2012 FDOT Mitigation Plan - Southwest Florida Water Management ...

REGIONAL MITIGATION PLAN
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Mitigation Project: Hampton Tract Project Number: SW 59
County: Polk Location: Sections 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 34, 35, 36 T25S, R23E; Sections 30, 31 T25S R24E
IMPACT INFORMATION
(1) FM 2012092, I-4, US 98 to CR 557 (Sec. 3-5)* ERP #: 43011896.026 COE #: 200204891 (IP-MGH)
(2) FM 2012041, I-4, CR 557 to Osceola (Sec. 6,7,9)** ERP #: 43011896.032 COE #: SAJ-1994-3591 (IP-MGH)
(3) FM 1902581, I-4 (SR 400) @ SR 559 & CR 557 ERP #: ___________ COE #: Interchanges
(4) FM 1902581, High Speed Rail (2 projects) ERP #: ___________ COE #: Lane Shift, Rail Mainline
Drainage Basin: Withlacoochee River
Water Body(s): Lake Mattie, Lake Agnes SWIM water body? N
* Note – A portion of this I-4 project is located within the Peace River Basin and associated wetland impacts (total –
1.5 acres) are being mitigated at Tenoroc / Saddle Creek (SW 47).
** Note – A portion of this I-4 project (Seg. 7) is located within the Kissimmee Ridge basin and the associated wetland
impacts (total – 2.35 acres) are mitigated at Reedy Creek Mitigation Bank (SW 49). Another portion of this I-4 project is
located within the Ocklawaha basin and those wetland impacts (4.0 acres) are mitigated at Lake Lowery (SW 76).
MITIGATION ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION
Mitigation Type: Restoration and enhancement
Mitigation Area: 1,606 acres
SWIM project? N Aquatic Plant Control project? N Exotic Plant Control Project? N Mitigation Bank? N
Drainage Basin: Withlacoochee River Water Body: Gator Creek, Colt Creek, Sapling Drain, Bee Tree Drain
SWIM water? N
Project Description
A. Overall project goal: The Hampton Tract (total – 7,660 acres) was acquired by the SWFWMD in 1999. Located
adjacent to over 260,000 acres of public lands (Figure A), the Hampton Tract was an important acquisition for the
protection, restoration and enhancement of native habitat within the Green Swamp’s Designated Area of Critical State.
The tract has a 22 mile ditch network that has extensively dewatered and drained many of the wetland habitats on the
property. The goal is to restore hydrologic drainage patterns to restore and enhance the functions and benefits
associated with 1,606 acres of impacted wetland habitats, with secondary benefits to other wetland and upland habitats
within the property.
B. Brief description of current condition: The tract has various wetland habitats covering over 2,400 acres,
dominated by cypress domes & strands, mixed forested wetlands and floodplains, with some coverage of hydric
flatwoods and ditched marshes. Three major east-west ditch drainage features (Figure A - Colt Creek Drain, Sapling
Drain, Bee Tree Drain) and connecting ditches were constructed in the 1940’s through 1960’s. These ditches have
dewatered and drained many wetland systems, including the conversion of marshes to pastures that are currently fallow
fields with cross-ditches; primarily north & south of Sapling Drain (Figure A & 17). These major ditches cut through the
Gator Creek floodplain located along the western project boundary, directly connecting to the Gator Creek ditch. Upland
habitats (approx. 4,200 acres) are dominated by flatwoods with some upland hardwood hammocks that primarily buffer
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