View looking north in the citrus orchard of the hill and its coastal scrub habitat. Pala Gateway Project: Environmental Assessment SOURCE: EDS 2010 Figure 3-3 Site Photographs 3.0 Affected Environment and annual grasslands greatly reduces wildlife biodiversity and habitat value. However, a variety of wildlife species do occur in these habitats, and many bird species forage in this habitat type. RUDERAL/DEVELOPED Approximately 12.5 acres (14%) of the Study Area (11100, 12000) can be classified as ruderal or developed areas, and consist of disturbed or converted natural habitat that is now either in a weedy and barren (ruderal) state, recently graded, or urbanized with pavement, landscaping, and structure and utility placement. Vegetation within this habitat type consists primarily of nonnative weedy or invasive ruderal species or ornamental plants lacking a consistent community structure. Ornamental species sighted in the Study Area include iceplant (Mesembryanthemum), oleander (Nerium oleander) and palms (Washingtonia and Phoenix). Weedy species sighted include wild oat (Avena fatua), black mustard (Brassica nigra), yellow star thistle (Centaurea solstitialis), jimsonweed (Datura stramonium), long-beak filaree (Erodium botrys), fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), castor bean (Ricinus communis), and common cocklebur (Xanthium strumarium). The disturbed and altered condition of these lands greatly reduces their habitat value and ability to sustain rare plants or diverse wildlife assemblages. However, common, disturbance-tolerant species do occur in these lands. RIPARIAN Approximately 12 acres (13%) of the Study Area’s eastern and southern boundaries consists of riparian habitat; the southern property boundary along the San Luis Rey River corridor is indeterminate. The natural community types are a combination of Southern riparian forest (61300) and specifically, Southern cottonwood willow riparian forest (61330). The codominant canopy trees are cottonwood (Populus fremontii) and willows (Salix gooddingii, S. lasiolepis, and S. lucida); other characteristic riparian trees include sycamore (Platanus racemosa) and non-native trees such as Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus). Understory vegetation includes elderberry, blackberry, and poison oak mule fat; invasives such as giant reed (Arrundo donax) and tamarisk (Tamarix sp.) are also prevalent. The Cowardin classes are riverine wetland and palustrine forested wetland (Sawyer and Keeler-Wolf 1995). This type of habitat is important to many wildlife species. COASTAL SCRUB Approximately 8.7 acres (10%) of the Study Area can be classified as Diegan coastal sage scrub (32500). The largest patch of this community type occurs as a habitat island on the steep southern and eastern sides of the hill in the center of the Study Area; another patch occurs in the northeastern corner of the Study Area between the orchard and the riparian corridor of the unnamed drainage. Diegan coastal sage scrub consists California sagebrush (Artemisia californica), laurel sumac (Malosma laurina), sages (Salvia spp.), mule-fat (Baccharis salicifolia), California buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum), California buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum), and some cacti (Opuntia spp.). This type of habitat is important to many wildlife species. Granitic outcrops at the highest points of the May, 2010 3-16 Pala Gateway Project Environmental Assessment 3.0 Affected Environment hilltop provide breaks in the scrub cover for reptiles to bask and birds to perch; woodrats have established nests in cracks in the boulders. OAK WOODLAND Approximately 1.7 acres (2%) of the Study Area Coast can be classified as coast live oak woodland (71161). The dominant canopy tree is coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia); understory vegetation includes laurel sumac, blue elderberry, blackberry, and poison oak (Toxicodendron diversilobum). The remaining patches of oak woodland within the Study Area are highly fragmented and isolated; these patches are not sufficiently large to function as high-quality oak woodland habitat, which sustains a rich assemblage of wildlife species. WATER RESOURCES AND AQUATIC COMMUNITIES An informal delineation of any and all water resources within the Study Area was also conducted during the field survey. Three water resources were detected: the reservoir on top of the hill, the San Luis Rey River, and an unnamed tributary drainage. The reservoir is cement lined and copper sulfate is used to discourage algal or plant growth. The perimeter is fenced. This feature does not provide habitat for wildlife and is not considered to be jurisdictional under the Clean Water Act. The San Luis Rey River is an intermittent drainage, with wide washes and braided channels. Within the Study Area, a 3,200-foot segment of this river meanders in and out of the southern boundary of the Study Area. During the September 2009 site visits, no standing water was present. Reports by others indicate that much of this river’s flow is hyporheic; hyporheic flow, or groundwater, sustains regenerating riparian gallery forest and riverine wetlands within the channel. The high water mark is readily evident, and the riverbed is depressed approximately 10 feet below the river terrace above. The San Luis Rey River channel width is indeterminate and highly variable. The riparian zone width varies as follows: 430 feet wide at the I-15 bridge; 620 feet wide in the middle of the southern boundary of the Study Area; and 360 feet wide at the confluence with the unnamed tributary. The unnamed tributary at the east edge of the property is an ephemeral drainage with a variable channel width and riparian zone. The eastern boundary of the Study Area is defined as the middle of this channel; this eastern boundary is an approximately 1,400-foot long segment. The high water mark is readily evident. The channel width and riparian zone width varies as follows: the channel is approximately 60 feet wide and the riparian zone 210 feet wide at the confluence with San Luis Rey River; the channel is approximately 50 feet wide and the riparian zone 160 feet wide at the Pankey Road Bridge; and the channel is about 40 feet wide and riparian zone 110 feet wide at the Highway 76 bridge. Just downstream and beyond the southwestern corner of the Study Area, the tributary Keys Creek joins the San Luis Rey River. May, 2010 3-17 Pala Gateway Project Environmental Assessment 3.0 Affected Environment The USFWS National Wetland Inventory maps several wetland features within, and adjacent to, the Study Area. Two freshwater ponds are indicated on these USFWS maps; the northern pond is obviously the cement-lined pond on top of the hill; the southern pond could not be found within the existing citrus orchard. Freshwater forested/shrub wetlands and riverine wetlands are also mapped in the river channels of the San Luis Rey River and its unnamed tributary. The formal wetland delineation also detected numerous freshwater forested/shrub wetlands and riverine wetlands, all of which were found inside the high water marks of the of the San Luis Rey River and its unnamed tributary. No vernal pools or other isolated wetlands were identified within the Study Area. The conditions within the Study Area—the sloping topography and the modified contours from intensive agriculture—make it highly unlikely that any wetlands other than riverine wetlands exist within the Study Area. 3.4.3 PROTECTED NATURAL COMMUNITIES OR WILDLIFE HABITATS HISTORIC OR REGIONALLY-OCCURRING SPECIAL-STATUS COMMUNITIES/HABITATS One special-status community/habitat was reported by CNDDB (CDFG 2009) within the Study Area: Southern Cottonwood Willow Riparian Forest. The following special-status communities/habitats were reported by the CNDDB within a 10-mile radius of the Study Area: Southern Cottonwood Willow Riparian Forest, Southern Riparian Forest, Southern Willow Scrub, and Southern Riparian Scrub. SPECIAL STATUS COMMUNITIES/HABITATS DETECTED DURING FIELD SURVEYS One special-status community/habitat was detected within the Study Area during field surveys by Natural Investigations Co. in September 2009: Southern Cottonwood Willow Riparian Forest. See Exhibit 3 in Appendix A, Biological Assessment for location of riparian areas. POTENTIAL JURISDICTIONAL WATER RESOURCES Three water resources were detected within the Study Area: the reservoir on top of the hill, the San Luis Rey River, and an unnamed tributary drainage. The reservoir is cement lined and copper sulfate is used to discourage algal or plant growth. The perimeter is fenced. This isolated feature does not provide habitat for wildlife and should not be considered to be jurisdictional under the Clean Water Act or California state laws. The San Luis Rey River and the unnamed tributary drainage are expected to be jurisdictional under Clean Water Act and California state laws. No development is planned within these channels or within their larger riparian areas. WILDLIFE CORRIDORS, NURSERY SITES, OR NESTING BIRDS Wildlife movement corridors link remaining areas of functional wildlife habitat that are separated primarily by human disturbance particularly the freeway, but natural factors such as rugged terrain and abrupt changes in vegetation cover are also possible. Wilderness and open lands have been fragmented by urbanization, which can disrupt migratory species and separate interbreeding populations. Corridors May, 2010 3-18 Pala Gateway Project Environmental Assessment 3.0 Affected Environment allow migratory movements and act as links between these separated populations. Within the region several