The Stream Maintenance Program and the Environmental Impact Report

SUMMARY
A. THE SANTA CLARA VALLEY WATER DISTRICT	S-1
B. PROPOSED PROJECT: THE STREAM MAINTENANCE PROGRAM	S-1
1. The Scope of the SMP	S-1
2. Sediment Removal	S-1
3. Vegetation Management	S-1
4. Bank Protection	S-2
5. Minor Activities	S-2
6. Mitigation Incorporated in the Project	S-3
7. SMP Exclusions	S-3
C. REGULATORY SETTING	S-4
1. CEQA	S-4
2. Permits from Other Agencies	S-4
D. ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS	S-5
E. CUMULATIVE EFFECTS	S-6
F. ALTERNATIVES TO THE PROPOSED PROJECT	S-6
1. Alternatives Evaluated in EIR	S-6
1. Multi-Year Program Alternative	S-6
2. Existing Program Alternative [No Project]	S-7
3. No Work Alternative	S-7
4. No Herbicides Alternative	S-7
5. Modified Pajaro River Basin Alternative	S-7
6. Reduced Work Alternative	S-7
2. Environmental Comparison of Alternatives	S-7
3. Alternative to Maintenance is Beyond Scope of SMP	S-8
I. INTRODUCTION	I-1
A. SANTA CLARA VALLEY WATER DISTRICT AS LEAD AGENCY	I-1
1. Why the District is preparing a Program EIR	I-1
2. Definition of Program EIR	I-2
B. THE USES OF THIS EIR	I-3
C. PARALLEL STREAM MAINTENANCE PERMITTING	I-5
D. SCOPING	I-5
II. PROJECT DESCRIPTION	II-1
A. PROJECT LOCATION: THE SANTA CLARA VALLEY WATER DISTRICT	II-1
B. PROPOSED PROJECT	II-3
1. Project Purpose	II-4
2. Contents of the SMP	II-4
3. Relationship of SMP Document to the EIR	II-5
4. Relationship of SMP to the Parallel Permitting	II-5
5. SMP Elements	II-6
C. STREAM MAINTENANCE	II-6
1. Purpose	II-6
2. Sediment Removal	II-6
3. Vegetation Management	II-8
4. Bank Protection	II-18
5. Minor Activities	II-21
6. Activities Not Included in SMP	II-22
a. Emergency	II-22
b. Capital Improvement Projects	II-22
c. Non SMP Maintenance Projects	II-22
d. Activities Outside of the Scope of Routine Maintenance	II-22
D. MITIGATION INCORPORATED INTO THE PROJECT	II-23
1. Policies	II-23
2. Best Management Practices	II-24
3. Compensatory Mitigation	II-24
4. Special Status Species	II-28
5. Program Adaptation and Reporting	II-28
E. PROGRAM EIR METHODOLOGY	II-28
1. Environmental Baseline	II-28
2. Work Projections and Planning Horizon	II-29
3. Definition of Alternatives	II-30
4. Definition of Potential for Cumulative Impact	II-31
III. PLANS, ORDINANCES AND POLICIES	III-1
A. LOCAL	III-1
1. Santa Clara Valley Water District	III-1
a. District Jurisdiction	III-2
1) Ordinance 83-2	III-2
2) Ends Policies	III-4
b. Ownership and Easements	III-4
c. Restrictions on Actions by Others	III-5
d. The Effect of Surrounding Land Use on Routine Maintenance	III-6
e. Joint Use Agreements Between the District and other Public Agencies	III-7
f. SMP Consistency	III-7
B. STATE	III-7
1. California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG)	III-7
a. CDFG Laws, Policies and Jurisdiction	III-7
b. Existing CDFG MOUs	III-8
c. New CDFG MOUs for the SMP	III-9
d. SMP Consistency	III-9
2. California Regional Water Quality Control Boards and State Water Resources Control Board	III-10
a. RWQCBs Laws, Policies and Jurisdiction	III-10
b. Santa Clara Valley Water District Nonpoint Source Control Program and Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Program	III-12
c. Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL)	III-13
d. Prior RWQCBs Permits	III-14
e. New RWQCB Permits for the SMP	III-14
f. SMP Consistency	III-15
1) Water Quality	III-15
2) Wetland Conservation	III-16
3. San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission	III-16
a. BCDC Laws, Policies and Jurisdiction	III-16
b. Existing BCDC Permits	III-16
c. SMP Consistency	III-16
C. FEDERAL	III-17
1. United States Army Corps of Engineers	III-17
a. Corps Laws, Policies and Jurisdiction	III-17
b. Prior Corps Permits	III-18
c. New Corps Permit for the SMP	III-18
d. SMP Consistency	III-18
2. Endangered Species Act (ESA): U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service	III-18
a. Section 6, Recovery Planning	III-19
b. Section 7, Consultation	III-19
c. Section 9, Prohibition of Take	III-19
d. SMP Consistency	III-21
D. CITIES AND COUNTY	III-21
1. Interlocking Jurisdiction	III-21
2. Projected Work in Cities and County	III-21
3. General Plan Policies	III-23
a. Santa Clara County	III-23
1) Policies Directly Relevant to District Maintenance Activities	III-23
2) Other policies relevant to waterways	III-24
b. City of Campbell	III-26
1) Policies particularly relevant to District maintenance activities	III-26
2) Other policies relevant to waterways	III-27
c. City of Cupertino	III-29
1) Policies particularly relevant to District activities	III-29
2) Other policies relevant to waterways	III-29
d. City of Gilroy	III-32
1) Policies particularly relevant to District activities	III-32
2) Other policies relevant to waterways	III-33
e. City of Los Altos	III-37
1) Policies particularly relevant to District activities	III-37
2) Other policies relevant to waterways	III-38
f. Town of Los Altos Hills	III-38
1) Policy particularly relevant to District activities	III-38
2) Other policies relevant to waterways	III-39
g. Town of Los Gatos	III-40
1) Policies particularly relevant to District activities	III-40
2) Other Policies Relevant to Waterways	III-41
h. City of Milpitas	III-42
1) Policies particularly relevant to District activities	III-42
2) Other policies relevant to waterways	III-43
i. City of Monte Sereno	III-44
j. City of Morgan Hill	III-45
1) Policies particularly relevant to District activities	III-45
2) Other policies relevant to waterways	III-46
k. City of Mountain View	III-49
1) Policies particularly relevant to District activities	III-49
2) Other policies relevant to waterways	III-50
l. City of Palo Alto	III-51
1) Policies particularly relevant to District activities	III-51
2) Other policies relevant to waterways	III-53
m. City of San Jose	III-54
1) Policies particularly relevant to District activities	III-54
2) Other policies relevant to waterways	III-56
n. City of Saratoga	III-58
1) Policies particularly relevant to District activities	III-58
2) Other policies relevant to waterways	III-58
o. City of Santa Clara	III-61
1) Policies particularly relevant to District activities	III-61
2) Other policies relevant to waterways	III-62
p. City of Sunnyvale	III-63
1) Policies directly relevant to District activities	III-63
2) Other policies relevant to waterways	III-64
E. SPECIAL PURPOSE LOCAL AGENCIES	III-65
1. Guadalupe Resource Conservation District	III-65
2. Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District	III-66
3. Santa Clara County Open Space Authority	III-66
IV. ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT	IV-A-1
A. GEOMORPHOLOGY	IV-A-1
1. Introduction	IV-A-1
a. Fluvial System Zones	IV-A-2
b. Channel Dynamic Equilibrium	IV-A-3
c. Geomorphology and the Stream Maintenance Program	IV-A-3
2. Setting	IV-A-4
a. Physiographic Setting	IV-A-4
1) Santa Cruz Mountains Uplands	IV-A-4
2) Diablo Range Uplands	IV-A-5
3) Foothills	IV-A-6
4) Bay Plains and Alluvial Valleys	IV-A-6
b. Geomorphic and Hydrologic Setting	IV-A-7
c. Regional Factors Affecting Channel Conditions	IV-A-10
1) Faulting	IV-A-10
2) Tectonic Movements	IV-A-10
3) Changes in Sea level	IV-A-11
4) Land Subsidence due to Groundwater Withdrawal	IV-A-11
5) Erosion and Landsliding	IV-A-11
6) Human Activity	IV-A-11
7) Changes in Watershed Cover and Drainage Network	IV-A-12
8) Channelization	IV-A-12
9) Effect of Hydraulic Structures	IV-A-13
d. Maintenance Issues in District Channels	IV-A-13
1) Sedimentation	IV-A-13
2) Stream Deposited Sediment	IV-A-13
3) Bay Muds	IV-A-14
e. Classification of Sedimentation Problems	IV-A-14
Type 1: Alluvial Channels at Slope Transition in Non-tidal Setting	IV-A-16
Type 2: Delta Channels at Slope Transition in Tidal Setting	IV-A-16
Type 3: Tidal Channels	IV-A-17
Type 4: Channelized Streams	IV-A-17
Type 5: Streams Influenced by In-channel Hydraulic Structures	IV-A-18
f. Riparian Vegetation Management	IV-A-19
g. Streambank Erosion and Stability Management	IV-A-20
3. Significance Criteria	IV-A-21
4. Impacts and Mitigation	IV-A-22
a. Sediment Removal	IV-A-23
b. Vegetation Management	IV-A-24
c. Bank Protection	IV-A-25
d. Minor Maintenance	IV-A-27
e. Cumulative Effects	IV-A-27
B. BIOLOGY	IV-B-1
1. Environmental Setting	IV-B-1
a. Description of Habitats in the Project Area	IV-B-1
1) Tidal salt marsh	IV-B-1
2) Tidal brackish marsh	IV-B-3
3) Freshwater wetland	IV-B-3
4) Riparian Forest and Woodland	IV-B-7
5) Ruderal/Non-native grasslands	IV-B-16
6) Open water	IV-B-17
b. Fisheries and the Aquatic Environment	IV-B-17
1) Existing Fish Habitat and Fisheries	IV-B-17
2) Aquatic Microorganisms and Invertebrates	IV-B-24
3) The Effects of Watershed Development on Fish Habitat	IV-B-25
4) Fish Utilization of Reservoirs and Percolation Ponds	IV-B-27
c. Special-status Species	IV-B-27
1) Regulatory Background	IV-B-28
2) Surveys and Monitoring Performed by the District	IV-B-29
3) Special-status Species Definition	IV-B-31
4) Special-status Plants	IV-B-31
5) Special-status Wildlife	IV-B-39
2. Significance Criteria	IV-B-54
a. Sensitive Plant Communities	IV-B-54
b. Wildlife	IV-B-55
c. Fisheries/Aquatic Habitat	IV-B-55
d. Special-Status Species	IV-B-56
3. Impacts	IV-B-57
a. Overview	IV-B-57
b. Determination of In-stream Wetland and Woody Riparian Vegetation Impacts	IV-B-59
1) Types of Impact	IV-B-59
2) Vegetation Responses to Impacts	IV-B-59
3) Quantification of Impacts	IV-B-60
4) One-time Accounting Method for Stream Vegetation Impacts	IV-B-62
c. Determination of Wildlife and Fisheries Impacts	IV-B-63
d. Impacts Determined to be Potentially Significant	IV-B-65
1) Impacts to Sensitive Plant Communities	IV-B-65
2) Impacts to Wildlife Species	IV-B-69
3) Impacts to Fisheries/Aquatic Habitat	IV-B-80
4) Impacts to Special-status Species	IV-B-82
e. Impacts Determined to be Less than Significant Without BMPs	IV-B-111
C. LAND USE AND COMMUNITY VALUES	IV-C-1
1. Land Use and Planning	IV-C-1
a. Setting	IV-C-1
1) Geography of Santa Clara County Streams	IV-C-1
2) Maintenance Program and Local Land Use Jurisdictions	IV-C-2
3) Land Uses Adjacent to Creeks	IV-C-2
b. Significance Criteria	IV-C-3
c. Impacts	IV-C-3
1) Overview	IV-C-4
2) Sediment Removal, Vegetation Management and Bank Protection Activities	IV-C-3
2. Aesthetics	IV-C-4
a. Existing Conditions	IV-C-4
b. Significance Criteria	IV-C-5
c. Impacts	IV-C-6
1) Overview	IV-C-6
2) Sediment Removal	IV-C-6
3) Vegetation Management	IV-C-8
4) Bank Protection	IV-C-8
3. Air Quality	IV-C-9
a. Setting	IV-C-9
b. Significance Criteria	IV-C-10
c. Impacts	IV-C-10
1) Overview	IV-C-10
2) Criteria Pollutants	IV-C-11
3) Sediment Removal	IV-C-11
4) Vegetation Management	IV-C-12
5) Odor	IV-C-14
4. Noise	IV-C-15
a. Terminology	IV-C-15
b. Noise Policies	IV-C-16
c. Setting	IV-C-17
d. Significance Criteria	IV-C-18
e. Impacts	IV-C-18
1) Overview	IV-C-19
2) Sediment Removal	IV-C-19
3) Vegetation Management	IV-C-20
4) Bank Protection	IV-C-20
5. Public Services and Utilities	IV-C-21
a. Setting	IV-C-21
b. Significance Criteria	IV-C-22
c. Impacts	IV-C-22
D. HAZARDS, PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY	IV-D-1
1. Water Quality	IV-D-1
a. Setting	IV-D-1
1) Beneficial Uses of Water	IV-D-1
2) Implications of Elevated Mercury Levels in Guadalupe Watershed	IV-D-2
b. Significance Criteria	IV-D-3
c. Impacts and Mitigation	IV-D-4
1) Overview	IV-D-4
2) Increased Turbidity and Resuspension of Heavy Metals	IV-D-5
3) Water Supply and Groundwater Resources	IV-D-9
2. Fire Safety	IV-D-10
a. Setting	IV-D-10
1) Regulation	IV-D-10
2) Existing Control	IV-D-10
b. Significance Criterion	IV-D-11
c. Impacts and Mitigation	IV-D-11
1) Increased Fire Hazard from Maintenance Vehicles	IV-D-11
2) Increased Fire Hazard from Maintenance Operations	IV-D-12
3. Flood Protection	IV-D-12
a. Setting	IV-D-12
1) Flood Control	IV-D-12
2) Regulation of Federal Flood Protection Projects	IV-D-13
3) District Maintenance Guidelines	IV-D-13
4) Significance Criteria	IV-D-14
b. Impacts and Mitigation	IV-D-14
4. Hazardous Materials	IV-D-15
a. Setting	IV-D-15
b. Significance Criteria	IV-D-15
c. Impacts and Mitigation	IV-D-16
5. Toxic Substances	IV-D-18
a. Setting	IV-D-18
b. Regulatory Setting and Significance Criteria	IV-D-19
1) State and Federal Regulation	IV-D-19
2) CEQA	IV-D-19
c. Impacts and Mitigation	IV-D-20
1) Sediment Removal	IV-D-20
2) Vegetation Management	IV-D-20
E. CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL RESOURCES	IV-E-1
1. Environmental Setting	IV-E-1
a. Prehistoric Background	IV-E-1
b. Ethnographic Background	IV-E-4
1) Hispanic Period	IV-E-4
2) American Period	IV-E-8
2. Significance Criteria	IV-E-8
a. California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)	IV-E-8
1) Historical Resources	IV-E-8
2) Archaeological Resources	IV-E-9
b. Other California Laws and Regulations	IV-E-10
c. Federal Statutes/Regulations	IV-E-10
3. Impacts and Mitigation	IV-E-11
a. Mitigation: Protocol for Unexpected Discovery of Archaeological Cultural Materials	IV-E-11
b. Mitigation: Standard Protocol to Determine Project Potential to Affect Cultural Resources	IV-E-11
c. Mitigation: Protocol for Discovery of Native American Burials	IV-E-12
d. Native American Burial Plan (NABP)	IV-E-13
V. ALTERNATIVES	V-1
A. SCOPE OF ANALYSIS	V-1
1. Requirements of CEQA	V-2
2. Maintenance Baseline	V-2
3. Effects to be Avoided	V-4
B. ALTERNATIVES EVALUATED IN EIR	V-5
1. Multi-Year Program (Preferred Alternative)	V-7
2. Existing Program Alternative	V-8
3. No Work Alternative	V-9
4. No Herbicides Alternative	V-10
5. Modified Pajaro River Basin Alternative	V-11
6. Reduced Work Alternative	V-12
C. CONSIDERATIONS OF GEOMORPHOLOGY, ENGINEERING REDESIGN, AND WATERSHED APPROACH	V-24
1. Role of Fluvial Geomorphology	V-24
2. Design Alternatives	V-24
3. Watershed Approach	V-26
VI. CEQA QUESTIONS	VI-1
A. GROWTH INDUCING ASPECTS OF THE PROPOSED PROJECT	VI-1
B. SIGNIFICANT, IRREVERSIBLE ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES	VI-1
C. EFFECTS FOUND NOT TO BE SIGNIFICANT	VI-2
D. CUMULATIVE IMPACTS	VI-3
1. Cumulative Impacts of the SMP	VI-3
2. Impacts From Proposed Mitigation Projects	VI-4
3. Cumulative Impacts of Other Activities Affecting District Channels	VI-10
VII. REFERENCES	VII-1
A. GLOSSARY OF SIGNIFICANT TERMS	VII-16
B. PERSONAL COMMUNICATION	VII-16
C. DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE	VII-16
D. GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY	VII-16
E. REPORT PREPARERS	VII-26

LIST OF TABLES
Table II-1	Flood Control Zones
Table II-2	Existing Channel Conditions
Table II-3	Extent of Projected Sediment
Table II-4	Extent of Projected Vegetation Management
Table II-5	Existing Annual Herbicide Use
Table II-6	Extent of Projected Cumulative Channel Work
Table II-7	Compensatory Stream Vegetation and Special Status Species Mitigation
Table II-8	Bank Protection: In-stream Impact and Mitigation Matrix
Table II-9	Bank Protection: Stream-side Impact and Mitigation Matrix
Table II-10	Other Future District Projects in Creeks
Table III-1	Federal Agencies with Regulatory Oversight
Table III-2	Agency Permit Jurisdiction Over SMP Activities
Table III-3	Creeks and Projected Work in Cities and County
Table III-4	Local General Plan Policies for Streams
Table IV-A-1	Watershed Characteristics of Typical Creeks
Table IV-A-2	Sedimentation Causal Factors
Table IV-A-3	Geomorphic Setting and Causal Factor of Sediment Removal Sites
Table IV-B-1	Estimated Existing Channel Type by Basin
Table IV-B-2	Fish Habitat by Basin
Table IV-B-3	Fish, Amphibian, and Reptile Species Compositions In Fish Communities of Santa Clara Valley
Table IV-B-4	Fish Habitat by Channel Type
Table IV-B-5	Special-status Plant Species Potentially Occurring in the Program Area
Table IV-B-6	Special-status Wildlife Species Potentially Occurring in the Program Area
Table IV-B-7	Summary of in-channel vegetation impacts in acres.
Table IV-B-8	Channel maintenance activities occurring in different fish habitat types In Santa Clara Basin
Table IV-B-9	Special-status Species Herbicide Exposure Categories
Table IV-B-10	Special-status Species Rodenticide Use Limitations
Table IV-B-11-A	Special-status Plant Species Evaluated for Inclusion in the EIR
Table IV-B-11-B	Special-status Animal Species Evaluated for Inclusion in the EIR
Table IV-C-1	District-wide Maintenance Emissions(Pounds)
Table IV-C-2	Emissions for a Typical Site with Basic Dust Control Measures(Pounds/Day)
Table IV-D-1	Mean Metal Concentration (Mg/kg) and Grain Size Distribution of Sediment Samples from Stream Stations
Table IV-D-2a	District Use Herbicide Application Rates
Table IV-D-2b	District Use Herbicide Acute Toxicity and Exposure Scenarios
Table IV-E-1	The Chartkoff and Chartkoff (1984) Model of Cultural Periods in California
Table IV-E-2	Comparison of California Cultural Period with Temporal Phases of Central California (Allen et al., 1999)
Table V-1	Definition of Alternatives
Table V-2	Alternatives Comparison of Initial Stream Vegetation Impacts
Table V-3	Comparison of Alternatives by Impacts

LINKS TO FIGURES
Figure I-1	Resource Protection Protocol
Figure II-1	Streams & Canals in District Jurisdiction
Figure II-2	Projected Sediment Removal Work Areas
Figure II-3	Projected Channel Vegetation Management Work Areas
Figure II-4	Projected Upland Vegetation Management Work Areas
Figure II-5	Projected Combined Channel Work Areas
Figure II-6	Historical Bank Protection Work Areas
Figure II-7	Compensatory Mitigation Sites
Figure IV- B1	Fisheries Map
Figure IV-B2	Red Legged Frog Surveys/locations
Figure IV-B3	Bay Checkerspot Butterfly Locations
Figure IV-B4	Red Legged Frog in Work Areas
Figure IV-B5	Red Legged Frog Locations
Figure IV-B6	Western Pond Turtle Locations
Figure IV-B7	San Francisco Garter Snake
Figure IV-B8	California Clapper Rail Locations
Figure IV-B9	Western Plover Locations
Figure IV-B10	Burrowing Owl Locations
Figure IV-B11	Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse Locations
Figure IV-B12	Serpentine Habitat
Figure IV-B13	Projected Impacts to Stream Vegetation in the Multi-year Stream Maintenance Program
Figure IV-C1	Land Use in Santa Clara County
Figure IV-E1	Summary Archaeological Monitoring Procedure Chart
Figure IV-E2	Unexpected Discoveries
Figure IV-E3	Native American Burials
Figure V-1	Reduced Work Area Alternative

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