Effects of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Mountain View, Isleta, and Belen Levee Units
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United States Department of the Interior FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE New Mexico Ecological Services Field Office 2105 Osuna Road NE Albuquerque, New Mexico 87113 Telephone 505-346-2525 Fax 505-346-2542 www.fws.gov/southwest/es/newmexico/ August 29, 2018 Consultation Number 02ENNM00-2014-F-0302 George MacDonell, Chief Environmental Resources Section, Albuquerque District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 4101 Jefferson Plaza NE Albuquerque, New Mexico 87109-3435 Dear Mr. MacDonell: Thank you for your January 6, 2017 request for formal consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service; or in cite, USFWS) pursuant to section 7(a)(2) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 USC 1531-1544, as amended; ESA). On February 8, 2018, you revised the proposed action and reinitiated formal consultation with the Service. You requested formal consultation on the effects of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps; or in cite, USACE) proposed action of construction, operation, and maintenance of the Rio Grande Floodway, Mountain View, Isleta, and Belen Levee Units, in Bernalillo and Valencia Counties, New Mexico (i.e., the Levee Project). Corps proposes to excavate an older, earthen levee (known as a spoil bank) and construct a new 47.8-mile (77-kilometer) engineered levee to better protect nearby communities from large floods in the Middle Rio Grande (MRG) Valley. Corps’ Levee Project is divided into four levee segments, some along both sides of the river, with construction occurring within those segments at a rate of approximately two and a half miles per year, over a period of 19 years, beginning in 2019 until the year 2038. With the proposed operations and maintenance, Corps expects the engineered levee to have a functional life of approximately 50 years. Therefore, the effects of the Levee Project are assumed to occur from 2019 through 2088. In your programmatic Biological Assessment (BA; USACE 2018a), Corps determined that the Levee Project will have “no effect” on: 1) endangered New Mexico Meadow Jumping Mouse (Zapus hudsonius luteus) and its critical habitat; 2) threatened Pecos Sunflower (Helianthus paradoxus) and its critical habitat; 3) the experimental, non-essential population of northern aplomado falcon (Falco femoralis); or 4) endangered least tern (Sternula antillarum). We appreciate your consideration of these species; however, the ESA does not require consultation by federal agencies on proposed activities that have no effects to any listed species or critical habitat. In your February 8, 2018, cover letter and BA (Table 13), you determined that the Levee Project "may affect, and is likely to adversely affect", the endangered Rio Grande Silvery Minnow (Hybognathus amarus; silvery minnow) and its designated critical habitat, the designated critical habitat of the endangered Southwestern Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii extimus; flycatcher), and the proposed critical habitat of the threatened, western distinct population segment of Yell ow-billed Cuckoo ( Coccyzus americanus; cuckoo). We concur with this determination. You also determined that the Levee Project "may affect, but is not likely to adversely affect", the flycatcher and cuckoo. The Service does not concur with your findings that the Levee Project "may affect, but is not likely to adversely affect" the flycatcher and cuckoo, so we have considered effects to these species in the attached Biological Opinion. In this BO, we analyzed the status of the silvery minnow, flycatcher, and cuckoo, the environmental baseline, effects of the Levee Project, and cumulative effects. We found that there were no interrelated or interdependent effects of the proposed action. Based on our analyses, we found that the Levee Project, as proposed, will not jeopardize the silvery minnow, the flycatcher, or the cuckoo. We also found that the Levee Project will not destroy or adversely modify designated critical habitat for the silvery minnow or flycatcher, or that of the proposed critical habitat of the cuckoo. This BO relies on the revised regulatory definition of "destruction or adverse modification" of designated or proposed critical habitat from 50 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 402.02. As of February 11 , 2016, the definition of "destruction or adverse modification" has been revised to align it with the conservation purposes of the ESA of 1976, as amended, and the ESA's definition of "critical habitat" (81 FR 7214). Specifically, the rule states: "Destruction or adverse modification means a direct or indirect alteration that appreciably diminishes the value of critical habitat for the conservation of a listed species. Such alterations may include, but are not limited to, those that alter the physical or biological features essential to the conservation of a species or that preclude or significantly delay development of such features." The revised definition continues to focus on the role that critical habitat plays for the conservation of listed species and acknowledges that the development of physical and biological features may be necessary to enable the critical habitat to support species recovery. A complete administrative record of this consultation is on file at the New Mexico Ecological Services Field Office at the above address. If you have any questions about this consultation, please feel free to contact me or Dave Campbell of this office at (505) 761-4745. Sincerely, ~~ Susan S. Millsap Field Supervisor Enclosure cc: Director, Department of Natural Resources, Pueblo of Isleta, Isleta, New Mexico (electronic copy) Director, New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, Santa Fe, New Mexico (electronic copy) Wildlife Biologist, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Albuquerque, New Mexico (electronic copy) Biological Opinion on the Effects of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Mountain View, Isleta, and Belen Levee Units for Middle Rio Grande Flood Protection, Bernalillo County to Belen, New Mexico Consultation Number 02ENNM00-2014-F-0302 August 29, 2018 Susan S. Millsap >' NMESFO Field Supervisor Table of Contents HISTORY OF COORDINATION AND CONSULTATION .................................................... 1 DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSED ACTION ............................................................................... 2 General Description of Activities, Conservation Measures, Timeframe, and Action Area .... 2 Engineered Levee Construction ............................................................................................... 7 Vegetation Management Zone ................................................................................................. 8 Long-term Levee Operation and Maintenance (O&M) ........................................................... 8 Corps Conservation Measures, Monitoring, and Reporting Activities ................................... 9 Interrelated and Interdependent Effects of the Proposed Action ........................................... 14 STATUS OF THE SPECIES .................................................................................................... 15 Status of the Silvery Minnow ................................................................................................ 15 Climate Change, Spring Runoff, and Silvery Minnow Status ............................................... 18 Threats to Silvery Minnow .................................................................................................... 19 Silvery Minnow Status Summary .......................................................................................... 20 Status of Silvery Minnow Critical Habitat ............................................................................ 20 Status of Southwestern Willow Flycatcher ........................................................................... 25 Threats to Flycatcher ............................................................................................................. 26 Flycatcher Critical Habitat ..................................................................................................... 27 Status of Yellow-billed Cuckoo ............................................................................................ 28 Threats to Cuckoo .................................................................................................................. 29 Cuckoo Proposed Critical Habitat ......................................................................................... 30 Climate Change as Related to Flycatchers, Cuckoos and Associated Habitats ..................... 31 ENVIRONMENTAL BASELINE ............................................................................................ 32 Status of the Silvery Minnow in the Action Area ................................................................. 32 Status of Silvery Minnow Critical Habitat within the Action Area ...................................... 36 Status of Southwestern Willow Flycatchers and Critical Habitat within Action Area ......... 41 Status of Yellow-billed Cuckoos and Proposed Critical Habitat within Action Area ........... 41 Baseline Conditions for Flycatchers, Cuckoos, and Associated Habitats ............................. 42 Past Federal Actions (projects with a Federal nexus) ............................................................ 46 EFFECTS OF THE ACTION ................................................................................................... 47 Effects to Rio Grande Silvery Minnow ................................................................................. 48 Effects of Monitoring Silvery Minnow