Cross Roads Tree Survey and Appraisal – Crossroads, TX

IES initially conducted a tree survey in accordance with the Town of Cross Road’s Code of Ordinances, Article 3.08 – Tree Preservation and Protection. The survey included measuring, recording the species, evaluating the health, and tagging all protected trees on the 39-acre site. IES utilized a Trimble sub-meter accurate GPS unit to record the location and all attributes on 780 protected trees that totaled 11,116.8 caliper inches. This baseline document was provided to the client in an AutoCAD format, MS Excel worksheet, and letter report, which was used to determine the proposed impacts to the trees. The proposed site plan intended on removing 112 trees. This triggered the tree appraisal requirements under the Town of Crossroads ordinance to determine tree mitigation. IES prepared a tree appraisal following the Texas A&M University Extension Service Fact Sheet for Evaluation of Texas Shade Trees. The current Fact Sheet utilizes the Trunk Formula Appraisal method, which was published in the 1992 Guide for Plant Appraisal. IES evaluated each tree based on size, condition, location, and species quality and provided a detailed spreadsheet for mitigation cost for each specific tree.

Prosper Independent School District High School #2

The Town of Prosper has been experiencing significant growth through the past few years, which has put considerable pressure on Prosper Independent School District (ISD) to keep up with the increasing demand for school capacity. Based on this increasing demand Prosper ISD determined that there was an immediate need for additional high school campuses. The High School #2 site was identified early as it was the only available 100-acre sized property located in Prosper ISD southern attendance zone.

IES conducted both a delineation and a cultural resources survey on the site early in the design process. The delineation identified 4.9 acres of wetlands and 478 linear feet of intermittent tributary. The original designs for the campus intended on impacting 4.6 acres of wetlands and 289 linear feet of tributary. Through planning and coordination during the Individual Permit process, an alternative was identified that reduced the impacts to 1.6 acres of wetlands and 192 linear feet of tributary. This reduced the impacts to comply with a Tier 1 Water Quality Certification and a lower tier alternatives analysis by the USACE. Through this planning, the USACE Individual Permit was issued 155 days after the initial submittal.

Canadian River Pipeline Removal Project – Hemphill County, Texas

IES was retained by a client to provide permit assistance to remove approximately 500 linear feet of an abandoned pipeline which had recently become exposed. This pipeline was located within a section of the Canadian River that is known habitat for the Arkansas River Shiner. Since the project will result in a discharge into waters of the United States, IES prepared a PCN under for NWP 12 to the USACE – Tulsa District. Subsequently, IES prepared a Biological Assessment for the USACE to coordinate a “may affect, not likely to adverse affect” determination for the Arkansas River Shiner.

Water Quality Testing at Blanco Texas

In early 2018, there was an algae bloom within the Blanco River adjacent to the Blanco Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). The City of Blanco wanted to test the water in the river to determine if there was any nutrient loading associated with the WWTP off-site irrigation field or the force main. IES developed a sampling regime and conducted a rapid response sampling per the client’s request (i.e., within 24 hours of notification). The results concluded that the algae bloom was a result of natural conditions and not from any force main leaks or run-off from the WWTP irrigation field.