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Redwood Creek Watershed Assessment Final Report Redwood Creek Watershed Assessment

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Redwood Creek Watershed Assessment Final Report Redwood Creek Watershed Assessment Final Report Redwood Creek Watershed Assessment Prepared for: Golden Gate National Recreation Area Fort Mason, Building 201 San Francisco, CA 94123-1307 Prepared by: Stillwater Sciences 2855 Telegraph Avenue, Suite 400 Berkeley, CA 94705 and Horizon Water and Environment, LLC 1330 Broadway, Suite 424 Oakland, CA 94612 August 2011 Final Report Redwood Creek Watershed Assessment Prepared for: Golden Gate National Recreation Area Fort Mason, Building 201 San Francisco, CA 94123-1307 Contact: Michael Savidge (415) 561-4725 Prepared by: Stillwater Sciences 2855 Telegraph Avenue, Suite 400 Berkeley, CA 94705 Contact: Amy Merrill (510) 848-8098 [email protected] and Horizon Water and Environment, LLC 1330 Broadway, Suite 424 Oakland, CA 94612 Contact: Michael Stevenson (510) 986-1852 [email protected] August 2011 Cover: Robin L. Changler’s Salmon Returning to Redwood Creek (copyright National Park Service) http://robinlchandler.wordpress.com/tag/bradley-john-monsma/ THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 1-1 1.1 Goal and Objectives ......................................................................................................... 1-1 1.2 The Vision Process .......................................................................................................... 1-2 1.3 Funding ............................................................................................................................ 1-2 1.4 Technical and Stakeholder Input ..................................................................................... 1-3 1.5 Long-Term Watershed Assessment ................................................................................. 1-3 2 WATERSHED CHARACTERIZATION ................................................................................. 2-1 2.1 Regional Setting ............................................................................................................... 2-2 2.2 Ownership and Land Use ................................................................................................. 2-2 2.3 Climate ............................................................................................................................. 2-3 2.4 Hydrology ...................................................................................................................... 2-13 2.5 Geology and Geomorphic Processes ............................................................................. 2-41 2.6 Water Quality ................................................................................................................. 2-68 2.7 Aquatic Species and Habitats......................................................................................... 2-78 2.8 Terrestrial and Wetland Vegetation and Habitats .......................................................... 2-92 2.9 Terrestrial Wildlife ...................................................................................................... 2-119 2.10 Watershed Characterization Synthesis ......................................................................... 2-124 3 HUMAN USES AND VALUES ................................................................................................. 3-1 3.1 Residential Development ................................................................................................. 3-1 3.2 Commercial Uses ............................................................................................................. 3-2 3.3 Recreational Uses ............................................................................................................ 3-3 3.4 Culturally Motivated Uses ............................................................................................. 3-10 3.5 Off-Site Passive Use Values .......................................................................................... 3-11 4 ISSUES AND ASSOCIATED INDICATORS .......................................................................... 4-1 4.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 4-1 4.2 Redwood Creek Watershed Issues and Associated Indicators ......................................... 4-5 4.3 Prioritization of Issues ................................................................................................... 4-34 5 PRIORITY ACTIONS AND STUDIES .................................................................................... 5-1 5.1 Priority Actions ................................................................................................................ 5-1 5.2 Recommended Studies ................................................................................................... 5-10 6 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................ 6-1 ES-i Appendices A Watershed Disturbance Chronology B Water Quality Data C Amphibians and Reptiles in the Redwood Creek Watershed D Survey Results, 1992–2002 E Special-status and Non-native Invasive Plant Species Tables F Birds and Mammals Species and their Habitats in the Redwood Creek Watershed G Tier One Prioritization Scoring for Action Issues H Tier Two Prioritization Scoring for Action Issues I Prioritization Scoring for Study Issues J Tier Three Prioritization Scoring for Action Issues Tables ES-1 Redwood Creek Watershed Priority Natural Resource Issue 2-1 Monthly Precipitation, Potential Evapotranspiration, and Available Water 2-2 Streamflow Point Measurements for Redwood Creek Watershed, 1962–1988 2-3 Continuous Records of Stream Flow for the Redwood Creek Watershed 2-4 Estimated Peak Flood Recurrence Relationship for Redwood Creek at Highway 1 Bridge 2-5 Stage-Discharge Relationships: Power Law Regression Statistics 2-6 Annual Peak Instantaneous Floods at Highway 1 Bridge, Water Year 1999–2005 2-7 Sediment Production and Transport Processes of Watersheds of the California Coast Range 2-8 Drainage Areas of Redwood Creek Subwatersheds 2-9 Redwood Creek Habitat Survey Reaches 2-10 Major Watershed Disturbances and Hypothesized Sediment Transport Responses 2-11 Watershed Sediment Yields Estimated from the Sediment Budget for Each Period 2-12 Rates of Sedimentation in Big Lagoon for Each Sediment Budget Period 2-13 Surface Water Quality Criteria to Support Designated Beneficial Uses 2-14 Fish Species Documented in Redwood Creek and the Big Lagoon Estuary, 1992–2002 2-15 Summary of Results of Coho Salmon Spawner Surveys in the Redwood Creek Watershed 2-16 Coho Salmon Life History Timing in Redwood Creek 2-17 Redwood Creek Sites Sampled for Coho Salmon and Steelhead, 1995–2001 2-18 Habitats Sampled and Estimated Mean Number of Coho and Steelhead in Redwood Creek, 1994–1998, 2000, and 2001 2-19 Steelhead Life History Timing in the Redwood Creek Watershed 2-20 Crosswalk of General Vegetation Cover Types to NPS-Mapped Vegetation Types 2-21 Recorded Fire History of Mt. Tamalpais 2-22 Management Areas Surveyed in 2009 for Non-Native, Invasive Weed Assessment for Muir Woods and Bordering Areas within the Redwood Creek Watershed 4-1 Vision Statement and Desired Future Conditions for Natural Resources 4-2 Criteria for Selecting Resource Condition Indicators ii 4-3 Redwood Creek Watershed Priority Natural Resource Issues 5-1 Simple Estimates on Potential Storage Needs to Transfer Late Season Withdrawals to the High Flow Winter/Spring Season Figures ES-1 Redwood Creek Watershed and Regional Setting ES-2 Land Ownership in the Redwood Creek Watershed 2-1 Annual Precipitation at Muir Woods, 1941–2004 2-2 Mean Monthly Precipitation at Muir Woods 2-3 Locations of Continuous-Monitoring Stream Gauges 2-4 Time Series of Daily Average Water Surface Elevation, from Redwood Creek at the Highway 1 Bridge Gauge 2-5 Time Series of Daily Average Water Surface Elevation, for Redwood Creek at the Muir Woods Road Bridge Gauge 2-6 Stage-Discharge Data for Redwood Creek at Highway 1 Bridge 2-7 Stage-Discharge Relationships for Low Flows on Redwood Creek at Highway 1 Bridge 2-8 Stage-Discharge Relationships for Mid-Range Flows on Redwood Creek at Highway 1 Bridge 2-9 High- and Mid-Range Stage-Discharge Data for Redwood Creek at Highway 1 Bridge Gauge for Water Year 2003–2005 2-10 Stage-Discharge Data for Redwood Creek at Highway 1 Bridge for All Flows 2-11 Stage Discharge Relationship for the Muir Woods Road Bridge Gauge 2-12 Time Series of Mean Daily Flows for Redwood Creek at Highway 1 Bridge Gauge 2-13 Mean Daily Flow for the Wet Season of Water Year 2004 2-14 Mean Daily Flow for the Wet Season of Water Year 1999 2-15 Time Series of Mean Daily Flows for Redwood Creek at the Muir Woods Road Bridge Gauge 2-16 Mean Daily Flow at Muir Woods Road Bridge 2-17 Mean Daily Flow at the Highway 1 Bridge and Total Daily Precipitation at the Muir Woods Rain Gauge 2-18 Mean Daily Flows for Water Year 2005 at Highway 1 Bridge 2-19 Active and Unused Water Diversions in the Redwood Creek Watershed 2-20 Generalized Map of Geology and Faults: Marin Peninsula, California 2-21 Watershed Geology 2-22 Shaded-Relief Topographic Map of the Redwood Creek Watershed 2-23 Redwood Creek Channel Profile with Delineation of NPS Habitat Mapping Reaches 2-24 Median Grain Size Estimated from Slope-Area Relation and Field Sampling 2-25 Habitat Types and Distribution in the Mainstem Redwood Creek and Fern Creek 2-26 Large Woody
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