FINAL SAUSAL CREEK WATERSHED ENHANCEMENT PLAN Sausal Creek “Restoration Reach” in 2003 Prepared by Laurel Marcus and Associates, NewFields River Basin Services, Hydrologic Systems Inc. For Friends of Sausal Creek March 2010 Funding provided by the State Water Resources Control Board and the San Francisco Foundation Bay Fund SAUSAL CREEK WATERSHED ENHANCEMENT PLAN Table of Contents Section page number INTRODUCTION 1 FRIENDS OF SAUSAL CREEK 3 BACKGROUND 3 DESCRIPTION AND HUMAN HISTORY OF THE SAUSAL CREEK WATERSHED 4 HUMAN HISTORY 4 NATURAL RESOURCES 21 GEOLOGY 21 SOILS 31 HYDROLOGY 34 VEGETATION 72 WATER QUALITY 89 AQUATIC AND RIPARIAN HABITATS 105 EVALUATION OF WATERSHED EROSION SITES 143 LAND USE AND MANAGEMENT 174 RELEVANT PLANS, POLICIES, AND PERMITTING 174 INFRASTRUCTURE 180 PARKS 191 SUMMARY OF WATERSHED CONDITIONS 196 EVALUATING WATERSHED STORMWATER IMPROVEMENTS 198 PARKING LOT DETENTION 198 UNDERGROUND CISTERN DETENTION 201 EVALUATING WATERSHED IMPROVEMENTS WITH THE HYDROLOGIC AND HYDRAULIC MODEL 212 CONCLUSIONS 245 RECOMMENDED ACTIONS 249 INTRODUCTION 249 MAJOR EROSION SITES 249 WATERSHED STORM WATER IMPROVEMENTS 250 INVASIVE NON‐NATIVE PLANTS 253 WATER QUALITY 257 AQUATIC AND RIPARIAN HABITATS 260 IMPLEMENTING THE WATERSHED PLAN 264 REFERENCES 275 SAUSAL CREEK WATERSHED ENHANCEMENT PLAN i List of Figures Figure page number Figure 1 – Regional Location 2 Figure 2 – Elevations 5 Figure 3 – Slopes Greater than 30% 6 Figure 4 Creek Sub‐basins 7 Figure 5: Lumber Mill along Palo Seco Creek in the 1850’s. 9 Figure 6: Joaquin Miller 11 Figure 7: Sausal Creek in the early 1900’s 12 Figure 8: Montclair area in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s 13 Figure 9: Topographic map of the Sausal Creek watershed in 1897 14 Figure 10: Dimond Canyon in the early 1900’s 15 Figure 11: Looking up Park Blvd. into the upper Sausal Creek watershed in the early 1900’s. 16 Figure 12: Topographic map of the Sausal Creek watershed in 1915 17 Figure 13: Topographic map of the Sausal Creek watershed in 1943 18 Figure 14: Topographic map of the Sausal Creek watershed in 1959 19 Figure 15: The Oakland and Antioch Railroad 20 Figure 16: Construction of the Leimert Bridge in 1926 22 Figure 17: Oakmore area in 1926 23 Figure 18: Oakland Museum map of creek channels in the Sausal Creek watershed 24 Figure 19: Regional Geology 25 Figure 20 Geology of the Sausal Creek Watershed 26 Figure 21 Landslide Hazards of Sausal Creek Watershed 30 SAUSAL CREEK WATERSHED ENHANCEMENT PLAN ii Figure page number Figure 22: Soil Types of the Sausal Creek Watershed 33 Figure 23 Hydrologic Sub‐Basins of the Sausal Creek Watershed 36 Figure 24: Precipitation Gage Locations 36 Figure 25: Upper San Leandro Filter Plant Annual Precipitation Totals 40 Figure 26: Comparison of Annual Precipitation by Elevation 41 Figure 27: Return Frequency Analysis for the 1‐Hour through 6‐Hour Precipitation Duration 43 Figure 28: 24‐Hour Storm Hyetographs, Upper Sausal Creek Watershed 47 Figure 29: 24‐Hour Storm Hyetographs, Middle Sausal Creek Watershed 47 Figure 30: 24‐Hour Storm Hyetographs, Lower Sausal Creek Watershed 48 Figure 31: Schematic of the Sausal Creek EPA SWMM 5.0 existing conditions model 52 Figure 32: October 19, 2009 peak discharge water surface elevation 54 Figure 33: Hourly Precipitation Data at Oakland North and Oakland South Stations 55 for October 19, 2009 Storm Event Figure 34: Schematic Diagram of the Sausal Creek Hydraulic Model 58 Figure 35: Sausal Creek Channel Profile, Station 0 to 8000, Station 8000 to 16000 59‐61 Station 16000 to 23000 Figure 36: Typical high water marks measured in Sausal Creek 62 Figure 37: Comparison of model predicted and measured water surface elevations 63 Figure 38: Comparison of model predicted and measured water surface elevations 65 Figure 39: Comparison of model predicted and measured velocities 66 Figure 40: Sausal Creek Watershed: Hydraulic Profile through Dimond Canyon 68 Figure 41: Existing conditions longitudinal velocity plot 70 Figure 42: Existing conditions longitudinal shear stress plot. 71 Figure 43: Land Use in the Sausal Creek Watershed 74 SAUSAL CREEK WATERSHED ENHANCEMENT PLAN iii Figure page number Figure 44: Sausal Creek in Dimond Canyon; Cape ivy 77 Figure 45: Cape ivy adjacent to a residential area; Algerian ivy 78 Figure 46: Invasive French broom and Eucalyptus 79 Figure 47: French broom 80 Figure 48: Mapped Invasive Non‐Native Plants n Joaquin Miller Park 82 Figure 49: Monterey Pine and Cypress in Joaquin Miller Park 83 Figure 50: Mixture of vegetation in Joaquin Miller Park 84 Figure 51: Mapped Invasive Non‐Native Plants of Shepherd Canyon Park 86 Figure 52: Monterey Pine and Cypress in Shepherd Canyon Park 87 Figure 53: Mapped Invasive Non‐Native Plants n Dimond Canyon Park 88 Figure 54: Water Quality Monitoring Stations in the Sausal Creek Watershed 90 Figure 55: Stream Reaches and Ephemeral Creek Network of the Sausal Creek Watershed 110 Figure 56: Houses line the tributary channels in the Cobbledick Creek sub‐basin 112 Figure 57: Tributary to Cobbledick Creek along Larry Lane (CC1) 113 Figure 58: Palo Seco Creek (PSC1) overflows onto a grassed floodplain 115 Figure 59: Fern Ravine Creek in Joaquin Miller Park 116 Figure 60: Fern Ravine Creek overland flow 117 Figure 61: Palo Seco Creek at beginning of reach PSC‐3 118 Figure 62: Palo Seco Creek in the Jan. 1, 2006 flood event 119 Figure 63: Palo Seco Creek during the Jan. 1, 2006 flood in its rock canyon 120 Figure 64: These photos are examples of the drop structures in Sausal Creek 122 Figure 65: Grade control structures during the Jan.1 2006 flood. 123 Figure 66: Erosion of bay trees along Sausal Creek in Dimond Canyon 124 SAUSAL CREEK WATERSHED ENHANCEMENT PLAN iv Figure page number Figure 67: California bay laurel trees were trimmed 125 Figure 68: Vortex weir in a small flood in 2003 126 Figure 69: Upstream end of El Centro culvert. 127 Figure 70: White alder along Sausal Creek 129 Figure 71: Sausal Creek in Dimond Park (SC3) 130 Figure 72: Sausal Creek in downstream area of Dimond Park 131 Figure 73: Sausal Creek downstream of Hwy. 580 132 Figure 74: Sausal Creek at Barry Place and E. 27th St 133 Figure 75: Sausal Creek at Logan Road. 134 Figure 76: Sausal Creek at Foothill Blvd 135 Figure 77 Storm drain System in Sausal 145 Figure 78: Key to Watershed Maps 146 Figure 79: Storm Drain Map 1 147 Figure 80: Storm Drain Map 2 148 Figure 81: Storm Drain Map 3 149 Figure 82: Storm Drain Map 4 150 Figure 83: Storm Drain Map 5 151 Figure 84: Storm Drain Map 6 152 Figure 85: Erosion at storm drain outlet 155 Figure 86: House built over creek channel 156 Figure 87: Ephemeral creek channels adjacent and under house 157 Figure 88: Erosion of ephemeral creek from urban runoff 158 Figure 89: Lining creeks with cement or rock riprap 159 SAUSAL CREEK WATERSHED ENHANCEMENT PLAN v Figure page number Figure 90: Joaquin Miller Park Trails and Major Erosion Sites 161 Figure 91: Erosion site #2 164 Figure 92: Trail erosion (red arrows) flowing directly into Palo Seco Creek 165 Figure 93: Cinderella Creek with culverted crossing at Sunset Trail 166 Figure 94: Cinderella Trail is a major erosion site 167 Figure 95: The headwaters of this small creek were clear‐cut of Eucalyptus 168 Figure 96: One of many temporary and ineffective repair projects done at Castle Drive 169 Figure 97: Sunset Trail crossing of small ephemeral creek below Castle Drive 170 Figure 98: After over 10 years of erosion and several ineffective repairs 171 Figure 99: Two examples of ineffective trail crossing repairs 172 Figure 100: Sanitary Sewer System Map 1 182 Figure 101: Sanitary Sewer System Map2 183 Figure 102: Sanitary Sewer System Map 3 184 Figure 103: Sanitary Sewer System Map 4 185 Figure 104: Sanitary Sewer System Map 5 186 Figure 105: Sanitary Sewer System Map 6 187 Figure 106: Sanitary sewer overflow during the January 1, 2006 flood 188 Figure 107: Manhole cover blown off the sanitary sewer 189 Figure 108: Main sewer line in the bed of Sausal Creek 190 Figure 109: Public Parks in Sausal Creek watershed 192 Figure 110: Watershed Stormwater Improvements 199 Figure 111 Watershed Stormwater Improvements: Rain barrels 200 Figure 112: Water cistern 202 SAUSAL CREEK WATERSHED ENHANCEMENT PLAN vi Figure page number Figure 113: Rain barrels 203 Figure 114: Biofiltration units for parking lots 204 Figure 115: Location along Skyline Blvd. where a biofiltration facility 206 Figure 116: Biofiltration improvements in residential areas of Portland, Oregon 207 Figure 117: Bioswales on the edges of parking lots. 208 Figure 118: Biofiltration units in commercial area of Portland, Oregon 209 Figure 119: Examples of biofiltration facilities in residential areas of Seattle 210 Figure 120: Permeable pavement 211 Figure 121: Existing Conditions and Proposed Conditions 220 Demonstrating the Rain Barrel Modeling Technique in EPA SWMM 5.0 Figure 122: Existing Conditions and Proposed Conditions Demonstrating the 221 Upper Watershed Detention Basin Modeling Technique in EPA SWMM 5.0 Figure 123: Existing Conditions and Proposed Conditions Demonstrating the 222 In‐line Storage Basin Modeling Technique in EPA SWMM 5.0 Figure 124: Existing conditions longitudinal shear stress plot. 227 Figure 125: Longitudinal water surface elevation profile under existing (E) 229 and Scenario 1 (P) hydrologic conditions for the 1‐year recurrence interval peak discharge Figure 126: Longitudinal velocity profile under existing (E) and Scenario 1 (P) 231 hydrologic conditions for the 1‐year recurrence interval peak discharge Figure 127: Longitudinal