Final Report - VHB.com

2010. Trimble ProXT Global Positioning System (GPS) units with an accuracy of
submeter or better were used to verify and update existing wetland mapping and to
collect previously unidentified wetland boundaries. GPS points were collected at the
corners of wetlands to map their general extent in the Study Area. Formal
delineations were not performed. Figure 2-6 shows the extent of wetlands in the
Study Area.
Strategy 1
According to NRCS digital GIS soil data, patches of hydric-soil units consisting of
Scarboro sandy loam, Au Gres loamy sand, and Limerick-Saco silt loams are found in
the Strategy 1 Study Area.
Together, the photo–interpreted wetlands data provided by the Town of Brunswick
and NWI mapping indicated 10 wetlands systems located in the Study Area. The
windshield-level survey did not add any other wetland systems, but the previously
mapped boundaries were adjusted to reflect current conditions. On the north side of
US Route 1, west of Cooks Corner, two palustrine forested wetland systems (wetland
1-1 and 1-2) with perennial stream flow are located. The streams are culverted by 18-
to 24-inch pipes located under US Route 1 and drain to the Androscoggin River.
A large palustrine emergent wetland (wetland 1-3) is located in the center of the
Study Area. The wetland receives flow from a perennial stream via a culvert that
channelizes the stream from the south side of US Route 1. Historically, this wetland
was part of a larger system that extended south to Bath Road, but it apparently was
filled to allow for the construction of US Route 1. In the Study Area, a utility-line
corridor divides the wetland where a dam has been constructed, impounding a small
amount of surface water. The wetland can be viewed from the Merrymeeting Park
wayside historical area located along the Androscoggin River Bicycle and Pedestrian
Path.
An additional forested wetland (wetland 1-4) is partially located on the eastern side
of the Androscoggin River Scenic Area and extends east to an existing private
driveway on the north side of US Route 1. This relatively small wetland along the
Androscoggin River provides floodplain storage and protection for US Route 1.
Three wetlands are located on the south side of US Route 1 The first, a scrub-shrub
wetland (wetland 1-5), is located immediately west of Cooks Corner in an existing
utility corridor. The western edge of the wetland extends into a mobile home park;
the eastern edge extends into a privately owned, unoccupied parcel. The wetland
outlets at a culvert that drains to a larger forested wetland on the north side of US
Route 1.
A recently constructed bioretention pond (wetland 1-6) associated with Shaw’s
Supermarket is located on the rear of the property between US Route 1 and the
Existing Conditions 43