SAWA 2012 ANNUAL REPORT Former Arundo infestation mixed with native habitat on the mainstem in SAWA’s Hidden Valley project area. About SAWA For nearly 17 years, the Santa Ana Watershed Association (SAWA) and its partners have been promoting a healthy Santa Ana River watershed for the wildlife and the people who inhabit it. The watershed spans approximately 2,600 square miles and ranges in elevation from 11,500 feet to sea level through five distinctive life zones. The watershed lies in one of Earth’s 25 Biodiversity Hotspots—areas rich in flora and fauna that are threatened by human activity. A major goal of SAWA is to restore the natural functions of the watershed through the enhancement and restoration of the native riparian community. This is accomplished by the removal of exotic species and the management of existing resources, including both habitat and wildlife species. The largest thre at to the riparian habitat within the Santa Ana Watershed is takeover by invasive species, notably Arundo donax . This exotic plant is highly aggressive and has invaded much of the watershed, out-competing native vegetation and having drastic impacts on the wildlife. Removing Arundo is difficult and complex, requiring multiple treatments and intensive monitoring. SAWA’s comprehensive eradication efforts include identification and mapping of exotic species, initial biomass removal, post treatment, and intensive biological surveying during all stages of eradication. Most importantly, SAWA monitors the removal areas long after the Arundo has been eradicated to ensure that native vegetation and wildlife are recovering and that there is no return of the invasive species. These intensive monitoring efforts are required to prevent re-growth that can lead to total re-infestation over time and to prevent any impacts to native species. Active restoration and enhancement is often employed when natural succession is not sufficient to ensure recovery of native habitat. To date, SAWA has removed nearly 4,500 acres of Arundo and other invasive plants throughout the watershed. 1 SAWA 2012 ANNUAL REPORT (CONTINUED) Collaboration SAWA conducts environmental management projects, working collaboratively with governmental agencies, organizations, and private citizens. SAWA implements facets of the Santa Ana River Watershed Program, continuously restoring natural functions and resources of the river and its tributaries. The most notable collaborating agencies include the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USF&WS), California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), Carbon Canyon Arundo removal. James Law and the Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB). The Watershed Program formally began in 1995, with the signing of a landmark agreement between the OCWD, USACE, and the U.S. Department of Interior for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This agreement allowed OCWD to conserve water behind Prado Dam but also recognized the need for watershed restoration by allowing a portion of the project mitigation to occur in the upper Santa Ana River watershed, many miles from the project site. Mitigation was required to offset inundation of habitat in the Prado Basin due to water conservation. Two of the major federal regulatory agencies were convinced enough of the river’s degradation to break away from decades of traditional mitigation dictating that impact compensation was to occur within or very near the project area. Orange County Water District contributed $1 million to a fund that was the beginning of today’s efforts to restore the function of the Santa Ana River. The Watershed Program is staffed by the partnering agencies. At monthly meetings, project plans and accomplishments are discussed. Project goals are specified in work plans that are compiled by SAWA with input from the other partners. The work plans are reviewed by the various partnering agencies for their input and eventual endorsement. Changes and additions are made through staff-generated amendments. The work items and components of the plans are largely dictated by responsibilities inherited with the funding and the long-term commitment for follow-up. Achievements and audits of expenditures are reported each year. In addition, the partnering agencies and regulators are toured through specific project areas on request. Photographic and data documentation of work progress is collected in each project area and there are regular site visits are conducted. SAWA or the local RCD is responsible for contract and contractor oversight. Funding Sources The Watershed Program focus is dictated by the responsibilities that come with the public funds provided to mitigate for typically large federal projects. These include control of invasive species, SAWA biologists monitor habitat particularly giant reed and cowbirds, targeted for their throughout the watershed . Terry Reeser interference with river function and resource abundance; increasing wetlands and open space; managing endangered species toward recovery; and public involvement. 2 SAWA 2012 ANNUAL REPORT (CONTINUED) Arundo control started in the upper watershed and continues downstream because Arundo invades by pieces washing down and sprouting in moist soil. Arundo seeds are sterile in our area, so that the spread of giant reed has been by vegetative means. Habitat restoration, primarily through Arundo control, is the current focus of the Watershed Program because most of the funding obtained was earmarked for Arundo control. The work with endangered species and other wildlife is necessary for compliance with the regulatory permits to do the Arundo work. Funds are obtained from grants and mitigation of projects on the river, and the Watershed Program took on the funds and the mitigation responsibilities. Carbon Canyon Arundo removal. James Law The projects providing funds included the Seven Oaks Dam, Prado Water Conservation, Highway 71 Improvements, Norco Bluffs Stabilization, Santa Ana River Flood Control, Environmental Protection Agency grants, state Department of Water Resources grants, and mitigations that have been ordered because of construction impacts in the watershed. Some of the funding sources did not specify acreage requirements but did provide adequate funding for treatment of several hundred additional acres and more importantly, for long-term re-treatment. Beginning in 2002, there was an additional $9 million for Arundo control due to a successful grant application for Proposition 13 funds. SAWA Projects By early March 2003, SAWA became a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization, and changed from fiscal year to calendar year. In January of 2004, SAWA established an in-lieu fee program with the Corps for invasive species removal. This program gives developers the option to mitigate for impacts in locations other than the project site. The funds generated by this program are used to support invasive plant removal efforts throughout the watershed. In some cases, mitigation projects are assigned to a specific property in the watershed. Work is performed either directly by SAWA, or through one of the RCDs. In the latter case, an individual RCD performs a piece of work, authorized through the annual work plan and within the budgetary constraints dictated therein. That RCD then invoices SAWA and it is paid out of the fund. Approved work Terry Reeser retired from SAWA in early is confined to the activities specified in current grants and to 2013 after 10 years of dedicated service on maintenance obligations. The trust fund must be kept at a behalf of SAWA's mission for the level that will yield enough operating capital to continue long- betterment of people and wildlife in the term Arundo maintenance and other follow-up Santa Ana Watershed. SAWA’s thanks and responsibilities. best wishes go with him. 3 SAWA 2012 ANNUAL REPORT (CONTINUED) SAWA projects are designated and approved by the Board of Directors in a long-term work plan. This plan is carried out with a focus on ongoing maintenance and enhancement of river system function, eventually leading to whole watershed health. The work plan develops projects that further these goals. Work accomplished on the ground through SAWA is done by SAWA staff and the partnering agencies. The invasive species removal to date was originally accomplished by the individual Resource Conservation Districts within their geographic spheres of influence. Volunteers planting in Hidden Valley. Lee Reeder More recently, long-term and many first-time proposals are being managed directly by SAWA. This report reflects the 12-month period from Jan. 1, 2012 to Dec. 31, 2012, and supplements many other reports produced throughout the period. In 2012, SAWA removed approximately 200 acres of invasives and maintained control over thousands of acres of former infestation in 33 project areas throughout the watershed (see the SAWA project reports at the end of the main report). SAWA’s Governance The Nature Conservancy (TNC) originally managed the watershed fund and the restoration work in the upper watershed. In 1996, the RCDs came together as SAWA, which then included the East Valley, Inland Empire West, Riverside-Corona, and San Jacinto Basin RCDs. SAWA is governed by a five-member board comprised of one representative each from four resource conservation districts (RCDs) within the watershed, and one from the Orange County Water District. The four RCDs are the Inland Empire RCD (IERCD), the San Jacinto Basin RCD (SJBRCD), the Riverside-Corona RCD (RCRCD) and the Elsinore-Murrieta-Anza RCD SAWA