Bridge Replacement and HOV Project (Union Bay Natural Area) Mitigation Project
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SR 520, I-5 to Medina: Bridge Replacement and HOV Project (Union Bay Natural Area) Mitigation Project USACE NWS-2008-1246 Northwest Region 2018 (Year One) Monitoring Report Wetlands Program Issued December 2018 Environmental Services Office Author: Jon Backus, Graduate Student Master of Environmental Horticulture School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington [email protected] Editor: Kristen Andrews Contributor: Dr. Jonathan D. Bakker, Professor School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington Box 354115, Seattle, WA 98195-4115 P: 206-221-3864; E: [email protected] For additional information about this report or the WSDOT Wetlands Program, please contact: Kristen Andrews, Wetlands Program WSDOT, Environmental Services Office P. O. Box 47332, Olympia, WA 98504 Phone: 360-570-2588 E-mail: [email protected] Monitoring reports are published on the web at: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/environment/technical/disciplines/wetlands/monitoring-reports 1 USACE NWS-2008-1246 General Site Information USACE IP Number NWS-2008-1246 In wetlands and the waters of Union Bay, Mitigation at the City of Seattle, King County, Location Washington. LLID Number 1222957476583 Construction Date June 2016 – Nov 2018 Monitoring Period 2018 Year of Monitoring 1 of 10 Type of Impact Wetland Buffer Area of Project 12.76 10.5 acres Impact1 acres Wetland Wetland Buffer Type of Mitigation Establishme Enhanceme Enhancem nt nt ent Planned Area of 12.76 1.19 acres 9.31 acre Mitigation¹ acres 1 Impact and mitigation numbers sourced from Washington State Department of Transportation. 2015. SR 520 Bridge Replacement and HOV Program. Final Wetland Mitigation Report 2 Design plan for UBNA mitigation site Source:www.wsdot.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2018/07/11/SR520- factsheet-UnionBayNaturalArea-2018.pdf 3 Contents Mitigation Areas 5 Summary of Monitoring Results and Management Activities (2018) 7 Report Introduction 10 What is the Union Bay Natural Area Mitigation Site? 11 What Are the Performance Standards For This Site? 13 How Were the Performance Standards Evaluated? 18 Hydrology Monitoring 18 Vegetation Monitoring 18 Photo-Documentation 22 Habitat Structures 22 How Is the Site Developing? 23 What Is Planned For This Site? 35 Appendix 1 – Additional Figures 37 Appendix 2 – Data Tables 40 Literature Cited 52 4 Mitigation Areas The mitigation types designated in the Final Wetland Mitigation Report (WSDOT, 2015) have been assigned alphanumeric type codes for easier reference based on their intended habitat and mitigation type. These codes were also used in the monitoring plan (Chan, 2018) and are used throughout this document. Below is a crosswalk between the original mitigation types and these type codes. Mitigation Area Wetland Habitat Mitigation Type Seed and Plant Mixes Type Code Area (acres) Forested Wetland Enhancement Forested Enhancement Tree and shrub F Wet Enh 2.41 Forested Wetland Forested Establishment Tree and shrub F Wet Es 0.28 Establishment Forested Wetland Enhancement Forested Enhancement Infill Tree and shrub at 30% F Wet Enh 1.67 Infill density Inf Scrub-Shrub Wetland Scrub-Shrub Enhancement Shrub and emergent Sc-Sh Wet 1.26 Enhancement Enh Scrub-Shrub Wetland Scrub-Shrub Establishment Shrub and emergent Sc-Sh Wet 0.91 Establishment Est Emergent Wetland Emergent Enhancement Shrub and emergent Em Wet Enh 2.36 Enhancement Shoreline Emergent Wetland Shoreline Emergent Enhancement Shrub and emergent Shor Em 1.61 Enhancement Wet Enh Wetland Buffer Enhancement Buffer Enhancement Tree and shrub Wet Buf Enh 5.82 Wetland Buffer Infill Buffer Infill Tree and shrub at 30% Wet Buf Inf 0.62 density Reduced Density Wetland Buffer Reduced Density Shrub at 30% density Red Den Buffer Wet Buf 5 Grass/Herbaceous Wetland Buffer Grass/Herbaceous Grass and forbs Gr/Herb 0.51 Buffer Wet Buf 6 Summary of Monitoring Results and Management Activities (2018) Performance Standards 2018 Results Management Activities As-Built Submitted and Approved None Wetland Hydrology (F Wet Est, Sc-Sh Present None Wet Est) Wetland Vegetation Native wetland woody species will Total Woody Density: achieve a density of 4 plants/100 ft² in F Wet Enh /Wet Enh Inf : 4 Additional woody the F Wet Enh & Wet Enh Inf plants/100 ft² species added (combined), F Wet Est, F, Sc-Sh Wet F Wet Est,: 3.6 plants/100 ft² September 2018 Enh, and patches in Em Wet Enh SC-Sh Wet Enh: 2.3 plants/100 ft² Em Wet Enh: 0.9 plants/100 ft² Native wetland woody species will Woody Density: 0.7 plants/100 ft² Additional woody achieve a density of 1.2 plants/100 ft² Herb Cover: 36% cover species added and 25% cover of native wetland September 2018 emergent cover in the Sc-Sh Wet Est Native emergent wetland cover in the Herb Cover: 7% Additional emergent Em Wet Enh will be at least 30% species added September 2018 Native wetland woody species will Woody Density: 0.3 plants/100 ft² Additional emergent achieve a density of 1 plant/100 ft² and Herb Cover: 52% cover and woody species 15% of native emergent wetland cover added September in Shor Em Wet Enh 2018 Structural Complexity Forested Wetlands inconsistent with vegetation type - currently shrub dominated. F Wet Enh: 33%, F Wet Est: 17%, Wet Enh Inf: 57% Additional plants Installed vegetation consistent with Scrub-Shrub and Shoreline added September proposed vegetation type inconsistent with vegetation type – 2018 currently herb dominated. Sc-Sh Wet Enh: 25%, Sc-Sh Wet Est: 44%, Shor Em Wet Enh:79% Emergent Wetland consistent with vegetation type – herb dominated. 7 31% cover (See Appendix 2, Table 2) Wetland Buffer Vegetation List of species in the Gr/Herb Wet Buf . Present (See Appendix 2, Table 3 ) Additional herbaceous Verify that species in design are Lupinus lepidus and Achillea species added present. millefolium only species in design September 2018. present, in sparse quantity. Further noxious/invasive weed control needed Native woody species will achieve a Woody Density: 4.5 plants/100 ft² None density of 4 plants/100 ft² in Wet Buf Enh Native woody species will achieve a Woody Density Wet Buf Inf: 2.6 None density of 1.2 plants/100 ft² in Wet Buf plants/100 ft² Inf, Red Den Wet Buf Woody Density Red Den Wet Buf: 2.3 plants/100 ft² Habitat Habitat Structures Present None Noxious and Invasive Species Control of Class A noxious weeds None present None (entire site) Control of Class B & C noxious weeds Purple loosestrife and garden Eradicate individuals (entire site) loosestrife observed and reported to located, limit further stie managers. spread. Cover met in most areas. Cover not Additional non-native met in Em Wet Enh and Gr/Herb Wet species control, Select invasive species <10% cover Buf which exceeded 10% combined particularly in Em (entire site) cover Wet Enh and Gr/Herb Wet Buf No non-native knotweeds observed in Non-native knotweeds (entire site) any mitigation area Shor Em Wet Enh has 68% cover Continued non-native Reed canarygrass (entire site except All other mitigation areas <10% species control buffer areas) needed, especially in Shor Em Wet Enh 8 Purple loosestrife detected in all Purple loosestrife (F Wet Enh, Wet Eradicate individuals mitigation areas except Sc-Sh Wet Enh Inf, Sc-Sh Wet Est,Em Wet Enh, located, limit further Est Shor Em Wet Enh mitigation areas) spread. Garden loosestrife detected in F Wet Eradicate individuals Enh In, Shor Em Wet Enh, Garden loosestrife (entire site) located, limit further Wet Buf Enh, Wet Buf Inf, Red Den, spread. Wet Buf, Gr/Herb Wet Buf Summary based on data collected and summarized in Appendix 2: Tables 1, 2, 3, 4. 9 Report Introduction This report summarizes first-year (Year-1) monitoring activities at the Union Bay Natural Area (UBNA) mitigation site. Included are a site description, the performance standards, an explanation of monitoring methods, and an evaluation of site success. Monitoring was conducted under the guidance of the Year 1 Monitoring Plan (Chan, 2018), following performance standards detailed in the Final Wetland Mitigation Report (WSDOT, 2015). Monitoring activities included assessments of wetland hydrology, vegetation surveys, and photo-documentation. Vegetation monitoring occurred from mid-July until early September 2018, and was conducted by University of Washington graduate student Jon Backus, with assistance from fellow graduate student Victoria Fox. This report does not include end-of-season mortality counts conducted by WSDOT and UWBG staff and subsequent planting in Fall 2018. 10 What is the Union Bay Natural Area Mitigation Site? This 23.26 acre mitigation site (Figure 1) is a combination of 1.19 acres of new wetland establishment, 9.31 acres of wetland enhancement, and 12.76 acres of enhanced wetland and shoreline buffer vegetation. The wetland establishment consists of 0.28 acres of palustrine forested wetland (F Wet Est ) and 0.91 acres of scrub-shrub wetland (Sc-Sh Wet Est ). The wetland enhancement includes 1.61 acres of lacustrine wetland (Shor Em Wet Enh L1) and 7.7 acres of palustrine wetland (F Wet Enh, F Wet Enh Inf, Sc-Sh Wet Enh, and Em Wet Enh). The wetland and shoreline buffer include 6.44 acres planted with woody vegetation (Wet Buf Enh and Wet Buf Inf), 5.82 acres with woody vegetation planted at a reduced density (Red Den Wet Buf), and 0.51 acres sown with herbaceous species (Gr/Herb Wet Buf). A combination of created wetlands, and enhanced wetlands and buffers were created to compensate for the loss of wetlands due to the SR 520, I-5 to Medina bridge replacement and HOV project. The created wetlands and enhancement areas are designed to provide mitigation for lost wetland functions including wildlife habitat, biological support, and storm water control. 11 Figure 1: Mitigation Site.