Middle Carson River Habitat Conservation Plan Prepared by: JBR Environmental Consultants, Inc. 595 Double Eagle Court, Suite 2000 Reno, Nevada 89521 775.747.5777 March 2012 Prepared for: Nevada Division of State Parks Lyon County Carson Water Subconservancy District The Nevada Land Conservancy Table of Contents Executive Summary ............................................................................................ v 1.0 Introduction ............................................................................................... 1 1.1 What are the Issues? .............................................................................................................. 2 1.1.1 Poor Connection of the River with its Floodplain ....................................................... 2 1.2.1 Loss of Cottonwood Forest and Lack of Recruitment ................................................. 2 1.3.1 Annual and Bewtween-Year Variation in Flows ......................................................... 3 1.4.1 Weed Management ...................................................................................................... 4 1.5.1 Mercury Contamination ............................................................................................... 4 1.2 Habitat Conservation Plan Goals and Objectives ................................................................. 4 1.3 How Does the Plan Address the Issues? ............................................................................... 5 2.0 Plan Area ................................................................................................... 6 2.1 Plan Area Descriptions .......................................................................................................... 6 2.1.1 Lyon County Open Space ............................................................................................ 6 2.1.2 Dayton State Park ........................................................................................................ 7 2.1.3 Fort Churchill State Historic Park ................................................................................ 8 2.1.4 Carson River Ranches .................................................................................................. 9 2.1.5 Lahontan State Recreation Area ................................................................................ 10 2.2 Overall Recommendations from Previous River Assessments ........................................... 10 2.3 Reach Specific Recommendations from Previous River Assessments ............................... 12 3.0 Desired Future Conditions ...................................................................... 15 3.1 Riparian Habitat Joint Venture Recommendations ............................................................. 15 3.2 Desired Condition ............................................................................................................... 21 4.0 Project Formulation ................................................................................ 24 4.1 Methods ............................................................................................................................... 24 4.1.1 Introductory Field Trip ............................................................................................... 24 4.1.2 Review of Plans and Previous Studies ....................................................................... 25 4.1.3 Vegetation Mapping ................................................................................................... 25 4.1.4 Evaluation Criteria ..................................................................................................... 28 4.1.5 Field Review and Data Collection ............................................................................. 30 4.2 Findings of Field Study ....................................................................................................... 31 4.2.1 Accuracy of Vegetation Mapping .............................................................................. 31 4.2.2 Species Diversity ....................................................................................................... 31 4.2.3 Riparian Species Recruitment .................................................................................... 34 4.2.4 Erosion ....................................................................................................................... 35 4.2.5 Off Road Vehicle Use ................................................................................................ 35 4.2.6 Grazing Effects .......................................................................................................... 35 5.0 Project Considerations ........................................................................... 37 5.1 Prioritizing Projects............................................................................................................. 37 5.2 Addressing Lack of Hydrology ........................................................................................... 39 5.2.1 Know Your Water Table ............................................................................................ 39 5.2.2 Deep Planting ............................................................................................................. 39 5.2.3 Hydraulic Barriers ...................................................................................................... 40 5.2.4 Water Right Application for Environmental Purposes .............................................. 42 5.3 Grazing Management .......................................................................................................... 43 5.4 Invasive Weeds ................................................................................................................... 44 5.5 Mercury ............................................................................................................................... 45 Middle Carson River ‐ Habitat Conservation Plan March 2012 JBR Environmental Consultants, Inc. i 6.0 Community Prescriptions ........................................................................ 47 6.1 Riparian Shrub and Mature Forest (RS and MF) ................................................................ 48 6.2 Old Riparian Forest (OR) ................................................................................................... 51 6.3 Big Sagebrush Shrub (BSS) ............................................................................................... 54 6.4 Wetland (W) ........................................................................................................................ 55 6.5 Technical Resources ........................................................................................................... 56 7.0 Monitoring ............................................................................................... 58 8.0 Funding Sources ...................................................................................... 66 8.1 Potential Funding Sources .................................................................................................. 67 9.0 References .............................................................................................. 69 List of Figures Figure 1 Middle Carson River Habitat Management Plan Area Figure 1a Habitat Legend Figure 2 Santa Maria Ranch Park Lyon County Open Space Figure 3 Dayton State Park and Walker Open Space Figure 4 Rolling A Ranch Park Lyon County Open Space Figure 5 Ft. Churchill State Historic Park (West) Figure 6 Ft. Churchill State Historic Park and River Ranches Figure 7 Ft. Churchill State Historic Park (East) and River Ranches Figure 8 Ft. Churchill State Historic Park (Northeast) and River Ranches Figure 9 Lahontan State Recreation Area Figure 10 Hydraulic Barrier Figure 11 Rolling A Ranch Park Enhancement Site 1 Figure 12 Buckland Station Field Enhancement Site 2 Figure 13 Buckland Station Field Slope Figure 14 West of Overlook Enhancement Site 3 Figure 15 Hercules Well Enhancement Site 4 Middle Carson River ‐ Habitat Conservation Plan March 2012 JBR Environmental Consultants, Inc. ii List of Appendices Appendix A Sample Field Data Collection Sheet Appendix B Carson River‐Dayton Valley Santa Maria Vegetation Enhancement and Restoration Plan Appendix C Site Photographs Appendix D Carson River‐Dayton Valley Upper Rolling A Ranch (formerly known as Walker Property) Vegetation Enhancement and Restoration Plan Appendix E Carson River‐Dayton Valley Rolling A Ranch Vegetation Enhancement and Restoration Plan Appendix F Weed Management Matrix Appendix G Project Descriptions Rolling A Ranch Park Buckland Station Field Fort Churchill West of Overlook Fort Churchill Hercules Well List of Acronyms ADA Americans with Disabilities Act ARS Agricultural Research Services BLM Bureau of Land Management CWSD Carson Water Subconservancy District DVCD Dayton Valley Conservation District EDRR Early Detection, Rapid Response HCP Habitat Conservation Plan IBA Important Birding Area JBR JBR Environmental Consultants, Inc. LAS Lahontan Audubon Society MDB&M Mount Diablo Base and Meridian NDOW Nevada Department of Wildlife NRCS Natural Resources Conservation Service NSP Nevada State Parks NvLC Nevada Land Conservancy ORV Off Road Vehicle PFC Proper Functioning Condition RHJV Riparian Habitat Joint Venture SCS Soil Conservation Service (now the NRCS, Natural Resources Conservation Service) USFWS U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service WMA Weed Management