Proposed Osoyoos Airport Development – Environmental Assessment Osoyoos, British Columbia Prepared for: Town of Osoyoos Box 3010 8707 Main Street Osoyoos, B.C., V0H 1V0 [PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK] REPORT TO Barry Romanko CAO Town of Osoyoos Box 3010 8707 Main Street Osoyoos, B.C., V0H 1V0 FOR Proposed Osoyoos Airport Development, Environmental Assessment PREPARED BY EBB Environmental Consulting Inc. PO Box 18180 1215C 56th Street Delta, British Columbia, V4L 2M4 Phone: 604-943-3209 Fax: 604-948-3273 Toll-Free: 1-877-943-3209 Website: www.ebbconsulting.ca Email: [email protected] PRINCIPAL CONTACT Oliver Busby, MBA, RPBio, PAg Mobile: 604-219-2412 Email: [email protected] [PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK] Document Limitations This document was prepared exclusively for the Town of Osoyoos. The findings, conclusions, and recommendations in this document are based on the expertise and experience of EBB personnel based on: 1) the information available at the time of preparation; 2) data supplied by outside sources; and, 3) the assumptions, conditions, and qualifications set forth in this document. While professional judgement and standard practices were used in interpreting external third party data, EBB did not verify the accuracy and quality of externally provided data. Respectfully submitted; EBB Environmental Consulting Inc. Original signed by: Prepared: Senior Review: Geoff Smart, BSc, PBiol, RPBio Oliver Busby, MBA, RPBio, PAg Biologist Principal TOWN OF OSOYOOS I PROPOSED OSOYOOS AIRPORT DEVELOPMENT JULY 2015 ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT Table of Contents 1 Project Overview ................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Site Context ................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1.1 Location .................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1.2 Ecosystems and Climate ......................................................................................................... 3 1.1.3 Current Land Uses, Zoning, and Encumbrances ..................................................................... 3 2 Background Information Review ...................................................................................... 3 2.1 Reports and Literature ................................................................................................................. 3 2.2 Digital Databases .......................................................................................................................... 4 2.3 Spatial Data ................................................................................................................................... 5 3 Field Inventory ................................................................................................................... 5 3.1 Inventory Methodology ................................................................................................................ 5 3.1.2 Vegetation Inventory ................................................................................................................ 6 3.1.3 Species-Specific Inventory Methodologies .............................................................................. 6 3.1.4 Avifauna ................................................................................................................................... 7 3.1.5 Reptiles and Amphibians ......................................................................................................... 7 3.1.6 Mammals .................................................................................................................................. 7 3.1.7 Arthropods ................................................................................................................................ 7 3.1.8 Rare Plants .............................................................................................................................. 7 3.1.9 Incidental Observations ........................................................................................................... 7 3.2 Vegetation ...................................................................................................................................... 8 3.3 General Wildlife ........................................................................................................................... 10 3.3.1 Mammals ................................................................................................................................ 10 3.3.2 Avifauna ................................................................................................................................. 10 3.4 Sensitive Ecosystems and Species at Risk ............................................................................. 11 3.4.1 Sensitive Ecosystems ............................................................................................................ 11 3.4.2 Detected Species at Risk ....................................................................................................... 14 4 Proposed Development ....................................................................................................15 5 Recommendations and Mitigation Strategies .................................................................15 6 References ........................................................................................................................16 7 Reviewed Literature ..........................................................................................................17 TOWN OF OSOYOOS II PROPOSED OSOYOOS AIRPORT DEVELOPMENT JULY 2015 ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT List of Tables Table 1: BC CDC query results for species at risk with potential to occur within the Subject Property habitat. .................................................................................................................. 4 Table 2: Active (grey) periods and optimal (black) survey. ............................................................... 5 Table 3: Survey methodologies and protocols. ................................................................................. 6 Table 4: Vegetation species occurring within the Subject Property identified during field inventories and percent representation within vegetation plots. ........................................................... 8 Table 5. Avifauna identified during field surveys. ........................................................................... 10 List of Figures Figure 1. Location of the Subject Property ......................................................................................... 2 Figure 2. Provincial spatial data showing the distribution of antelope-brush / needle-and-thread grass ecological community. ............................................................................................. 12 Figure 3. SEI polygons for the Subject Property. ............................................................................. 13 Figure 4. Distribution of species at risk observations by Sarrell et al. (2008). ................................. 14 TOWN OF OSOYOOS III PROPOSED OSOYOOS AIRPORT DEVELOPMENT JULY 2015 ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT 1 Project Overview EBB Environmental Consulting Inc. (EBB) was retained by the Town of Osoyoos (Osoyoos, the Town) to conduct an environmental assessment (EA) for the proposed development at the Osoyoos Airport (Subject Property) to assess ecological considerations of the proposed development, including ecological communities and species at risk, and to provide recommendations and mitigation strategies. Property Profile Civic Address 10400 Highway 3 Legal Description Lot 1013, Plan KAP39476, District Lot 2450S, Land District Similkameen Div of Yale, Except Plan KAP88567 Property Size 12.95 hectares (32 acres) Current Zoning ALR with Crown grant for Commercial Airport (CA) Proposed Zoning General Industrial (M1) OCP Land Use Designation Industrial (ID) OCP ESA Designation ESA 2 Agricultural Land Reserve Yes Access Empire Street at Highway 3 1.1 Site Context 1.1.1 Location The Subject Property is owned by the Province of British Columbia and under grant tenure to the Town of Osoyoos for commercial airport purposes. The site is located immediately east of Highway 3 (11U 317961E 5434583N, Figure 1). Seven parcels have previously been developed at this site. TOWN OF OSOYOOS 1 PROPOSED OSOYOOS AIRPORT DEVELOPMENT JULY 2015 ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT Figure 1. Location of the Subject Property TOWN OF OSOYOOS 2 PROPOSED OSOYOOS AIRPORT DEVELOPMENT JULY 2015 ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT 1.1.2 Ecosystems and Climate Provincially, two biophysical classification systems are used to describe BC landscapes: the BC Ecoregion Classification System and the Biogeoclimatic Zone (BEC) Classification System. Based on the BC Ecoregion Classification System, the Subject Property is situated within the southern Okanagan Basin ecosection, of the Okanagan highland ecoregion, of the southern interior ecoprovince, of the semi-arid steppe highlands ecodivision, of the dry ecodomain. Based on the BEC classification system, the Subject Property is located within the bunchgrass very dry, hot, Okanagan variant (BGxh1). The BGxh1 zone is characterized by warm to hot, dry summers, and moderately cold winters with little snowfall. Annually, the zone receives 242 to 336mm of precipitation