Orange County Water District Sunset Gap Monitoring Wells BS13, BS24 and Bolsa Chica Channel Levee Repair Project Prepared By Orange County Water District 18700 Ward Street Fountain Valley, CA 92708 Contact: Daniel Bott December 2017 Table of Contents Section Page SECTION 1.0 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................1 -1 1.1 Purpose of Environmental Review ................................................................. 1-1 1.2 Statutory Authority and Requirements ............................................................1 -1 1.3 Technical Information and Studies ................................................................. 1-2 SECTION 2.0 PROJECT DESCRIPTION ...............................................................2 -1 2.1 Proposed Project............................................................................................ 2-1 2.2 Background ....................................................................................................2 -1 2.3 Well Site Locations .........................................................................................2 -3 2.4 Monitoring Well Construction Activities ...........................................................2 -5 2.5 Monitoring Well Long Term Operation and Maintenance Activities ................. 2-9 2.6 Bolsa Chica Flood Control Levee Repairs .................................................... 2-10 2.7 Bolsa Chica Channel Levee Repair Construction Activities .......................... 2-12 2.8 Permits and Approvals ................................................................................. 2-13 SECTION 3.0 ENVIRONMENTAL CHECKLIST EVALUATIONS ............................ 3-1 SECTION 4.0 ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS ........................................................ 4-1 4.1 Aesthetics ......................................................................................................4 -1 4.2 Agricultural Resources/Forest Resources ...................................................... 4-3 4.3 Air Quality ......................................................................................................4 -5 4.4 Biological Resources .................................................................................... 4-21 4.5 Cultural Resources ....................................................................................... 4-36 4.6 Geology/Soils ...............................................................................................4 -42 4.7 Greenhouse Gas Emissions ......................................................................... 4-48 4.8 Hazards/Hazardous Materials ...................................................................... 4-52 4.9 Hydrology/Water Quality .............................................................................. 4-55 4.10 Land Use/Planning ................................................................................... 4-67 4.11 Mineral Resources .................................................................................... 4-68 4.12 Noise ........................................................................................................4 -69 4.13 Population/Housing .................................................................................. 4-87 4.14 Public Services .........................................................................................4 -87 4.15 Recreation ................................................................................................4 -88 4.16 Transportation/Traffic ................................................................................ 4-88 4.17 Tribal Resources ......................................................................................4 -91 4.18 Utilities/Service Systems .......................................................................... 4-93 SECTION 5.0 REFERENCES ................................................................................5 -1 iii Table of Contents Table Page Table 1 Mobilization Equipment Mix Monitoring Wells Sites BS13 & BS24 ................... 2-7 Table 2 Well Drilling/Construction Equipment Mix Well Site BS13 ................................ 2-7 Table 3 Well Drilling/Construction Equipment Mix Well Site BS24 ................................ 2-8 Table 4 Well Development Equipment Mix Well Site BS13........................................... 2-8 Table 5 Well Development Equipment Mix Well Site BS24........................................... 2-8 Table 8 Construction-Related Regional Criteria Pollutant Emissions Prior to Mitigation .4- 11 Table 9 Mitigated Construction-Related Regional Criteria Pollutant Emissions........... 4-12 Table 10 Construction-Related Local Criteria Pollutant Emissions ............................. 4-13 Table 11 Operational Well Sampling and Redevelopment Regional Criteria Pollutant Emissions............................................................................................ 4-14 Table 12 Operational Well Sampling and Redevelopment Local Criteria Pollutant Emissions............................................................................................ 4-15 Table 13: Sensitive Species List ................................................................................. 4-24 Table 14 Project Related Greenhouse Gas Annual Emissions ................................... 4-50 Table 15: Beneficial Uses ...........................................................................................4 -58 Table 16: Tidal Prism Bolsa Chica Channel ............................................................... 4-60 Table 17: Huntington Harbor ...................................................................................... 4-60 Table 18: Anaheim Bay Outer Bay ............................................................................. 4-60 Table 19: Anaheim Bay Seal Beach Wildlife Refuge .................................................. 4-61 Table 20: Bolsa Bay ...................................................................................................4 -61 Table 21: Orange County Groundwater Basin ............................................................ 4-61 Table 22: Water Quality Objectives (mg/L) ................................................................. 4-61 Table 23: Noise Levels and Human Response ........................................................... 4-70 Table 24: City of Huntington Beach Municipal Code Exterior Noise Standards........... 4-72 Table 25: City of Huntington Beach Municipal Code Interior Noise Standards ............ 4-73 Table 26: City of Seal Beach Municipal Code Exterior Noise Standards..................... 4-74 Table 27: City of Seal Beach Municipal Code Interior Noise Standards ...................... 4-74 Table 28 Phase 1 Mobilization Construction Noise Levels for BS13 ........................... 4-76 Table 29 Phase 2 BS13 Well Drilling and Construction Noise Levels ......................... 4-77 Table 30 Phase 3 BS13 Monitoring Well Development Noise Levels ......................... 4-78 Table 31 Bolsa Chica Channel Levee Repair Phase 1 Clearing, Brubbing, Excavation Noise Levels .......................................................................................4 -79 Table 32 Phase 2 Bolsa Chica Channel Levee Repair Backfill/Compaction Noise Levels ............................................................................................................4 -80 Table 33 Phase 3 Bolsa Chica Channel Levee Repair Final Grading Noise Impacts .. 4-80 Table 34 Monitoring Well BS13 Sampling Activities Noise Levels .............................. 4-82 Table 35 Monitoring Well BS13 Gauging Activities Noise Levels ................................ 4-82 Table 36 Monitoring Well BS13 Redevelopment Activities Noise Levels .................... 4-83 Table 37 Construction Equipment Vibration Noise Levels .......................................... 4-86 iii List of Figures Page Figure 1 Project Location …………………………………………………………………..2-2 Figure 2 Monitoring Wells BS 13 Well Site .................................................................2-5 Figure 3 Monitoring Well BS24 Well Site………………………………………………….2-7 Figure 4 Bolsa Chica Channel Levee Repair……………………………………………2-12 Figure 5 Vegetation Communities…………………………………………………………4-22 Figure 6 Wetland Locations………………………………………………………………..4-28 Appendices Appendix A: Air Quality and Greenhouse Gas Analysis Report prepared by Vista Environmental October 2017. Appendix B: Cultural Resource Record Searches conducted by the South Coast Information Center, California Native American Heritage Commission Appendix C. Geotechnical Evaluation Groundwater Monitoring Well BS13 prepared by Ninyo & Moore December 30, 2016 Appendix C1 Geotechnical Evaluation Bolsa Chica Channel Levee Repair Appendix D: Noise Impact Analysis Report prepared by Vista Environmental October 2017. SECTION 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Purpose of Environmental Review The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires that all state and local government agencies consider the environmental consequences of projects over which they have discretionary authority before taking action on those projects. This Initial Study has been prepared to disclose and evaluate short-term construction related impacts and long-term operational impacts associated with the implementation of the Sunset Gap Monitoring Wells BS13, BS24 and Bolsa Chica Channel Levee Repair Project. Pursuant to Section 15367 of the State CEQA guidelines, the Orange County Water District (OCWD) is the Lead Agency and