopter in the project area under the selected alternative. Using a helicopter provides an efficient and effective way to access the steep terrain and avoid ground disturbance in the wilderness area, which spans 80% of the project area. The limestone sand will be obtained from local quarries. Prior to taking action, an implementation plan will be developed containing logistical details, plans for communication with the public, safety measures, and other aspects relevant for the implementation of the project.