PESCADERO-BUTANO WATERSHED ASSESSMENT Final Report March 5, 2004 PESCADERO-BUTANO WATERSHED ASSESSMENT Final Report March 5, 2004 Prepared for Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Foundation 299 Foam Street Monterey, CA 93940 Prepared by Environmental Science Associates Pacific Watershed Associates OʼConnor Environmental, Inc. Albion Environmental, Inc. Dennis Jackson, Hydrologist Photo Credit: Copyright (C) 2002-2004 Kenneth Adelman, California Coastal Records Project, www.Californiacoastline.org 225 Bush Street 8950 Cal Center Drive 710 Second Avenue 2685 Ulmerton Road Suite 1700 Building 3, Suite 300 Suite 730 Suite 102 San Francisco, CA 94104 Sacramento, CA 95826 Seattle, WA 98104 Clearwater, FL 33762 (415) 896-5900 (916) 564-4500 (206) 442-0900 (727) 572-5226 436 14th Street 4221 Wilshire Boulevard 1751 Old Pecos Trail 5850 T.G. Lee Boulevard Suite 600 Suite 480 Suite O Suite 440 Oakland, CA 94612 Los Angeles, CA 90010 Santa Fe, NM 87505 Orlando, FL 32822 (510) 839-5066 (323) 933-6111 (505) 992-8860 (407) 851-1155 202395 TABLE OF CONTENTS PESCADERO-BUTANO WATERSHED ASSESSMENT Page 1. Introduction and Purpose ........................................................................................... 1-1 2. Overview, Conclusions, and Recommendations ....................................................... 2-1 The 1955 Flood.............................................................................................................. 2-3 The Watershed Before and after 1982 ........................................................................... 2-9 Erosion and Sediment Delivery Then and Now .......................................................... 2-10 Stream Channels Today: Geomorphology and Fish Habitat ....................................... 2-12 Conclusions and Recommendations ............................................................................ 2-15 3. History of the Watershed Exploration, Settlement and Land Use .......................................................................... 3-1 The Native Peoples........................................................................................................ 3-1 Spanish Contact – 1769 – A Bare and Treeless Country............................................... 3-2 The Spanish Period – 1770 – 1822 ................................................................................ 3-4 Mexican Era – 1822–1848............................................................................................. 3-5 The Pescadero Grant – 1833.......................................................................................... 3-5 Early American Period – 1848–1868............................................................................. 3-7 The Town of Pescadero ................................................................................................. 3-9 Early Agriculture ......................................................................................................... 3-13 The Pescadero Valley, 1861 ........................................................................................ 3-14 Pescadero – 1870s and 1880s ...................................................................................... 3-17 Early Floods and Clearing ........................................................................................... 3-19 Pescadero and Butano Creeks and Trout Fishing ........................................................ 3-20 Logging in the Butano ................................................................................................. 3-22 Save the Butano – May, 1877...................................................................................... 3-23 Status Report – 1886.................................................................................................... 3-24 The Scent of a Railroad ............................................................................................... 3-25 Impact of the Ocean Shore........................................................................................... 3-26 The Southward March of the Artichoke ...................................................................... 3-27 Diversified Agriculture................................................................................................ 3-28 Pescadero Marsh-Management and Reclamation........................................................ 3-28 Fish Planting-Twentieth Century................................................................................. 3-30 Logging in the Pescadero Watershed........................................................................... 3-30 The Butano Land and Development Company............................................................ 3-30 The Second Campaign to Save the Butano – 1923–1955............................................ 3-31 The Upper Butano-Logging and Restoration............................................................... 3-32 Pescadero-Butano Watershed Assessment ii ESA / 202395 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page 3. History of the Watershed (cont.) The Introduction of Exotic Species – Beavers............................................................. 3-34 The Ethnic Diversity of the 1930s ............................................................................... 3-34 Straightening the Coast Road ...................................................................................... 3-35 World War II................................................................................................................ 3-36 The End of Flax and Recent Erosion........................................................................... 3-37 Pest Control ................................................................................................................. 3-39 Ground Squirrels.......................................................................................................... 3-39 Recent Trends in Agriculture....................................................................................... 3-40 Postwar Pescadero ....................................................................................................... 3-41 Fishing in Recent Years............................................................................................... 3-41 The Floods of 1937, 1938, 1940 and 1941 .................................................................. 3-44 Three Big Floods: 1955, 1982, and 1998..................................................................... 3-44 Recent Changes in the Pescadero-Butano Area: Year-Round Residency ................... 3-46 Opportunities for Future Research............................................................................... 3-46 4. Analysis of Gauging Record Introduction....................................................................................................................4-1 Flood Record ................................................................................................................. 4-3 Changes in Streambed Elevation at the USGS Gauge................................................... 4-6 Interpretation................................................................................................................ 4-10 5. Re-Survey of Bridge Cross Sections Introduction....................................................................................................................5-1 Bridge Survey Procedure............................................................................................... 5-1 Discussion of the Bridge Surveys.................................................................................. 5-5 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 5-19 6. Sediment Source Analysis Purpose, Scope, and Methods........................................................................................ 6-1 Sediment Source Categories and Data Collection ....................................................... 6-14 Sediment Source Assessment Results.......................................................................... 6-22 Discussion.................................................................................................................... 6-38 Conclusions.................................................................................................................. 6-48 Recommendations for Future Study ............................................................................ 6-50 7. Current Channel Conditions Objectives ......................................................................................................................7-1 Methods .........................................................................................................................7-1 Results ........................................................................................................................... 7-7 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 7-29 8. Fisheries Habitat Assessment Methodology.................................................................................................................. 8-1 Fish Habitat Assessment Results ................................................................................... 8-7 Pescadero-Butano Watershed Assessment iii ESA / 202395 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page 9. Acknowledgements .....................................................................................................