PROVO RIVER DELTA RESTORATION PROJECT Bird-Aircraft Strike Risk Technical Memorandum Prepared for the Final Environmental Impact Statement April 2015 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 INTRODUCTION AND RELEVANT BACKGROUND .................................................. 1 Description of Project Alternatives ............................................................................................. 6 2.0 METHODS .......................................................................................................................... 7 Describing Existing Bird Communities ...................................................................................... 7 Study Area Bird Surveys ........................................................................................................ 7 Internet and Other Data Sources ............................................................................................. 9 Assessment of Bird-Aircraft Strike Risk .................................................................................. 11 Quantitative Approach .......................................................................................................... 11 Habitat-Based Quasi-Quantitative Approach ....................................................................... 12 3.0 RESULTS .......................................................................................................................... 17 Existing Bird Communities based on Project Area Surveys, Provo’s Wildlife Hazard Assessment, and Bird Strike Reports ........................................................................................ 17 Project Area Surveys ............................................................................................................. 17 Study Area Bird Mass ........................................................................................................... 32 Provo Bay Bird Mass ............................................................................................................ 32 Description of Bird Communities from eBird Data .............................................................. 35 Provo Airport’s Wildlife Hazard Assessment (WHA) ......................................................... 44 Utah Valley University’s Bird Strike Data ........................................................................... 46 National Wildlife Strike Database ........................................................................................ 47 Potential Bird-Aircraft Strike Risk ........................................................................................... 51 Quantitative Analysis ............................................................................................................ 51 Bird Aircraft Strike Risk Based on Bird Abundance ............................................................ 54 No-Action Alternative .......................................................................................................... 54 Alternative A ......................................................................................................................... 54 Alternative B ......................................................................................................................... 54 Alternative C ......................................................................................................................... 57 Alternative A: Bird Mass ...................................................................................................... 57 Alternative B: Bird Mass ...................................................................................................... 60 Alternative C: Bird Mass ...................................................................................................... 60 4.0 DISCUSSION .................................................................................................................... 63 Bird Community Survey Results .............................................................................................. 63 Avian Biomass Comparisons Using the Modified Bird Avoidance Model (BAM) ................. 64 Airport Hazard Impact Evaluation ........................................................................................ 70 Provo River Delta Restoration Project Bird-Aircraft Strike Risk Page i Technical Memorandum Temporary, Indirect, and Cumulative Effects ........................................................................... 83 Temporary Impacts during Construction .............................................................................. 83 Indirect Effects ...................................................................................................................... 83 Cumulative Effects ................................................................................................................ 83 Mitigation Measures ................................................................................................................. 85 5.0 REFERENCES .................................................................................................................. 87 APPENDIX A: RAW DATA List of Tables Table 1. Predicted change in wildlife habitat acreage by alternative. .................................... 6 Table 2. Estimated proportions of predicted habitat that would become more like comparable surrounding areas under each action alternative. ................................ 14 Table 3. Total bird observations (abundance) in 2012–2013 spring surveys. ...................... 18 Table 4. Total bird observations (abundance) in 2012–2013 summer surveys. ................... 21 Table 5. Total bird observations (abundance) in 2012–2013 fall surveys. .......................... 23 Table 6. Total bird observations (abundance) in 2012–2013 winter surveys. ...................... 25 Table 7. High counts (peak abundance) for FAA-listed hazardous species and for species not listed as hazardous but where high counts exceeded 100 birds. ...................... 28 Table 8. Study area seasonal and total bird mass (grams) of avian species identified as hazardous to aircraft, April 2012 through October 2013. .................................. 33 Table 9. Provo Bay seasonal and total bird mass (g) of avian species identified as hazardous to aircraft, April 2012 through October 2013. .................................. 34 Table 10. Total birds detected at sixteen locations on Utah Lake, based on data extracted from eBird database for the period January 2007–December 2011, ranked in descending order of total percentage. ..................................................... 36 Table 11. eBird data for six sites surrounding the Salt Lake City International Airport (2007–2011). ........................................................................................................... 43 Table 12. Bird strikes at Provo Airport reported by Utah Valley University’s Aviation Sciences Program, 2012–2013. ................................................................ 46 Provo River Delta Restoration Project Bird-Aircraft Strike Risk Page ii Technical Memorandum Table 13. Bird-aircraft strikes reported for the Salt Lake City International Airport for the period from 1990 to 2013. ........................................................................... 48 Table 14. Total bird mass and relative bird-aircraft strike risk for bird survey areas based on survey data collected in spring and fall 2012. ......................................... 51 Table 15. Total bird mass and relative bird-aircraft strike risk for bird survey areas based on survey data collected in spring 2012. ....................................................... 52 Table 16. Total bird mass and relative bird-aircraft strike risk for bird survey areas based on survey data collected in fall 2012. ........................................................... 52 Table 17. Wildlife species/groups identified as hazardous by the FAA (FAA advisory circular 150/5200-33) and their documented occurrence in the project area during 2012 and 2013 spring and fall surveys. ....................................................... 53 Table 18. Predicted increase or decrease in seasonal abundance, Alternative A. ................... 55 Table 19. Predicted increase or decrease in seasonal abundance, Alternative B. ................... 56 Table 20. Predicted increase or decrease in seasonal abundance, Alternative C. ................... 58 Table 21. Predicted increase or decrease in seasonal bird mass under Alternative A. ........... 59 Table 22. Predicted increase or decrease in seasonal bird mass under Alternative B. ........... 61 Table 23. Predicted increase or decrease in seasonal bird mass under Alternative C. ........... 62 List of Figures Figure 1. Vicinity map............................................................................................................... 2 Figure 2. Study area wildlife habitat types. ............................................................................... 4 Figure 3. Location and extent of the four areas where BIO-WEST conducted surveys of existing bird communities. ....................................................................... 8 Figure 4. Areas used to evaluate existing bird communities along the eastern shoreline of Utah Lake. ........................................................................................................... 10 Figure 5. Airspace surfaces surrounding an airport (typically used to identify existing or planned