Description

Monthly webinars are offered as a benefit of membership. Once each quarter, in March, July, September and December, the monthly SWS webinar is open for non-members to attend (and at no cost), as well.

The North Texas Municipal Water District is currently constructing a surface water reservoir in Fannin County, Texas to supply a growing regional population; the first reservoir in Texas in approximately 30 years. Environmental impacts from the resulting Bois d’Arc Lake are being mitigated by restoring, enhancing and preserving 17,000 acres of wetland and upland habitats and 69 miles of ephemeral, intermittent and perennial streams within the same watershed. Much of this restoration takes place on Riverby Ranch; property formerly used for agriculture and livestock production for over 100 years. The project includes 8,500 acres of forested, emergent and scrub shrub wetlands; 2,700 acres of upland forest and riparian woodlands; 3,300 acres of native grassland restoration and enhancement; 24 miles of stream restoration and 45 miles of stream enhancement. Restoration and perpetual protection of these habitats will decrease erosion, sedimentation, and nutrient loads in a significant portion of the Bois d’Arc Creek watershed that drains into the Red River between Texas and Oklahoma. This presentation will provide background on development of the Bois d’Arc Lake Mitigation Project as well as the current status of construction, including discussion of the project’s cornerstone Willow Branch stream and floodplain restoration which resurrected over two miles of abandoned stream channel and adjacent wetlands. We will discuss the variety of habitats on-site, restoration techniques employed, and lessons learned to date on ecological restoration at this scale.

Presenter: Matt Stahman, PWS, CERP
Matt Stahman has served as Director of Regulatory for Resource Environmental Solutions (RES) since 2017 and manages one of RES’ largest Permittee Responsible Mitigation sites, a 17,000-acre habitat enhancement and restoration project to offset impacts from Bois d’Arc Lake in Fannin County, Texas. He formerly served as Principal of SWCA Environmental Consultant’s Houston and Baton Rouge Offices and was with SWCA for 15 years. Matt has over 25 years of experience in Clean Water Act permitting, Endangered Species Act consultations, NEPA environmental impact assessments, and obtaining various other federal, state and local environmental permits. Matt graduated from Texas A&M University in 1996 with bachelor’s and master’s degrees focused on wildlife management and wetland ecology. Matt has worked throughout the United States, providing environmental compliance services for large-scale infrastructure projects in various industries including oil and gas, public transportation, telecommunications, electric utility, coal mining, and land development. Matt is a registered Professional Wetland Scientist and past president of the Society of Wetland Scientists South Central Chapter, as well as a Certified Ecological Restoration Practitioner with the Society for Ecological Restoration. He has worked on the design, implementation, and monitoring of multiple wetland mitigation banks and ecological restoration projects throughout his career.

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