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4.1 Surface Water Resources

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4.1 Surface Water Resources 4. Environmental Setting, Impacts, and Mitigation Measures 4.1 Surface Water Resources 4.1.1 Introduction This section presents the existing surface water conditions and the applicable regulations on the federal, state, and local levels. The section evaluates potential impacts from construction and operation of the Moss Landing Project and the North Marina Project on surface water resources including fresh, estuarine, and marine water bodies within and adjacent to the project area. Section 4.1.2 presents the environmental setting related to surface hydrology, water quality, and flooding. Section 4.1.3 provides federal, state, and local regulations that would apply to the Moss Landing Project and North Marina Project. Section 4.1.4 describes the project impacts and identifies mitigation measures to minimize any potentially significant impacts. Refer to Section 4.2, Groundwater Resources, for groundwater-related impacts and Section 4.3, Marine Biological Resources, for impacts to biological resources in marine waters from the project- related discharges. 4.1.2 Environmental Setting The project area spans portions of several cities (i.e., Castroville, Marina, Sand City, Seaside, Del Rey Oaks, Monterey, and Pacific Grove) and unincorporated areas of Monterey County. The climate in the project area is moderate year-round with warm, dry summers and cool, moist winters. The average temperature is approximately 59 degrees Fahrenheit (Monterey County, 2007). Rainfall occurs primarily between November and April. The average rainfall in the county varies, but is approximately 18 inches per year. The project area lies within Monterey County, in the southern portion of the Coast Ranges geomorphic province. Topographic features in the basin are dominated by a rugged seacoast and three parallel ranges of the Southern Coast Mountains - the Diablo, Gabilan, and Santa Lucia Ranges, which have peaks of up to 5,844 feet above mean sea level (amsl). The Santa Lucia and Gabilan Mountains are the sources of the primary watercourses in the region. The project area includes portions of three major watersheds in Monterey County: Bolsa Nueva, Salinas River, and Carmel River (see Figure 4.1-1). The major watersheds include several smaller watersheds and surface water bodies such as Elkhorn Slough watershed in the Bolsa Nueva watershed; the Moro Cojo Slough, Reclamation Canal, Laguna Seca, and Canyon del Rey watersheds in the Salinas River watershed; and the Carmel Valley and Carmel Bay watersheds in the Carmel River watershed. The Bolsa Nueva watershed primarily drains into Moss Landing Harbor. The Salinas River watershed drains into Moss Landing Harbor, except for during high flows when the Salinas River watershed drains into Monterey Bay. The Carmel River watershed drains into Carmel Bay (see Figure 4.1-2). CalAm Coastal Water Project 4.1-1 ESA / 205335 Final Environmental Impact Report October 2009 PAJARO RIVER WATERSHED BOLSA NUEVA WATERSHED Moss Landing Power Plant Monterey Bay National Marine Sancuary y a B y e SALINAS r e t RIVER n o MRWPCA WATERSHED M Wastewater Treatment Plant Carmel Bay PACIFIC CARMEL OCEAN RIVER WATERSHED SANTA LUCIA WATERSHED 0 4 Miles CalAm Coastal Water Project . 205335 SOURCE: DFG, 2004 Figure 4.1-1 Existing Watersheds in the Project Area s k e o e r r e e r r e FEMA Flood Zones e C C n n r r a 1% Annual Chance Floodplain a C C 0.2% Annual Chance Floodplain h g Bennett u orn lo 0 2 Slough Elkh S Moss Landing Miles Power Plant (MLPP) M o ough ro Sl MLPP Outfall Cojo Moss Landing FEMA Flood Zones Harbor 1% Annual Chance Floodplain Tem blad 0.2% Annual Chance Floodplain e reek ro C San ita ta R Slough Old Salinas River A l i s a l S ol Monterey Bay u g g h h R e c la m a tio MRWPCA MRWPCA n C Outfall Wastewater a n a Treatment l Plant Sa l in a s R iv er k e e r C o r o l T E Carm el Carmel Riv Bay er CalAm Coastal Water Project . 205335 SOURCE: FEMA, 2007; USGS, 2008 Figure 4.1-2 Waterways and Floodplains 4. Environmental Setting, Impacts, and Mitigation Measures 4.1 Surface Water Resources 4.1.2.1 Hydrology Bolsa Nueva Watershed The Bolsa Nueva watershed is located in the northwestern portion of the county. The Bolsa Nueva watershed drains primarily to Elkhorn Slough and subsequently into Moss Landing Harbor and northern Monterey Bay. The existing intake facility for the Moss Landing Power Plant (MLPP) lies in the Moss Landing Harbor, which borders the Bolsa Nueva and Salinas watershed, and the existing outfall lies in Monterey Bay. Elkhorn Slough Elkhorn Slough is a shallow, narrow waterway that extends approximately six miles inland from the Moss Landing Harbor. The Elkhorn Slough watershed includes an area of approximately 225 square miles and drains directly into Monterey Bay via the Moss Landing Harbor channel. Elkhorn Slough is a highly dynamic tidal environment that varies on seasonal and diurnal cycles and the MLPP cooling water is subject to the same variability. Tidal flow out of the slough is generally 6 to 10° Fahrenheit (F) warmer than the ocean receiving water due to solar heating. Salinas River Watershed The Salinas River is the largest water system in the county. The Salinas River watershed is bounded by the Santa Lucia Mountains to the west and the Gabilan Mountains to the east. The Salinas River is 155 miles long and roughly bisects the county, terminating in Monterey Bay near Moss Landing. The Salinas River delivers approximately 282,000 acre-feet per year (AFY) of water to the Pacific Ocean at Moss Landing. Most of the water (approximately 90 percent) is delivered during periods of peak precipitation, between mid-December and April. The proposed desalination facilities and the pipelines for the Moss Landing and North Marina projects would lie in the Salinas River watershed. Some of the project components would be located in the subwatersheds discussed below. Moro Cojo Slough The Moro Cojo Slough subwatershed lies within the northernmost region of the Salinas River watershed. The watershed includes an area of approximately 17 square miles (CSU Sacramento, 2008) that drains to the south and west through Moro Cojo Slough to Moss Landing Harbor, and Monterey Bay. The desalination facility for the Moss Landing project and the northernmost section of the Transmission Main North pipeline would lie within the Moro Cojo Slough watershed. Reclamation Canal A series of ditches, known collectively as the Reclamation Canal, drains the area that stretches from just south of Salinas to Castroville. The Reclamation Canal watershed is composed of urban, rural, and agricultural lands in northern Monterey County and a small portion of southern San Benito County (MCWRA, 2006). The canal flows to Tembladero Slough in the Castroville region and ultimately discharges to the Moss Landing Harbor. A portion of the Transmission Main North pipeline for the Moss Landing Project would lie within this watershed. CalAm Coastal Water Project 4.1-4 ESA / 205335 Final Environmental Impact Report October 2009 4. Environmental Setting, Impacts, and Mitigation Measures 4.1 Surface Water Resources Laguna Seca and Canyon del Rey The Laguna Seca watershed is located between Monterey and Salinas. Surface flows in the watershed drain to the Salinas River or Monterey Bay. The Laguna Seca watershed includes a 7-square mile portion of the Seaside ground water basin. The Canyon del Rey watershed is relatively small and is located in the Seaside/Del Rey Oaks/ Highway 68 Corridor (Monterey County, 2006). Some of the proposed conveyance pipelines would lie within this watershed. Moss Landing Harbor The existing north intake of the MLPP lies within the Moss Landing Harbor. Moss Landing Harbor is primarily comprised of shallow open water and is located at the confluence of Monterey Bay, Bolsa Nueva watershed, and Salinas River watershed. The Elkhorn Slough, Moro Cojo Slough, and the Old Salinas River Estuary all drain into Moss Landing Harbor. During the dry season, a salinity gradient develops with higher salinity at the head of the estuary than in the ocean. This occurs because evaporation is greater than freshwater input and residence time is much greater than a tidal cycle. The MLPP intakes located near the slough are highly affected by tidal flow. Salinity at the intake structure has not been measured regularly, however measurements at the Moss Landing Marine Laboratories boat dock on the south side of the harbor indicate salinity ranging from 12.80 parts per thousand (ppt) to 34.04 with an average of 32.51 ppt from February 2007 to April 2008 (Appendix C). Moss Landing Harbor water quality conditions were recently assessed in the SWAMP Central Coast Harbors report (Marine Pollution Studies Laboratory, 2007). Of six stations sampled for overall water quality, three were ranked good, one fair and two poor. The two poor ranked stations were the result of high total dissolved inorganic nitrogen, low water clarity, and high orthophosphate (one station). Two of the stations had low dissolved oxygen levels and bottom pH levels exceeding 8.3 (pH 7.0 is neutral). Monterey Bay Both the proposed Moss Landing and the North Marina project discharges would flow into Monterey Bay. The oceanographic feature affecting waters of Monterey Bay and its adjacent continental shelf is primarily the California Current System, which consists of the California Current, the California Undercurrent, and the Davidson Current. The California Current is a large-scale upper ocean current that transports cold subarctic and North Pacific water south along the North American coast (Bograd et al., 2000; Breaker, 2005). Beneath this near-surface current, and relatively close inshore (within 100 kilometers or 62 miles), is the California Undercurrent that transports warm subtropical water northward.
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