San Acacia Habitat Restoration Project Draft Environmental

San Acacia Habitat Restoration Project from River Mile 116 to 99, Socorro County, New Mexico Environmental Assessment Prepared for Bureau of Reclamation, Albuquerque Area Office On Behalf of New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission, Albuquerque Office Prepared by SWCA Environmental Consultants February 2016 SAN ACACIA HABITAT RESTORATION PROJECT FROM RIVER MILE 116 TO 99, SOCORRO COUNTY, NEW MEXICO ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT Prepared for BUREAU OF RECLAMATION, ALBUQUERQUE AREA OFFICE 555 Broadway NE, Suite 100 Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102 On behalf of NEW MEXICO INTERSTATE STREAM COMMISSION, ALBUQUERQUE OFFICE 5550 San Antonio Drive NE Albuquerque, New Mexico 87109 Prepared by SWCA ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTANTS 5647 Jefferson Street NE Albuquerque, New Mexico 87109 Telephone: 505-254-1115, Fax: 505-254-1116 <a href="/goto?url=http://www.swca.com" target="_blank">www.swca.com </a>SWCA Project No. 34090 February 2016 San Acacia Habitat Restoration Project from River Mile 116 to 99, Socorro County, New Mexico Environmental Assessment TABLE OF CONTENTS <ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1"><a href="#7_0">1.0 </a></li><li style="flex:1"><a href="#7_0">Purpose and Need for Actio</a><a href="#7_0">n</a><a href="#7_0">.</a><a href="#7_0">.......................................................................................... 1 </a></li></ul><a href="#7_1">1.1 Introduction</a><a href="#7_1"> </a><a href="#7_1">...................................................................................................................... 1 </a><a href="#9_0">1.2 Purpose</a><a href="#9_0"> </a><a href="#9_0">and Need for the Action...................................................................................... 3 </a><a href="#9_1">1.3 Relevant</a><a href="#9_1"> </a><a href="#9_1">Statutes, Regulations, and Other Plans.............................................................. 3 </a><a href="#10_0">1.4 Issues</a><a href="#10_0"> </a><a href="#10_0">................................................................................................................................ 4 </a><ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1"><a href="#12_0">2.0 </a></li><li style="flex:1"><a href="#12_0">Alternatives........................................................................................................................ 6 </a></li></ul><a href="#12_1">2.1 No</a><a href="#12_1"> </a><a href="#12_1">Action Alternative ...................................................................................................... 6 </a><a href="#12_2">2.2 Proposed</a><a href="#12_2"> </a><a href="#12_2">Action ............................................................................................................... 6 </a><a href="#24_0">2.3 Alternatives</a><a href="#24_0"> </a><a href="#24_0">Considered But Eliminated from Further Analysis ................................... 18 </a><ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1"><a href="#25_0">3.0 </a></li><li style="flex:1"><a href="#25_0">Affected Environment .................................................................................................... 19 </a></li></ul><a href="#25_1">3.1 Land</a><a href="#25_1"> </a><a href="#25_1">Use......................................................................................................................... 19 </a><a href="#25_2">3.2 Air</a><a href="#25_2"> </a><a href="#25_2">Quality and Noise..................................................................................................... 19 </a><a href="#26_0">3.3 Vegetation</a><a href="#26_0"> </a><a href="#26_0">and Wetlands................................................................................................ 20 </a><a href="#27_0">3.4 Water</a><a href="#27_0"> </a><a href="#27_0">Quality and Water Depletio</a><a href="#27_0">n</a><a href="#27_0">.</a><a href="#27_0">.............................................................................. 21 </a><a href="#28_0">3.5 Fish</a><a href="#28_0"> </a><a href="#28_0">and Wildlife Resources........................................................................................... 22 </a><a href="#29_0">3.6 Threatened</a><a href="#29_0"> </a><a href="#29_0">and Endangered Species and their Critical Habitat ..................................... 23 </a><a href="#0_0">3.7 Soil</a><a href="#0_0">s</a><a href="#0_0">.</a><a href="#0_0">...............................................................................................................................</a><a href="#0_0"> </a><a href="#0_0">27 </a><a href="#0_1">3.8 Cultural</a><a href="#0_1"> </a><a href="#0_1">Resources.......................................................................................................... 27 </a><a href="#0_2">3.9 Environmental</a><a href="#0_2"> </a><a href="#0_2">Justice .................................................................................................... 28 </a><a href="#0_3">3.10 Indian</a><a href="#0_3"> </a><a href="#0_3">Trust Asset</a><a href="#0_3">s</a><a href="#0_3">.</a><a href="#0_3">........................................................................................................ 28 </a><a href="#0_4">3.11 Climate</a><a href="#0_4"> </a><a href="#0_4">Change .............................................................................................................. 29 </a><ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1"><a href="#0_0">4.0 </a></li><li style="flex:1"><a href="#0_0">Environmental Consequences........................................................................................ 30 </a></li></ul><a href="#0_5">4.1 Land</a><a href="#0_5"> </a><a href="#0_5">Use......................................................................................................................... 30 </a><a href="#0_6">4.2 Air</a><a href="#0_6"> </a><a href="#0_6">Quality and Noise..................................................................................................... 30 </a><a href="#0_7">4.3 Vegetation</a><a href="#0_7"> </a><a href="#0_7">and Wetlands................................................................................................ 31 </a><a href="#0_8">4.4 Water</a><a href="#0_8"> </a><a href="#0_8">Quality and Water Depletions ............................................................................. 32 </a><a href="#0_0">4.5 Fish</a><a href="#0_0"> </a><a href="#0_0">and Wildlife Resources........................................................................................... 34 </a><a href="#0_9">4.6 Threatened</a><a href="#0_9"> </a><a href="#0_9">and Endangered Species and Their Critical Habitat.................................... 34 </a><a href="#0_10">4.7 Soil</a><a href="#0_10">s</a><a href="#0_10">.</a><a href="#0_10">...............................................................................................................................</a><a href="#0_10"> </a><a href="#0_10">38 </a><a href="#0_11">4.8 Cultural</a><a href="#0_11"> </a><a href="#0_11">Resources.......................................................................................................... 39 </a><a href="#0_12">4.9 Environmental</a><a href="#0_12"> </a><a href="#0_12">Justice .................................................................................................... 39 </a><a href="#0_0">4.10 Indian</a><a href="#0_0"> </a><a href="#0_0">Trust Asset</a><a href="#0_0">s</a><a href="#0_0">.</a><a href="#0_0">........................................................................................................ 40 </a><a href="#0_13">4.11 Climate</a><a href="#0_13"> </a><a href="#0_13">Change .............................................................................................................. 40 </a><a href="#0_11">4.12 Cumulative</a><a href="#0_11"> </a><a href="#0_11">Impacts........................................................................................................ 40 </a><ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1"><a href="#0_0">5.0 </a></li><li style="flex:1"><a href="#0_0">Environmental Commitments........................................................................................ 42 </a></li></ul><a href="#0_14">5.1 Timing</a><a href="#0_14"> </a><a href="#0_14">of the Proposed Action ...................................................................................... 42 </a><a href="#0_15">5.2 Water</a><a href="#0_15"> </a><a href="#0_15">Quality ................................................................................................................. 42 </a><a href="#0_16">5.3 Equipment</a><a href="#0_16"> </a><a href="#0_16">and Operations ............................................................................................. 43 </a><a href="#0_16">5.4 Access</a><a href="#0_16"> </a><a href="#0_16">and Staging......................................................................................................... 44 </a><a href="#0_17">5.5 Vegetation</a><a href="#0_17"> </a><a href="#0_17">Replanting and Contro</a><a href="#0_17">l</a><a href="#0_17">.</a><a href="#0_17">............................................................................... 44 </a><a href="#0_18">5.6 Dust</a><a href="#0_18"> </a><a href="#0_18">Abatemen</a><a href="#0_18">t</a><a href="#0_18">.</a><a href="#0_18">............................................................................................................. 45 </a><a href="#0_19">5.7 Other</a><a href="#0_19"> </a><a href="#0_19">Measures............................................................................................................... 45 </a><ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1"><a href="#0_0">6.0 </a></li><li style="flex:1"><a href="#0_0">Summary.......................................................................................................................... 46 </a></li></ul><ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">SWCA Environmental Consultants </li><li style="flex:1">i</li><li style="flex:1">February 2016 </li></ul>San Acacia Habitat Restoration Project from River Mile 116 to 99, Socorro County, New Mexico Environmental Assessment <a href="#0_0">7.0 </a><a href="#0_20">8.0 </a> <a href="#0_0">Consultation and Coordination ..................................................................................... 47 </a><a href="#0_20">Preparers and Contributors........................................................................................... 47 </a><a href="#0_21">8.1 SWCA</a><a href="#0_21"> </a><a href="#0_21">Preparers ............................................................................................................ 47 </a><a href="#0_22">8.2 New</a><a href="#0_22"> </a><a href="#0_22">Mexico Interstate Stream Commission Preparers.................................................. 47 </a><a href="#0_23">8.3 Bureau</a><a href="#0_23"> </a><a href="#0_23">of Reclamation Contributors.............................................................................. 47 </a><ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1"><a href="#0_0">9.0 </a></li><li style="flex:1"><a href="#0_0">Reference</a><a href="#0_0">s</a><a href="#0_0">........................................................................................................................ 49 </a></li></ul><a href="#0_24">Appendix A</a><a href="#0_24">.</a><a href="#0_24">.</a><a href="#0_24">................................................................................................................................ 55 </a>LIST OF FIGURES <a href="#8_0">Figure 1.1.</a><a href="#8_0"> </a><a href="#8_0">Project location map. .................................................................................................2 </a><a href="#14_0">Figure 2.1.</a><a href="#14_0"> </a><a href="#14_0">RM 114 project area, access roads, staging, and spoils areas....................................8 </a><a href="#16_0">Figure 2.2.</a><a href="#16_0"> </a><a href="#16_0">RM 112 project area, access roads, staging, and spoils areas..................................10 </a><a href="#17_0">Figure 2.3.</a><a href="#17_0"> </a><a href="#17_0">RM 100.5 project area, access roads, spoils, and staging areas...............................11 </a><a href="#19_0">Figure 2.4.</a><a href="#19_0"> </a><a href="#19_0">RM 100 project area, access roads, and spoils areas. ..............................................13 </a><a href="#20_0">Figure 2.5.</a><a href="#20_0"> </a><a href="#20_0">RM 99.5 project area, access roads, staging, and spoils areas.................................14 </a>LIST OF TABLES <a href="#12_3">Table 2.1. </a><a href="#13_0">Table 2.2. </a><a href="#27_1">Table 3.1 </a> <a href="#12_3">San Acacia Reach Project Components and Acreages..............................................6 </a><a href="#13_0">Estimated Acres of Off-channel Habitat Restored for the Silvery Minnow .............7 </a><a href="#27_1">Average Water Quality Data by Constituent for the Central Avenue Gage </a><a href="#27_1">(1975–2001) ............................................................................................................21 </a><ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1"><a href="#29_1">Federally Listed Species That Could Occur within Socorro County, New </a></li><li style="flex:1"><a href="#29_1">Table 3.2 </a></li></ul><a href="#29_1">Mexico.....................................................................................................................23 </a><a href="#0_0">Historic Sites Closest to the Proposed Project Area................................................28 </a><a href="#0_25">Acres above and below the Ordinary High Water Mark.........................................33 </a><a href="#0_26">Effect Determinations for Federally Listed Species Likely to Occur in the </a><a href="#0_26">Project Are</a><a href="#0_26">a</a><a href="#0_26">.</a><a href="#0_26">............................................................................................................34 </a><a href="#0_27">Cubic Yards of Spoil Material Removed from Each Restoration Site....................38 </a><a href="#0_28">Projects Considered for Cumulative Impacts Analysi</a><a href="#0_28">s</a><a href="#0_28">.</a><a href="#0_28">..........................................40 </a> <a href="#0_0">Table 3.3. </a><a href="#0_25">Table 4.1. </a><a href="#0_26">Table 4.2. </a><a href="#0_27">Table 4.3. </a><a href="#0_28">Table 4.4. </a><ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">SWCA Environmental Consultants </li><li style="flex:1">ii </li><li style="flex:1">February 2016 </li></ul>San Acacia Habitat Restoration Project from River Mile 116 to 99, Socorro County, New Mexico Environmental Assessment ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS <ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">°C </li><li style="flex:1">degrees Celsius </li></ul>CFR cfs Code of Federal Regulations cubic feet per second Collaborative Program cuckoo CWA Middle Rio Grande Endangered Species Collaborative Program yellow-billed cuckoo Clean Water Act <ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">dBA </li><li style="flex:1">decibel A-weighted </li></ul><ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">DO </li><li style="flex:1">dissolved oxygen </li></ul>EA EO environmental assessment Executive Order EPA ESA U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Endangered Species Act flycatcher GIS I-25 southwestern willow flycatcher geographic information system Interstate 25 <ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">ITA </li><li style="flex:1">Indian Trust Asset </li></ul>MBTA mg/L Migratory Bird Treaty Act milligrams per liter <ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">MRG </li><li style="flex:1">Middle Rio Grande </li></ul>MRGCD NEPA NHPA NM Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District National Environmental Policy Act National Historic Preservation Act New Mexico Highway NMDGF NMED NMISC NMOSE NPDES NTU New Mexico Department of Game and Fish New Mexico Environment Department New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission New Mexico Office of the State Engineer National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System nephelometric turbidity unit National Wetland Inventory ordinary high water mark NWI OHWM Reclamation RM Bureau of Reclamation river mile SADD Service SHPO silvery minnow SSED San Acacia Diversion Dam U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service State Historic Preservation Officer Rio Grande silvery minnow suspended sediments SWCA SWPPP TCP SWCA Environmental Consultants Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan traditional cultural property <ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">total dissolved solids </li><li style="flex:1">TDS </li></ul>USACE USC U.S. Army Corps of Engineers United States Code <ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">USGS </li><li style="flex:1">U.S. Geological Survey </li></ul>This page intentionally left blank. <ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">SWCA Environmental Consultants </li><li style="flex:1">iii </li><li style="flex:1">February 2016 </li></ul>San Acacia Habitat Restoration Project from River Mile 116 to 99, Socorro County, New Mexico Environmental Assessment <ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">SWCA Environmental Consultants </li><li style="flex:1">iv </li><li style="flex:1">February 2016 </li></ul>San Acacia Habitat Restoration Project from River Mile 116 to 99, Socorro County, New Mexico Environmental Assessment 1.0 PURPOSE AND NEED FOR ACTION 1.1 INTRODUCTION The New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission (NMISC) is proposing to implement habitat restoration projects along an approximately 17-mile reach of the Middle Rio Grande (MRG) immediately downstream of the San Acacia Diversion Dam (SADD) in Socorro County, New Mexico. The proposed project areas are aligned north to south and located in between the New Mexico Highway (NM) 60 Bridge near Bernardo (River Mile [RM] 116) downstream to RM 99, just below the Escondida Drain outfall <a href="#8_0">(Figure 1.1). </a>As part of its commitments for the Middle Rio Grande Endangered Species Collaborative Program’s (Collaborative Program’s) Recovery Implementation Program, the NMISC plans to continue to contribute to funding the planning, compliance, and construction of certain habitat restoration projects for endangered species in the MRG. The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), the NMISC, and the Middle Rio Grande Conservation District (MRGCD) have provided a number of commitments that are linked with implementing river conveyance and flood control projects, as described in the river maintenance activities section (Part III) of the Reclamation’s Joint Biological Assessment (Reclamation 2015). As part of these commitments, the NMISC and Reclamation have agreed to work cooperatively on new habitat restoration projects in the Isleta and San Acacia Reaches of the MRG with other participating entities, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) (Sevilleta Wildlife Refuge), the MRGCD, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish’s (NMDGF’s) wildlife refuge (La Joya Wildlife Management Area), and private landowners. Reclamation has agreed to perform the construction of the projects described in this environmental assessment (EA), and as such, Reclamation is the lead federal agency for this undertaking and decision under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). This EA describes and analyzes the construction of five habitat restoration projects south of the SADD proposed for immediate implementation and three additional restoration sites planned north of the dam to be constructed after the five sites south of the dam are completed and once all required permits and consultation has been completed. The five sites south of the SADD are within the San Acacia Reach of the MRG and include restoration at RM 114, RM 112, RM 100.5, RM 100, and RM 99.5. These proposed restoration sites are managed by Reclamation and the MRGCD. <ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">SWCA Environmental Consultants </li><li style="flex:1">1</li><li style="flex:1">February 2016 </li></ul>San Acacia Habitat Restoration Project from River Mile 116 to 99, Socorro County, New Mexico Environmental Assessment Figure 1.1. Project location map. <ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">SWCA Environmental Consultants </li><li style="flex:1">2</li><li style="flex:1">February 2016 </li></ul>San Acacia Habitat Restoration Project from River Mile 116 to 99, Socorro County, New Mexico Environmental Assessment 1.2 PURPOSE AND NEED FOR THE ACTION The State of New Mexico, through the NMISC, has implemented habitat restoration projects as a part of the state’s commitment to improving habitat conditions for the Rio Grande silvery minnow (Hybognathus amarus; silvery minnow) and the southwestern willow flycatcher (Empidonax traillii extimus; flycatcher). The NMISC’s habitat restoration projects constructed in the Albuquerque and Isleta Reaches of the MRG, with Reclamation serving as the lead federal action agency (Reclamation 2005, 2007a, 2009; SWCA Environmental Consultants [SWCA] 2010), contributed to the Collaborative Program’s goal of meeting the habitat restoration requirements as stated in Element S of the Reasonable and Prudent Alternatives in the March 2003 Biological Opinion (Service 2003a). The primary objective is to design and implement habitat restoration for the silvery minnow under river discharges of approximately 1,000 to 2,000 cubic feet per second (cfs). The habitat to improve is within the 17-mile reach of the MRG (RM 116–RM 99). The objective of the restoration process is to increase measurable habitat complexity in support of various life stages of the silvery minnow by providing slackwater habitat and facilitating lateral migration of the river across bars and riverbanks during various mid-level and high-flow stages.

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