Omaha Wetland Mitigation at Fontenelle Forest Lowland

Wetland fill activity by Omaha Public Works is currently being mitigated by the construction of replacement habitat at lowlands of Fontenelle Forest on Gifford Point, east of Bellevue, Nebraska.

Mitigation wetlands at two sites near the Great Marsh will comprise a few-tenths less than 4 acres, and are being done at a rate where for every acre of wetland impacted, 1.5 acres are meant to be created, according to project details known to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. City of Omaha, and the Fontenelle Forest Association, the site owner.

The mitigation is the result of natural wetlands being filled due to facility improvements at the Missouri River Wastewater Treatment plant in southeast Omaha, along the Missouri River.

One of the sites is adjacent to a previous mitigation site of 2.5 acres constructed through regulated project activities associated with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, according to a FFA personnel.

A local contractor created ground depressions to "promote ponding" and the growth of wetland plants. Culverts to allow stormwater movement were also part of the recently completed construction activities.

Wetland plants will be planted this autumn by the Prairie Plains Resource Institute, with assistance by volunteers associated with the forest, director William S. Whitney indicted in an email. "Our greenhouse manager has grown a few thousand wetland grasses and forbs for transplanting into the engineered wetlands." Examples of species to be included are swamp milkweed, prairie cordgrass, winged lythrum, pink joe-pye and others, he said. There will be at least 600 individual plantings, according to plans defining project requirements.

Gifford Farm, a state-owned site used extensively for school-children education, is located just to the north of the locale, so the wetlands can also be used for educational activities, and well as the obvious habitat and floral diversity values.

This is the first project for PPRI in the immediate Omaha area, Whitney indicted in an email.

The approximate final cost for the project financed through Omaha Public Works is approximately $360,000, a city official indicated.

This project was required by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to meet mitigation requirements of Section 404 of the Clean Water Act.

Monitoring of the site will continue for a ten year period, to ensure project goals are met.

June photograph of one of the the project sites. Image courtesy of the Public Works Department.

 

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The following details were provided by the Omaha office of the Corps of Engineers regarding the species of plants associated with the mitigation sites at Fontenelle Forest.

PPRI Wetland Species List 2014-2015 (119 spp.)
Grasses (11)			Wetness	% of Mix
Calamagrostis	canadensis	Bluejoint	OBL	0.49%
Calamagrostis	stricta	Northern Reedgrass	FACW	0.37%
Elymus	trachycaulus	Slender Wheatgrass	FACU	0.34%
Elymus	virginicus	Virginia Wildrye	FAC	3.48%
Glyceria	striata	Manna grass	OBL
Hordeum	jubatum	Foxtail Barley	FACW
Leersia	oryzoides	Rice Cut Grass	OBL	0.47%
Panicum	acuminatum	Tapered Rosette Grass	FACW
Pascopyrum	smithii	Western Wheatgrass	FACU
Spartina	pectinata	Prairie Cordgrass	FACW	4.42%
Sphenopholis	obtusata	Prairie Wedgegrass	FACW	0.03%
Sedges/Rushes (30)			Wetness	% of Mix
Carex	brachyglossa	Yellowfruit Sedge	FAC
Carex	brevior	Fescue Sedge	FAC
Carex	cristatella	Crested Sedge	FACW	0.14%
Carex	emoryi	Emory's Sedge	OBL	0.21%
Carex	gravida	Wetland Gravida	OBL	1.81%
Carex	hystericina	Bottlebrush Sedge	OBL
Carex	interior	Interior Sedge	OBL
Carex	laeviconica	Smooth Cone Sedge	OBL	6.09%
Carex	molesta	Troublesome Sedge	FAC	0.34%
Carex	pellita	Wooly Sedge	OBL	0.09%
Carex	praegracilis	Clustered Field Sedge	FACW
Carex	sartwellii	Sartwell's Sedge	OBL	0.03%
Carex	scoparia	Broom Sedge	FACW	1.03%
Carex	stipata	Saw-beak Sedge	OBL	0.70%
Carex	tribuloides	Blunt Broomsedge	FACW	1.36%
Carex	vulpinoidea	Fox Sedge	OBL	0.14%
Eleocharis	palustris	Common Spikerush	OBL
Eleocharis	erythropoda	Bald Spikerush	OBL	0.03%
Fimbristylis	puberula	Hairy Fimbry	OBL
Juncus	balticus	Baltic Rush	OBL	0.16%
Juncus	dudleyi	Dudley Rush	FACW	1.47%
Juncus	interior	Interior Rush	FAC	0.30%
Juncus	marginatus	Grassleaf Rush	FACW
Juncus	torreyi	Torrey's Rush	FACW	0.06%
Schoenoplectus	acutus	Chairmaker's Rush	OBL
Scirpus	atrovirens	Dark Green Bulrush	OBL	2.73%
Scirpus	maritimus	Prairie Bulrush	OBL
Scirpus	pallidus	Pale Bulrush	OBL	0.30%
Scirpus	pendulus	Rufous Bulrush	OBL	0.27%
Scirpus	pungens	Common Threesquare	OBL
Legumes (5)			Wetness	% of Mix
Astragalus	canadensis	Canada Milkvetch	FACU	0.25%
Dalea	leporina	Foxtail Dalea	FACU
Desmanthus	illinoensis	Illinois Bundleflower	FACU	1.82%
Glycyrrhiza	lepidota	Wild Licorice	FACU	0.06%
Lotus	purshianus	Deervetch	FAC	0.11%

 

Composites (28)			Wetness	% of Mix
Achillea	millefolium	Yarrow	FACU
Aster	ericoides	Heath Aster	FAC	0.35%
Aster	novae-angliae	New England Aster	FACW	0.09%
Aster	prealtus	Blue Willowleaf Aster	FACW	0.48%
Aster	simplex	Tall White Aster	FACW	0.35%
Bidens	comosa	Threelobe Beggarticks	OBL
Boehmeria	cylindrica	False Nettle	OBL
Boltonia	asteroides	False Aster	FACW	0.10%
Coreopsis	tinctoria	Plains Correopsis	FAC	2.63%
Erigeron	strigosus	Daisy Fleabane	FACW
Eupatorium	maculatum	Spotted Joe Pye Weed	OBL	0.57%
Eupatorium	perfoliatum	Boneset	OBL	0.45%
Euthamia	graminifolia	Grassleaf Goldenrod	FACW	0.01%
Grindelia	squarrosa	Gumweed	FACU
Helenium	autumnale	Sneezeweed	FACW
Helianthus	grosseserratus	Sawtooth Sunflower	FACW	0.70%
Iva	annua	Small Marsh Elder	FAC	0.14%
Lactuca	canadensis	Canada Lettuce	FACU
Lactuca	ludoviciana	Wild Lettuce	FAC
Liatris	lancifolia	Thickspike Gayfeather	FACW	0.07%
Ratibida	columnifera	Upright Prairie Coneflower	UPL
Rudbeckia	hirta	Black-eyed Susan	FACU	0.14%
Rudbeckia	laciniata	Cutleaf Coneflower	FAC	0.11%
Silphium	integrifolium	Entire-leaf Rosinweed	FACU
Silphium	perfoliatum	Cup Plant	FAC
Solidago	canadensis	Canada Goldenrod	FACU
Solidago	gigantea	Giant Goldenrod	FACW	0.03%
Vernonia	fasciculata	Ironweed	FAC	0.52%
Misc. Forbs (45)			Wetness	% of Mix
Agalinis	tenuifolia	Slender False Foxglove	FACW	0.07%
Alisma	trivale	American Water Plantain	OBL	0.06%
Allium	canadense	Canada Garlic (Sets)	FAC	0.34%
Allium	canadense	Canada Garlic (Seed)	FAC	0.07%
Ammania	coccinea	Tooth Cup	OBL	0.29%
Anemone	canadensis	Meadow Anemone	FACW
Asclepias	incarnata	Swamp Milkweed	OBL	0.04%
Asclepias	speciosa	Showy Milkweed	FAC
Asclepias	syriaca	Common Milkweed	FAC	0.34%
Epilobium	coloratum	Cinnamon Willow Herb	OBL	0.11%
Impatiens	capensis	Spotted Touch-me-not	FACW
Lobelia	cardinalis	Cardinal Flower	OBL
Lobelia	siphilitica	Blue Cardinal Flower	OBL
Lobelia	spicata	Palespike Lobelia	FAC
Lycopus	americanus	American Bugleweed	OBL
Lycopus	asper	Rough Bugleweed	OBL
Lysimachia	ciliata	Fringed Loosestrife	FACW
Lythrum	alatum	Winged Lythrum	OBL	0.15%
Mentha	arvensis	Field Mint	FACW
Oenothera	villosa	Common Evening Primrose	FAC	0.06%

 

Penstemon	digitalis	Smooth Penstemon	FAC
Penstemon	gracilis	Slender Penstemon	FACU
Penthorum	sedoides	Ditch Stonecrop	OBL	0.34%
Physalis	longifolia	Common Ground-cherry	UPL
Plantago	patagonica	Wooly Plantain	UPL
Polygonum	coccineum	Swamp Smartweed	FACW
Polygonum	hydropiperoides	Mild Water Pepper	OBL
Polygonum	lapathifolium	Pale Smartweed	OBL
Polygonum	pensylvanicum	Pennsylvania smartweed	FACW	0.08%
Potentilla	norvegica	Norwegian Cinquefoil	FACU	0.32%
Prunella	vulgaris	Self-heal	FACW
Pycnanthemum	virginianum	Mountain Mint	FAC
Ranunculus	macounii	Macoun's Buttercup	OBL	0.06%
Sagittaria	brevirostra	Shortbeak Arrowhead	OBL	0.07%
Sagittaria	calycina	Hooded Arrowhead	OBL
Sagittaria	latifolia	Broadleaf Arrowhead	OBL
Scutellaria	galericulata	Marsh Skullcap	OBL
Sisyrinchium	montanum	Strict Blue-eyed Grass	FAC
Teucrium	canadense	American Germander	FACW	0.03%
Thalictrum	dasycarpum	Purple Meadow Rue	FACW	0.12%
Tradescantia	bracteata	Bracted Spiderwort	FAC
Tradescantia	occidentale	Western Spiderwort	SAND
Verbena	hastata	Blue Vervain	FACW	0.18%
Verbena	stricta	Hoary Vervain	UPL
Verbena	urticifolia	Elm-leaf Verbena	UPL
				38.57%