Caples Lake and Silver Lake East Campground Improvements Project
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Initial Study/Proposed Mitigated Negative Declaration Caples Lake and Silver Lake East Campground Improvements Project Prepared for: El Dorado Irrigation District June 2019 Prepared by: Consulting Engineers and Scientists Initial Study/Proposed Mitigated Negative Declaration Caples Lake and Silver Lake East Campground Improvements Project Prepared for: El Dorado Irrigation District 2890 Mosquito Road Placerville, CA 95667 Contact: Doug Venable Environmental Review Analyst (530) 642-4187 Prepared by: GEI Consultants 2868 Prospect Park Drive, Suite 400 Sacramento, CA 95670 Contact: Ryan Jolley Senior Project Manager (916) 912-4942 June 2019 Project No. 1901628 El Dorado Irrigation District NOTICE OF INTENT and NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING TO ADOPT A MITIGATED NEGATIVE DECLARATION (Pursuant to CEQA Section 21092 and CEQA Guidelines Section 15072) CAPLES LAKE AND SILVER LAKE EAST CAMPGROUND IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT The El Dorado Irrigation District (EID) proposes to adopt a Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (Section 15000 et seq., Title 14, California Code of Regulations) for the Caples Lake and Silver Lake East Campground Improvements Project (project or proposed project). The project involves improvements to camping units, infrastructure, restrooms, and other facilities to meet the most current U.S. Forest Service (USFS) design and accessibility standards of the Architectural Barriers Act, at the Caples Lake and Silver Lake East campgrounds. The improvements are being conducted in accordance with requirements of USFS Conditions 50.1 and 50.2 of EID’s Federal Energy Regulatory Commission license to operate Project No. 184. The project includes: 1) resurfacing and expanding campground roadways and parking spurs; 2) replacing, expanding, and relocating camping units; 3) replacing the potable water systems; 4) replacing restrooms and other facilities; and 5) abandoning and/or removing existing camping units, pipelines, and other facilities. Project construction is anticipated to take approximately 10 months in fall 2019 and spring/summer 2020. The project site locations are not identified on the lists specified in Government Code section 65962.5 for hazardous waste sites. The project does not increase the capacity or change the existing use of the campgrounds. EID is the lead agency for the project, under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and has directed the preparation of an Initial Study (IS) on the proposed project in accordance with CEQA requirements, the State CEQA Guidelines, and EID’s guidelines. This IS describes the proposed project and assesses the proposed project’s potentially significant adverse impacts on the physical environment. It concludes that the proposed project’s potentially significant or significant adverse effects on the environment could be mitigated to less-than-significant levels; therefore, a proposed Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) has been prepared. Agencies and members of the public are invited to comment on the proposed IS/MND. The comment period is from June 28, 2019 to July 29, 2019. The proposed IS/MND can be reviewed at EID’s Customer Service Building, 2890 Mosquito Road, Placerville, CA 95667 or on the EID web site at www.eid.org/ceqa. Comments can be sent to Doug Venable, EID Environmental Review Analyst, at the address above or by email at [email protected] by 5:00 p.m. on July 29, 2019. A public hearing to consider the IS/MND will be held on August 12, 2019 at 9:00 a.m. during a regularly scheduled meeting of the EID Board of Directors. The hearing will be in the EID Customer Service Building Board Room at the above address. Caples Lake and Silver Lake East Campground Improvements Project GEI Consultants, Inc. El Dorado Irrigation District NOI-1 Notice of Intent In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and California law, it is the policy of the El Dorado Irrigation District to offer its public programs, services and meetings in a manner that is readily accessible to everyone, including individuals with disabilities. If you are a person with a disability and require information or materials in an appropriate alternative format; or if you require any other accommodation for this meeting, please contact the EID ADA coordinator at 530.642.4045 or email at [email protected] at least 72 hours prior to the meeting. Advance notification within this guideline will enable the District to make reasonable accommodations to ensure accessibility. GEI Consultants, Inc. Caples Lake and Silver Lake East Campground Improvements Project Notice of Intent NOI-2 El Dorado Irrigation District PROPOSED MITIGATED NEGATIVE DECLARATION Project: Caples Lake and Silver Lake East Campground Improvements Project Lead Agency: El Dorado Irrigation District PROJECT LOCATION The Caples Lake and Silver Lake East campgrounds are located in Alpine and Amador counties, California, respectively. A segment of the new water supply pipeline and offsite well serving the Silver Lake East Campground is located in El Dorado County, California. The project site locations are adjacent to State Route 88, near Caples and Silver lakes. PROJECT DESCRIPTION The project involves improvements to camping units, infrastructure, and restrooms, to meet the most current U.S. Forest Service (USFS) design and accessibility standards of the Architectural Barriers Act at the Caples Lake and Silver Lake East campgrounds. The improvements are being conducted in accordance with requirements of USFS Conditions 50.1 and 50.2 of El Dorado Irrigation District’s (EID’s) Federal Energy Regulatory Commission license for operation of Project No. 184. The project includes: 1) resurfacing and expanding campground roadways and parking spurs; 2) replacing, expanding, and relocating camping units; 3) replacing potable water systems; 4) replacing restrooms and other facilities; and 5) abandoning and/or removing existing camping units, pipelines, and other facilities. Project construction is anticipated to take approximately 10 months in fall 2019 and spring/summer 2020. FINDINGS An Initial Study (IS) was prepared to assess the proposed project’s potential effects on the environment and the significance of those effects. Based on the IS, it has been determined that the proposed project would not result in significant adverse effects on the physical environment after implementation of mitigation measures. This conclusion is supported by the following findings: 1. The proposed project would have no impacts on land use and planning, mineral resources, population and housing, public services, and wildfire. 2. The proposed project would have less-than-significant impacts on aesthetics, agriculture and forestry resources, air quality, greenhouse gas emissions, noise, recreation, transportation, and utilities and service systems. 3. The proposed project would have potentially significant impacts on biological, Tribal and cultural resources, geology and soils, hazards and hazardous materials, and hydrology and water quality, but mitigation measures are proposed to avoid or reduce these effects to less-than-significant levels. Caples Lake and Silver Lake East Campground Improvements Project GEI Consultants, Inc. El Dorado Irrigation District MND-1 Mitigated Negative Declaration 4. The proposed project would not have the potential to substantially degrade the quality of the environment; substantially reduce the habitat of a fish or wildlife species; cause a fish or wildlife population to drop below self-sustaining levels; threaten to eliminate a plant or animal community; substantially reduce the number or restrict the range of an endangered, rare, or threatened species; or eliminate important examples of the major periods of California history or prehistory. 5. The proposed project would not have the potential to achieve short-term environmental goals to the disadvantage of long-term environmental goals. 6. The proposed project would not have possible environmental effects that are individually limited but cumulatively considerable and contribute to a significant cumulative impact. “Cumulatively considerable” means that the incremental effects of an individual project are significant when viewed in connection with the effects of past projects, the effects of other current projects, and the effects of probable future projects. 7. The environmental effects of the proposed project would not cause substantial adverse effects on human beings, either directly or indirectly. Following are the proposed mitigation measures that would be implemented by EID to avoid or minimize environmental impacts. Implementation of these mitigation measures would reduce the environmental impacts of the proposed project to less-than-significant levels. Mitigation Measure BIO-1: Minimize Potential Impacts on Sierra Nevada Yellow-legged Frog EID shall implement the following measures to minimize potential for significant adverse effects on Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog during project activities at the Silver Lake East Campground. Conduct environmental awareness training before project activities begin to inform all construction personnel about measures to avoid and minimize effects on biological resources. Install and maintain high-visibility fencing or other visual marking to protect sensitive biological resource areas (i.e., Oyster Lake and Oyster Creek) that are located adjacent to construction areas from encroachment by personnel and equipment. Incorporate sensitive habitat information into construction