Final COHO-FRIENDLY HABITAT AND OPERATIONS PLAN For the San Geronimo Golf Course Prepared for June 2014 Salmon Protection And Watershed Network (SPAWN) Final COHO-FRIENDLY HABITAT AND OPERATIONS PLAN For the San Geronimo Golf Course Prepared for June 2014 Salmon Protection And Watershed Network (SPAWN) Funded by California Department of Fish and Wildlife and NOAA Fisheries, Fisheries Restoration Grant Program 550 Kearny Street Suite 800 San Francisco, CA 94108 415.896.5900 www.esassoc.com Los Angeles Oakland Orlando Palm Springs Petaluma Portland Sacramento San Diego Santa Cruz Seattle Tampa Woodland Hills 121008 OUR COMMITMENT TO SUSTAINABILITY | ESA helps a variety of public and private sector clients plan and prepare for climate change and emerging regulations that limit GHG emissions. ESA is a registered assessor with the California Climate Action Registry, a Climate Leader, and founding reporter for the Climate Registry. ESA is also a corporate member of the U.S. Green Building Council and the Business Council on Climate Change (BC3). Internally, ESA has adopted a Sustainability Vision and Policy Statement and a plan to reduce waste and energy within our operations. This document was produced using recycled paper. TABLE OF CONTENTS Pages 1. Introduction 1-1 1.1 Approach 1-2 2. Background 2-1 2.1 Physical Setting and Landuse History of the San Geronimo Valley 2-1 2.2 Geomorphic Setting 2-4 2.3 Hydrologic Setting 2-11 2.4 Salmonid Utilization 2-14 2.5 Previous Work 2-19 3. Habitat Restoration & Management 3-1 3.1 Riparian and Floodplain Habitat Assessment 3-1 3.2 Large Woody Debris Assessment 3-18 3.3 Salmonid Barrier Assessment 3-31 4. Stormwater Management Plan 4-1 4.1 Background 4-1 4.2 Creating a Stormwater BMP Toolkit 4-3 4.3 Recommendations 4-9 5. Golf Course Operations & Management 5-1 5.1 Water Conservation Plan 5-1 5.2 Integrated Pest Management Plan 5-21 5.3 Invasive Species Management Plan 5-34 6. Summary and Recommendations 6-1 7. References 7-1 8. Acknowledgments 8-1 Appendices A Stormwater Management BMPs A-1 B Irrigation Equipment Cut Sheets B-1 C Pesticide Use Tables C-1 D Integrated Pest Management Plan D-1 E CDFW FRGP Grant Requirements E-1 F Comments and Responses to Draft Report F-1 List of Tables 2-1 Present Time Landuse in San Geronimo Valley 2-2 2-2 Geomorphic Reaches 2-11 2-3 San Geronimo Golf Course Pond Sizes and Depths at Maximum Capacity 2-14 3-1 Recommended Prioritization of Riparian Enhancements 3-17 3-2 Riparian Enhancements Summary 3-18 Coho-Friendly Habitat and Operations Plan i D121008.00 San Geronimo Golf Course June 2014 FINAL Table of Contents 3-3 Summary of Lwd Reconnaissance Survey 3-25 3-4 LWD Opportunities and Constraints 3-30 3-5 LWD Planning-Level Cost Estimates 3-30 3-6 Summary of Salmonid Barrier Assessment 3-36 4-1 San Geronimo Creek Major Land Uses 4-2 4-2 Existing San Geronimo Golf Course Land Uses 4-2 4-3 Typical Pollutants Present in Runoff from Various Land Uses 4-10 4-4 Typical Pollutants Present in Runoff from Various Land Uses Paired with Treatment BMPs 4-10 4-5 Typical Bmps and Construction Costs 4-11 5-1 Monthly ETc Rates, Irrigation Precipitation, and Rainfall for 2012 5-4 5-2 WCP Measures, Cost and Benefit Analysis, and Status Summary 5-20 5-3 Greatest Bullfrog and Pacific Tree Frog Audio Indices of Each Pond 5-38 5-4 Frog Audio Call Index Values 5-38 5-5 Summary of Angling Survey Statistics at Golf Course Ponds 5-42 5-6 Invasive Species Management Recommendation Summary 5-52 5-7 Itemized List of Equipment Needed for the Project with Corresponding Costs 5-53 6-1 Potential Comprehensive Projects 6-3 List of Figures 2-1 San Geronimo Valley – Aerial Photograph (1952) 2-3 2-2 Lagunitas and San Geronimo Creek Watersheds 2-4 2-3 San Geronimo Creek Watershed 2-5 2-4 Project Site 2-7 2-5 Project Reaches – San Geronimo Creek 2-8 2-6 Project Reaches – Larsen Creek 2-9 2-7 SGGC Hydrologic Setting – San Geronimo Creek 2-12 2-8 SGGC Hydrologic Setting – Larsen Creek 2-13 2-9 Existing and Historic Coho Habitat 2-16 2-10 Lagunitas Creek Watershed Development 2-17 2-11 Coho Redds by Lagunitas Creek Sub-watershed 2-18 2-12 Recent SGGC Restoration & Enhancement Projects 2-21 3-1 Historic Alignments of San Geronimo Creek 3-2 3-2 Flooding at San Geronimo Creek 3-3 3-3 Historic Alignments of Larsen Creek 3-4 3-4 In-channel Enhancement Opportunities – Schematic Cross Section 3-7 3-5 Off-channel Enhancement Opportunities – Schematic Cross Section 3-8 3-6 Riparian and Floodplain Habitat Enhancements - San Geronimo Creek 3-9 3-7 Channel Complexity Enhancements - Alcove, Schematic Plan View 3-11 3-8 Channel Complexity Enhancements - Schematic Plan View 3-13 3-9 Riparian and Floodplain Habitat Enhancements - Larsen Creek 3-15 3-10 Large Woody Debris Assessment - San Geronimo Creek 3-21 3-11 Large Woody Debris Assessment - Larsen Creek 3-22 3-12 Existing Large Woody Debris Photographs 3-23 3-13 Residual Pool Depths associated with LWD 3-24 3-14 Large Woody Debris – Log Weir 3-27 3-15 Large Woody Debris – Log Deflector 3-28 3-16 Salmonid Barrier Assessment - San Geronimo Creek 3-32 3-17 Salmonid Barrier Assessment - Larsen Creek 3-33 3-18 Salmonid Barrier Assessment – Photographs of Complete Barriers 3-35 4-1 Stormwater Enhancements San Geronimo Creek and Maintenance Areas 4-5 4-2 Stormwater Enhancements - Clubhouse and Sir Francis Drake Blvd Areas 4-6 Coho-Friendly Habitat and Operations Plan ii D121008.00 San Geronimo Golf Course June 2014 FINAL Table of Contents 4-3 Stormwater Enhancements - Larsen Creek Area 4-7 5-1 Irrigation Pond and Piping Schematic Layout 5-7 5-2 Recommended Native Plant Species List 5-13 5-3 Typical Turf Removal, Schematic Layout 5-14 5-4 Water Conservation Measure Implementation Decision Tree 5-22 5-5 Water Conservation Measure Evaluation Decision Tree 5-23 5-6 Bullfrog Audio and Visual Counts 5-39 5-7 Pacific Tree Frog Audio Counts 5-40 5-8 Parrot’s Feather Infestations in Golf Course Ponds 5-40 5-9 Decision Tree of Parrot’s Feather Management Options 5-51 5-10 Culvert Cage Schematic 5-52 Coho-Friendly Habitat and Operations Plan iii D121008.00 San Geronimo Golf Course June 2014 FINAL Table of Contents This page intentionally left blank Coho-Friendly Habitat and Operations Plan iv D121008.00 San Geronimo Golf Course June 2014 FINAL CHAPTER 1 Introduction The Coho-Friendly Habitat and Operations Plan for the San Geronimo Golf Course is a planning document for the golf course, stakeholders, and community members to understand and prioritize opportunities for improving salmonid habitat through direct enhancement actions and management strategies on the golf course property. The plan specifically targets habitat and management improvements to benefit coho salmon at a range of lifestages. The San Geronimo Golf Course (SGGC) is situated in the headwaters of the Lagunitas Creek Watershed. San Geronimo Creek and Larsen Creek flow through the Golf Course. These two creeks are part of a larger riparian assemblage extending to Tomales Bay that primarily supports coho salmon, steelhead trout, and to a lesser extent Chinook salmon. The golf course is one of the largest parcels of land adjacent to San Geronimo Creek within the San Geronimo Valley and salmonids actively use the creeks for spawning and rearing throughout the year. This makes the golf course highly suitable for development and implementation of restoration and management strategies that can have a significant benefit to salmonids. The residents and community of the San Geronimo Valley are deeply engaged and invested in improving the quality of habitat for coho and increasing likelihood for successful recovery of the species. This is a guidance document developed specifically for the SGGC, to benefit of coho salmon and steelhead trout, in the context of the greater San Geronimo Valley watershed and community. This study was undertaken as part of a grant from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), obtained by the Salmon Protection AND Watershed Network (SPAWN). SPAWN is a community-based non-profit organization located in western Marin County that formed in 1996 as an effort to increase public support and funding for salmonid habitat restoration and protection projects within the Lagunitas Creek watershed. Over the years SPAWN has worked to create partnerships with public agencies and private property owners to protect and restore salmonid habitat, with the SGGC being one such partner. SPAWN and the past and current owners of the SGGC have worked together on previous habitat improvement projects including invasive plant removal, enhanced fish passage, floodplain restoration, bank stabilization, and in-stream habitat enhancements (LWD). This study furthers this previous work by developing a site scale restoration and management plan for the golf course aimed at improving conditions for salmonids at the golf course and within the greater watershed. The overall project goals related to golf course’s role in salmonid recovery include: Directly improve coho salmon habitat, instream structure and riparian habitat Improve stormwater quality and manage peak flows Coho-Friendly Habitat and Operations Plan 1-1 D121008.00 San Geronimo Golf Course June 2014 FINAL 1. Introduction Improve golf course operations and management (water use, integrated pest management, and invasive species management) The existing habitat conditions, management and treatment of stormwater, management and use of water for irrigation are three components that are central to developing a holistic management plan for the SGGC that will benefit salmonids.