Appendix C Biological Resources Technical Report
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Appendix C Biological Resources Technical Report 2020/2021 Non-Potable Water (NPW) Connections Project Biological Resources Technical Study prepared by Coachella Valley Water District 75-515 Hovley Lane East Palm Desert, California 92211 prepared with the assistance of Rincon Consultants, Inc. 1980 Orange Tree Lane, Suite 105 Redlands, California 92374 August 2020 Table of Contents Table of Contents 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 1 Project Location .................................................................................................................. 1 Project Description .............................................................................................................. 1 Area of Potential Effects ..................................................................................................... 5 2 Methodology .................................................................................................................................. 7 Regulatory Setting ............................................................................................................... 7 Database and Literature Review ......................................................................................... 8 Biological Field Survey......................................................................................................... 9 3 Existing Conditions ........................................................................................................................ 10 Topography, Watershed, and Soils ................................................................................... 10 Land Cover and Vegetation ............................................................................................... 10 General Wildlife ................................................................................................................ 11 4 Sensitive Biological Resources ...................................................................................................... 18 Special-Status Species ....................................................................................................... 18 Sensitive Plant Communities ............................................................................................ 20 Jurisdictional Waters and Wetlands ................................................................................. 20 Wildlife Movement ........................................................................................................... 21 Local Policies and Ordinances ........................................................................................... 21 Conservation Plans ............................................................................................................ 22 Critical Habitat, Coastal Zone, Wild and Scenic Rivers, Essential Fish Habitat, and Coastal Barrier Resources .......................................................................................................................... 23 5 Impact Analysis and Mitigation Measures .................................................................................... 25 Special-Status Species ....................................................................................................... 25 Sensitive Vegetation Communities ................................................................................... 26 Jurisdictional Waters and Wetlands ................................................................................. 26 Wildlife Movement ........................................................................................................... 27 Local Policies and Ordinances ........................................................................................... 27 Adopted or Approved Plans .............................................................................................. 27 Critical Habitat, Coastal Zone, Wild and Scenic Rivers, Essential Fish Habitat, and Coastal Barrier Resources .......................................................................................................................... 28 6 Limitations, Assumptions, and User Reliance ............................................................................... 30 7 References .................................................................................................................................... 31 Bibliography ...................................................................................................................... 31 List of Preparers ................................................................................................................ 32 Biological Resources Technical Study i Coachella Valley Water District 2020/2021 Non-Potable Water Connections Project Tables Table 1 Proposed Project Non-Potable Water End User Connections ............................................ 3 Figures Figure 1 Regional Project Location ................................................................................................... 2 Figure 2 Project Location .................................................................................................................. 6 Figure 3a Land Cover and Vegetation ............................................................................................... 12 Figure 3b Land Cover and Vegetation ............................................................................................... 13 Figure 3c Land Cover and Vegetation ............................................................................................... 14 Figure 3d Land Cover and Vegetation ............................................................................................... 15 Figure 3e Land Cover and Vegetation ............................................................................................... 16 Figure 3f Land Cover and Vegetation ............................................................................................... 17 Figure 4 CVMSHCP/NCCP Conservation Areas ............................................................................... 24 Appendices Appendix A Regionally Occurring Special-Status Species Appendix B Representative Photographs of the APE Appendix C Plant and Wildlife Species Observed in the APE Appendix D Resumes ii Introduction 1 Introduction Rincon Consultants, Inc. (Rincon) prepared this Biological Resources Technical Study (BRTS) to document the current existing conditions and evaluate the potential for project-related impacts to biological resources during the construction of the 2020/2021 Non-Potable Water (NPW) Connections Project (project). Coachella Valley Water District (CVWD) is the project’s lead agency. Project Location The project alignment is located in in the Coachella Valley of central Riverside County, in the cities of Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage, Indian Wells, and La Quinta, as well as the community of Thousand Palms in unincorporated Riverside County (Figure 1). The proposed project sites are within the boundaries of the Coachella Valley Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan and Natural Community Conservation Plan (CVMSHCP/NCCP) but outside of any designated conservation area. The project is depicted on the U.S. Geological Survey Cathedral City, Myoma, and La Quinta CA 7.5- minute topographic quadrangles. Project Description The proposed project involves the construction and operation of approximately 12 miles of NPW pipeline segments and connections to provide irrigation water to nine new end users, which include seven local golf courses, one community church, and one sports and entertainment venue, as listed below in Table 1. These end users currently use on-site pumped groundwater, or CVWD-supplied potable water for irrigation; there are no connections to canal water at this time. Under the proposed project, those water sources would shift to a blend of NPW from CVWD’s existing Water Reclamation Plant No. 10 (WRP10) facility, located at 43000 Cook Street in Palm Desert, and Colorado River water from the Mid-Valley Pipeline (MVP) terminus at WRP10 or only Colorado River water directly from the MVP. WRP10 is equipped with a tertiary treatment design capacity of 15 million gallons per day (mgd). During the winter months, when current demand for recycled water is less than the available supply, a portion of the recycled water (tertiary water) is disposed through on-site percolation-evaporation ponds, which will be eliminated as more NPW users are connected to the NPW distribution system. Biological Resources Technical Study 1 Coachella Valley Water District 2020/2021 Non-Potable Water Connections Project Figure 1 Regional Project Location 2 Introduction Table 1 Proposed Project Non-Potable Water End User Connections Land Use Type Connection Name Location Golf Course Annenberg Estate aka Annenberg Retreat at 37977 Bob Hope Drive Sunnylands Golf Course Rancho Mirage, CA 92270 Golf Course Rancho Mirage Country Club 38500 Bob Hope Drive Rancho Mirage, CA 92270 Golf Course Tamarisk Country Club 70240 Frank Sinatra Drive Rancho Mirage, CA 92270 Golf Course Suncrest Country Club 73450 Country Club Drive Palm Desert, CA 92260 Golf Course Jack Ivey Ranch Country Club 74580 Varner Road Thousand Palms, CA 92276 Golf Course Tri-Palm Estates and Country Club 32700 Desert Moon Drive Thousand Palms, CA 92276 Golf Course Palm Royale Country Club 78259 Indigo Drive La Quinta, CA 92253 Church