Draft Mitigated Negative Declaration E Street Marsh Living Shoreline Project UPD #MND-2018-010 Prepared for Prepared by San Diego Unified Port District July 2018 DRAFT Mitigated Negative Declaration for the E Street Marsh Living Shoreline Project Prepared for San Diego Unified Port District Technical Support Provided by Aspen Environmental Group July 2018 San Diego Unified Port District E Street Marsh Living Shoreline Project Contents UPD #MND-2018-010 Executive Summary............................................................................................................................................................................................... 1 A. Project Description ............................................................................................................................................................................... 1 B. Proposed Finding .................................................................................................................................................................................. 1 I. Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 2 A. Purpose of a Mitigated Negative Declaration ..................................................................................................................... 2 B. Project Proponent/Applicant .......................................................................................................................................................... 2 C. Project Purpose and Need .............................................................................................................................................................. 2 D. Project Location...................................................................................................................................................................................... 2 II. Project Description ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 5 A. Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 5 B. Project Location...................................................................................................................................................................................... 5 C. Local Setting ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 5 D. Project Design ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 6 E. Project Installation ................................................................................................................................................................................ 8 F. Project Data Collection Phase ................................................................................................................................................... 12 G. Post-Monitoring/Pilot Program .................................................................................................................................................. 12 H. Applicable Regulations and Approvals ................................................................................................................................ 12 III. Environmental Setting........................................................................................................................................................................... 14 IV. Environmental Analysis ....................................................................................................................................................................... 14 A. Environmental Factors Potentially Affected ...................................................................................................................... 14 B. Effects Found Not to be Significant ........................................................................................................................................ 17 V. Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program ................................................................................................................. 18 VI. Findings ............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 19 VII. Documentation ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 19 VIII. Results of Environmental Review of Draft Mitigated Negative Declaration .............................................. 19 IX. Certification ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 19 X. Citations ........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 20 Tables Table MMRP-1 Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program ................................................................................................. 18 Figures Figure 1. Regional Map .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 3 Figure 2. Proposed Project Site ........................................................................................................................................................................ 4 Figure 3. Ground Photograph of Project Site Facing North ........................................................................................................... 7 Figure 4. Schematic of Reef Design Components ............................................................................................................................... 9 Figure 5. Conceptual Reef Locations in Relation to 2016 Digital Elevation Model (DEM) Contours .............. 10 Figure 6. Navigation Buoy Design ............................................................................................................................................................... 13 Attachments Attachment A: Initial Study July 2018 i Draft Mitigated Negative Declaration San Diego Unified Port District E Street Marsh Living Shoreline Project Executive Summary This Draft Mitigated Negative Declaration (Draft MND) has been prepared to evaluate the potential envi- ronmental effects of the E Street Marsh Living Shoreline Project (project). The project is a pilot restoration study to create native Olympia oyster (Ostrea lurida) reefs in a portion of south San Diego Bay (Bay).The project is designed to determine if native Olympia oysters successfully recruit on constructed reef ball elements, the effect of tidal elevation on recruitment of native and non-native oysters, the ability of constructed reefs to protect shorelines from erosion and flooding, and whether constructed reefs support higher degrees, or levels, of biodiversity than in adjacent mudflats. The project site is adjacent to the existing E Street Marsh, along the shoreline of Chula Vista, California, and within the jurisdictional boundaries of the San Diego Unified Port District (District). The project site is within Planning District 7, the Chula Vista Bayfront, of the District’s certified Port Master Plan, and has a land use designation of Wetlands. The project site is a wide intertidal mudflat located adjacent to the E Street Marsh, along a portion of the southeast shoreline of the Bay, south of Sweetwater Marsh (see Figure 1). This Draft MND has been prepared pursuant to the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) (Public Resources Code Section 21000, et seq.), its implementing regulations, the State CEQA Guidelines (California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Division 6, Chapter 3, Section 15000, et seq.), and the District’s adopted CEQA Guidelines. This Draft MND meets the requirements of State CEQA Guidelines Sections 15070 (Decision to Prepare a Negative or Mitigated Negative Declaration) and 15071 (Contents), and District CEQA Guidelines Section V (Preparation of a Negative Declaration). The attached Initial Study (Attachment A) meets all of the requirements of State CEQA Guidelines Section 15063 (Initial Study) and District CEQA Guidelines Section IV (Preparation of Initial Study). Pursuant to State CEQA Guidelines Section 15367 (Lead Agency), the District is the Lead Agency under CEQA because the District manages the land and water areas occupied by the project, and has the authority to issue a project-specific non-appealable Coastal Development Permit (CDP) subject to the provisions of the California Coastal Act of 1976, as amended. A. Project Description The project is a pilot restoration