SAN FRANCISCO ESTUARY INVASIVE SPARTINA PROJECT Revegetation Program Installation Report and 201-201 Revegetation Plan Create Report templates San Francisco Estuary Invasive Spartina Project Revegetation Program DRAFT Year 4 (2014‐2015) Installation Report and Year 5 (2015‐2016) Revegetation Plan Prepared by Jeanne Hammond Olofson Environmental, Inc. 1830 Embarcadero Cove, Suite 100 Oakland, California 94606 For the California State Coastal Conservancy San Francisco Estuary Invasive Spartina Project 1330 Broadway, 13th Floor Oakland, CA 94612 January 26, 2016 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This report was prepared by Jeanne Hammond, the Invasive Spartina Project Revegetation Program Manager and incorporates the hard work done by other OEI biologists including Whitney Thornton, Jeffrey Lewis, Stephanie Chen, Nathan Deakers, Kevin Eng, Anastasia Ennis, Simon Gunner, Nina Hill, Penluck Laulikitnont, Jennifer McBroom, Monica Oey, Tobias Rohmer, Ilana Stein, Tripp McCandlish, as well as contributions from Ingrid Hogle and Drew Kerr. We would also like to thank our partners and contractors for all their hard work contracting, growing and planting including the California Wildlife Foundation, The Watershed Nursery, Shelterbelt, Inc., Hanford ARC, and Aquatic Environ‐ ments. This program would not be possible without the participation of our partner/landowners in‐ cluding U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, East Bay Regional Park District, City of San Leandro, Hayward Area Recreation and Park District, City of Alameda, City of Palo Alto, County of San Mateo Watershed Protection Services, Friends of Corte Madera Creek Watershed, and the Alameda Flood Control and Water Conservation District. This report was prepared for the California Coastal Conservancy’s San Francisco Estuary Invasive Spartina Project with support and funding from the following contributors: California Coastal Conservancy California Wildlife Conservation Board (MOU #99‐054‐01 and subsequent) U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ‐ National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant (# F14AP00110) and/or North American Wetlands Conservation Act Grant (#F14AP00411) CONTENTS 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 1 2 Overview of Planting Designs and Planting Completed in Year 4 (Winter 2014‐2015) ............................................................................................................................ 2 2.1 Grindelia stricta ........................................................................................................... 6 2.2 Distichlis spicata .......................................................................................................... 7 2.3 Spartina foliosa ............................................................................................................ 8 2.4 Jaumea carnosa ........................................................................................................... 9 2.5 Erosion Control ............................................................................................................ 9 2.6 Sites and Locations for Planting ................................................................................. 10 2.7 Plant Propagation ...................................................................................................... 10 3 Findings from 2014 Monitoring, Field Observations from Plant Installation, and Recommendations for Year 5 ....................................................................................... 11 3.1 Pot Size ....................................................................................................................... 11 3.2 Combo Pots ................................................................................................................ 13 3.3 Spartina foliosa Direct Transplants ........................................................................... 13 3.4 Spartina foliosa Donor Source ................................................................................... 13 3.5 Salt Hardening............................................................................................................ 14 3.6 Caging ........................................................................................................................ 14 3.7 Habitat Type ............................................................................................................... 15 3.8 Spartina foliosa Trimming .......................................................................................... 15 3.9 Effects of Invasive Spartina Pressure at Revegetation Sites ..................................... 15 3.10 Erosion Control .......................................................................................................... 16 3.11 Planting Elevation ...................................................................................................... 16 3.12 Christmas Trees and Bamboo Structures as Cover ................................................... 17 4 Overview of Plans for Year 5 (Winter 2015‐2016) .............................................................. 18 5 Site‐specific Year 4 Installation Reports and Year 5 Plans .................................................. 21 5.1 Alameda Flood Control Channel (AFCC) and Pond 3 ................................................. 21 Alameda Flood Control Channel Mouth, Lower & Upper ......................................... 21 AFCC Pond 3 ............................................................................................................... 22 5.2 Greco Island ............................................................................................................... 23 5.3 Bair Island .................................................................................................................. 24 Bair Island ‐ B2 North West ....................................................................................... 25 Bair Island ‐ B2 North ‐ South of Boardwalk .............................................................. 26 Bair Island ‐ B2 South ................................................................................................. 26 Invasive Spartina Project Year 4 Installation Report and Year 5 Plan Revegetation Program i. Deepwater Slough ..................................................................................................... 27 Corkscrew Slough ...................................................................................................... 27 5.4 Bird Island .................................................................................................................. 28 5.5 Hayward Regional Shoreline: Cogswell, Triangle, H.A.R.D., and Johnson’s Landing ...................................................................................................... 28 Cogswell A .................................................................................................................. 29 Cogswell B .................................................................................................................. 30 Cogswell C .................................................................................................................. 31 Triangle Marsh ........................................................................................................... 32 H.A.R.D. Marsh and Johnson’s Landing ..................................................................... 32 5.6 Hayward Regional Shoreline: Oro Loma .................................................................... 34 Oro Loma East ............................................................................................................ 35 Oro Loma West .......................................................................................................... 36 5.7 Eden Landing Ecological Reserve ............................................................................... 36 Whales Tail North ...................................................................................................... 36 Whales Tail South ...................................................................................................... 38 Cargill Mitigation Marsh ............................................................................................ 39 North Creek Marsh .................................................................................................... 40 Mt. Eden Creek .......................................................................................................... 41 Mt. Eden Creek Marsh ............................................................................................... 42 Ponds E8A, E9, E8X and North Creek ......................................................................... 43 5.8 Robert’s Landing ........................................................................................................ 44 Citation Marsh ........................................................................................................... 44 Bunker Marsh ............................................................................................................ 45 5.9 San Leandro Bay ........................................................................................................ 46 Arrowhead Marsh ...................................................................................................... 47 Elsie