Loma Rica Reservoir Cleaning Project
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Loma Rica Reservoir Cleaning Project Initial Study / Mitigated Negative Declaration Prepared by: Nevada Irrigation District April 5, 2013 Table of Contents 1.0 Mitigated Negative Declaration Information Sheet ............................................. 1-1 2.0 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 2-1 2.1 Introduction and Regulatory Guidance ................................................... 2-1 2.2 Lead Agency .......................................................................................... 2-1 2.3 Determination of Significance ................................................................. 2-1 2.4 Terminology Used in this Document....................................................... 2-2 2.5 Additional Information and Commenting on this Initial Study / Mitigated Negative Declaration .............................................................................. 2-2 3.0 Project Description ............................................................................................. 3-1 3.1 Project Location ...................................................................................... 3-1 3.2 Environmental and Land Use Setting ..................................................... 3-1 3.3 Background ............................................................................................ 3-1 3.4 Project Purpose and Objectives ............................................................. 3-2 3.5 Project Components ............................................................................... 3-2 3.6 Project Construction ............................................................................... 3-3 4.0 Initial Study Checklist ......................................................................................... 4-1 4.1 Aesthetics ............................................................................................... 4-1 4.2 Agricultural Resources and Forestry Resources .................................... 4-3 4.3 Air Quality ............................................................................................... 4-5 4.4 Biological Resources ............................................................................ 4-11 4.5 Cultural Resources ............................................................................... 4-30 4.6 Geology and Soils ................................................................................ 4-35 4.7 Greenhouse Gas Emissions ................................................................. 4-39 4.8 Hazards and Hazardous Materials ....................................................... 4-42 4.9 Hydrology and Water Quality................................................................ 4-46 4.10 Land Use Planning ............................................................................... 4-50 4.11 Mineral Resources ............................................................................... 4-51 4.12 Noise .................................................................................................... 4-52 4.13 Population and Housing ....................................................................... 4-56 4.14 Public Services ..................................................................................... 4-58 4.15 Recreation ............................................................................................ 4-60 4.16 Transportation/Traffic ........................................................................... 4-61 4.17 Utilities and Service Systems ............................................................... 4-64 4.18 Mandatory Findings of Significance ..................................................... 4-67 5.0 CEQA Determination .......................................................................................... 5-1 6.0 Report Preparation and References .................................................................. 6-1 6.1 Report Preparation ................................................................................. 6-1 6.1.1 Lead Agency: Nevada Irrigation District .......................................... 6-1 6.1.2 Document Prepared By: ................................................................... 6-1 6.2 Persons and Agencies Consulted .......................................................... 6-1 6.3 References ............................................................................................. 6-1 List of Tables Table 4-1 — NSAQMD Thresholds of Significance ....................................................... 4-8 List of Figures Figure 1 — Site and Vicinity Map ................................................................................... 3-4 Loma Rica Reservoir Cleaning Project i Nevada Irrigation District Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration Figure 2 — Parcel and Land Use Map ........................................................................... 3-5 Figure 3 — CNDDB 5-mile Radius Figure ................................................................... 4-13 List of Appendices Appendix A — CNDDB Data, Plant List, Special Status Wildlife Table Appendix B — Biological Study Report Appendix C — CRLF Site Assessment Report Appendix D — Archaeological Inventory Survey Appendix E— Mitigation Monitoring Plan Loma Rica Reservoir Cleaning Project ii Nevada Irrigation District Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration Executive Summary The Loma Rica Reservoir is located directly east of the City of Grass Valley, Nevada County, California, at an elevation of 3,154 feet above mean sea level (msl). The reservoir is located on property owned by the Nevada Irrigation District (NID) and it is approximately 1,500 feet east of the Nevada County operated airport and public use runway. The reservoir is part of the NID water-supply system and it stores raw water delivered through the Cascade Canal and the Banner Cascade Pipeline. The reservoir had a maximum capacity of 96.9 acre-feet (31.6 million gallons) when it was first constructed in the early 1960’s. Since then silt and sediment deposited in the reservoir with the incoming water sources have significantly decreased its capacity. This decrease adversely effects capacity of the District’s drinking and irrigation water systems. Water from the Loma Rica Reservoir supplies the Loma Rica Water Treatment Plant and the Chicago Park Canal, an NID supply route for raw-water customers. The reservoir is not directly connected with any local creeks nor does it discharge to any natural water bodies or streams. The Loma Rica Reservoir Cleaning Project proposes to dredge the Loma Rica Reservoir, which would involve removing accumulate sediments and materials. This would restore the reservoir’s original capacity of just under 100 acre-feet. An estimated 40,000–70,000 cubic yards of sediment would be removed over a period of four to six months. The project may also entail including the installation of a chain-link fence around the perimeter of the reservoir in order to minimize the access of the NID’s facility to the public. The removal of the sediment will be accomplished by first draining the reservoir. The sediment would then be excavated using front-end loaders, excavators, drag-lines, suction dredges, dump trucks and/or other suitable equipment. The excavated sediment would be placed on adjacent previously disturbed land in order to drain the sediment of remaining water and to allow for drying. The sediment would then be transported off site to be recycled as fill material, if determined to be suitable for that purpose. The Reservoir cleaning will occur between September15 to March 15. This time frame will minimize environmental impacts and take advantage of lower water demands for the District such that the reservoir inactivity will not significantly affect the Districts operation. The identified potentially significant impacts of the project wil be less than significant with the incorporation of mitigation measures into the project. Potentially significant project impacts and associated mitigation measures include the following: • Air Quality (Mitigation Measures AQ-1 & AQ-2) • Biological Resources (Mitigation Measures BIO-1 to BIO-6) • Cultural Resources (Mitigation Measure CR-1) • Geology and Soils (Mitigation Measures GEO-1 to GEO-4) • Hazards and Hazardous Materials (Mitigation Measure HAZ-1) • Hydrology and Water Quality (Mitigation Measures GEO-1 to GEO-4) and • Noise (Mitigation Measure NOISE-1) Loma Rica Reservoir Cleaning Project Executive Summary Nevada Irrigation District Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration 1.0 MITIGATED NEGATIVE DECLARATION INFORMATION SHEET PROJECT TITLE: Loma Rica Reservoir Cleaning Project PROJECT LOCATION: Nevada County DATE: April 5, 2013 PROJECT APPLICANT: Nevada Irrigation District LEAD AGENCY: Nevada Irrigation District CONTACT PERSON: Adrian Schneider PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Loma Rica Reservoir is located directly east of the City of Grass Valley, Nevada County, California, at an elevation of 3,154 feet above mean sea level (msl). It is part of the Nevada Irrigation District (NID) water-supply system and stores raw water delivered through the Lower Cascade Canal and the Banner Cascade Pipeline. No other surface water flows into this reservoir other then minor rain sheet flows from nearby land surface runoff. - A small amount of flows divert through an overflow spillway that drains to a small, shallow, created drainage below the reservoir which supplies a few raw-water customers just south of