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The Santa Clara Valley Water District ("District" or "SCVWD") has drafted a Stream Maintenance Program (SMP) which establishes a process for the District to conduct routine sediment removal, vegetation management, bank protection, and other routine maintenance activities in creeks and canals within the District throughout Santa Clara County. The District, as lead agency, has prepared this Program Environmental Impact Report (EIR) under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to cover effects of the SMP.

The CEQA project parallels the District's application for permits from several regulatory agencies to cover maintenance over the next ten years. The scope of this EIR was determined through a Notice of Preparation (NOP) and public meeting.

This Chapter describes the reasons why an EIR is being prepared, outlines which anticipated actions may rely on that EIR, describes the relationship between the Program EIR and the permit processes, and explains the process the District followed to determine the scope of the EIR.

The SMP includes a comprehensive mitigation package, which is also referenced frequently in the EIR. Part of this mitigation package includes compensatory mitigation where impacts to resources cannot be avoided. The District recognizes that some of these impacts may not be at a level of significance to require mitigation. To be consistent with its mission to protect and enhance natural resources, and to resolve controversy over what level of mitigation is required, the District has decided nevertheless to provide compensatory mitigation for wetland and riparian impacts. The Thresholds of Significance for this EIR have been revised accordingly. A Mitigation and Monitoring Plan will be prepared for the Final EIR.

A. SANTA CLARA VALLEY WATER DISTRICT AS LEAD AGENCY

The District is responsible for providing water supply and flood protection for Santa Clara County, California in an environmentally responsible and cost effective manner. The District is a special purpose governmental agency with a Board of five publicly elected and two appointed Directors with the authority to levy assessments to fund its activities. The District jurisdiction and authority is with limited exception independent of the jurisdiction and authority of other local public agencies, including the cities and the County of Santa Clara. The District, therefore, is the appropriate governmental entity to serve as lead agency in fulfilling the requirements of CEQA.

1. Why the District is preparing a Program EIR

For many years, the District has been conducting routine maintenance of channels and canals as part of its responsibility for providing for water supply and stream flood protection. These routine activities have, in the past, been subject to a case-by-case determination of potential for environmental impact and the appropriate CEQA review. Usually the individual maintenance projects were considered categorically exempt or could be processed by a "Negative Declaration" whereby the District found that all effects were less than significant.

The District is preparing an EIR now for three reasons: 1) The District is seeking new long-term regulatory permits for some routine maintenance activities from other agencies which require the District to prepare a CEQA review, 2) the District is proposing the use of herbicides for stream maintenance in an area where they are not currently used, and 3) the District can give comprehensive consideration to, and mitigate for, the cumulative effects of all potential SMP activities in a single Program EIR, rather than doing so in a future case-by-case review.

The District has conducted sediment removal and bank protection activities under a variety of individual and regional permits in the past. The present SMP was developed in part to support District application for new permits (see Chapter III, Plans, Ordinances, and Policies), and specifically because the California Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) San Francisco Region has indicated that a CEQA document would assist their review of permit applications.

Section 15061 of the CEQA Guidelines states that the only possible activities that are exempt from CEQA review are the following:

• The activity is not a project;

• The project has been granted an exemption by statute, or by categorical exemption;

• The activity is covered by the general rule that CEQA applies only to projects which have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. Where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment, the activity is not subject to CEQA.

In the past, many maintenance projects of this kind were considered by the District to be 'categorically exempt' under CEQA and were therefore not subject to CEQA review. Through the Initial Study process (see Section I.D, Scoping) the District determined that the project consisting of many types of routine maintenance activities may have a significant effect on the environment, thereby requiring an EIR.

2. Definition of Program EIR

The District, as lead agency under CEQA, will prepare a Program EIR. A Program EIR, defined in CEQA Guidelines Section 15168, is used for a series of individual actions that are related "geographically, as logical parts in a chain of contemplated actions in connection with ... a continuing program, or as individual actions carried out under the same statutory or regulatory authority having generally the same environmental effects that can be mitigated in similar ways."

The maintenance activities described in this program EIR are ongoing and will remain effective for an indefinite period of time as long as the nature of the work or environmental conditions do not substantially change.

It is the District's intent to rely on this Program EIR as the sole basis under CEQA for proceeding with most of the individual stream maintenance activities undertaken under the SMP. However, at the time of their implementation, subsequent activities in the program will be examined to ensure that they are adequately covered by the Program EIR.

In practice, the District will prepare an Annual Work Plan each spring after the effects of the past winter rainy season are known which will identify projected work for the upcoming dry season. The District will identify other maintenance needs as they arise throughout the year. As maintenance work is proposed, it will be evaluated to determine if the work is addressed under the SMP. (Refer to SMP Figure 3-1.) If not part of the SMP, the work will follow the appropriate project development process which may include individual CEQA review and individual regulatory permits or clearances. An example of work not covered by the SMP and Program EIR may be removal of a drop structure in a stream.

A Program EIR will be most helpful in dealing with subsequent activities if it deals with the effects of the program as specifically and comprehensively as possible. With a good and detailed analysis of the program, many subsequent activities could be found to be within the scope of the project described in the Program EIR, and no further environmental documents would be required.

It is the goal of the District to develop a comprehensive approach to sediment removal, vegetation management, bank protection, and associated other routine maintenance activities. The SMP examines the effects of existing practices and identifies what changes in short-term practices or long-term strategies would be beneficial to the District through reduction of maintenance costs and protection of environmental resources. This Program EIR evaluates the environmental effect of the SMP and the mitigation incorporated in the SMP.

B. THE USES OF THIS EIR

This EIR will support action by the District and by several other responsible State or local agencies in compliance with the CEQA. The relationship of the SMP to the District's and other agencies' existing regulations is explained in detail in this EIR, Chapter III, Plans, Ordinances, and Policies.

The District intends to adopt the SMP as a permanent program, making such modifications as become necessary. This Program EIR is intended to serve District activities under the SMP indefinitely. The District is applying for 10-year regulatory permits. When it is time to renew those permits, the District will need to comply with any applicable regulations, including CEQA.

This Program EIR will serve the following purposes:

• As lead agency, the District will use this EIR to make decisions on the SMP. The District will hold public hearings on the Draft EIR and prepare a Final EIR. The District Board will act to certify the Final EIR and select a preferred alternative from among the alternatives listed in this EIR.

• The District will use the Program EIR as a basis for preparing Annual Maintenance Plans, conducting focused in-house environmental review, including determinations of project coverage within the Program EIR.

• The RWQCB (Central Coast Region and San Francisco Bay Region) will use the EIR during the process of State Water Quality Certification and waste discharge requirements for the routine maintenance routine.

• The California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) will use the EIR when renegotiating or replacing Memorandum(s) of Understanding with the District for maintenance of streams either modified as flood protection channels or for maintenance in unmodified channels. CDFG will also use information provided in the EIR to determine if routine stream, canal, and associated activities will affect species protected by various California endangered species laws.

• In 2000, the San Francisco Bay and Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) renewed permit No. M77-113 to cover the District's routine stream maintenance activities that occur in or near tidal waters of San Francisco Bay for a period of 5 years. In the future, BCDC may use the EIR to review permit renewals.

CEQA does not apply to actions by federal agencies. For local project review and permitting, however, federal agencies can usually use CEQA documents as environmental review to satisfy the agencies' obligations under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

• The EIR will support the separate application to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) for the Individual Permit and provide supplemental information for the Corps' permit review.

• The EIR will assist the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in assessing impacts and take of threatened and endangered species, and in preparing a biological opinion under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

C. PARALLEL STREAM MAINTENANCE PERMITTING

The District is applying for permits or other forms of regulatory approvals for those activities included in the SMP that are under the jurisdiction of the CDFG, RWQCB, and the Corps. See Chapter III, Plans, Ordinances and Policies for a description of this process.

D. SCOPING

The NOP and an Environmental Checklist Form were mailed to various agencies and interested community members on October 10, 2000. A public informational meeting was held on October 24, 2000, to receive input from the community to help refine the issues, mitigation measures, and alternatives to be addressed in the draft EIR. Environmental factors identified in the NOP as being potentially affected by the project were Aesthetics, Air Quality, Biological Resources, Cultural Resources, Geology/Soils, Hazards & Hazardous Materials, Hydrology/Water Quality, Land Use/Planning, Mineral Resources, Noise, Public Services, Transportation/Traffic, and Utilities/Service Systems.

Two members of the public attended the public informational meeting. One person addressed the herbicide program, mitigation measures, and the alternative analysis. The other person expressed interest in additional maintenance work being conducted in his neighborhood. Twelve comment letters were received on a variety of topics which are addressed in this EIR as appropriate.

In May 1995, the District issued two Notices of Preparation regarding routine stream maintenance work. These two projects were entitled: Routine Stream Maintenance Program - Sediment Removal/Erosion Control; and Routine Maintenance - Integrated Vegetation Management Program. Since 1995, the District has been working through many issues regarding routine stream maintenance, and has revised its program in response to concerns expressed by the public, environmental and regulatory communities. The 2000 NOP supersedes the 1995 NOP.

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