Draft Existing Conditions and Assessment Report and Stream Corridor Management Plan for Arcade Creek, Sacramento County, California Prepared for City of Sacramento Department of Utilities 1395 35th Avenue Sacramento, CA 95822 Contact: Patrick Sanger, Public Outreach Coordinator [email protected] 916/808-1726 In Coordination with State Water Resources Control Board 11020 Sun Center Drive, Suite 200 Rancho Cordova, CA 95670 Contact: Lori Webber, Environmental Scientist [email protected] 916/464-4745 Arcade Creek Prepared by Jones & Stokes 2600 V Street Sacramento, CA 95818 Contact: Karen Leone, Project Director [email protected] Watershed 916/737-3000 October 2007 AC-Report Cover.indd 1 10/29/07 1:09:47 PM Draft Existing Conditions and Assessment Report and Stream Corridor Management Plan for the Arcade Creek Watershed, Sacramento County, California Prepared for: City of Sacramento, Department of Utilities 1395 35th Avenue Sacramento, CA 95822 Contact: Patrick Sanger, Public Outreach Coordinator [email protected] 916/808-1726 In Coordination with: State Water Resources Control Board 11020 Sun Center Drive, Suite 200 Rancho Cordova, CA 95670 Contact: Lori Webber, Environmental Scientist [email protected] 916/464-4745 Prepared by: Jones & Stokes 2600 V Street Sacramento, CA 95818-1914 Contact: Karen Leone, Project Director [email protected] 916/737-3000 October 2007 Jones & Stokes. 2007. Existing Conditions and Assessment Report and Stream Corridor Management Plan for the Arcade Creek Watershed, Sacramento County, California. Draft. October. (J&S 06766.06.) Sacramento, CA. Prepared for: City of Sacramento, Department of Utilities in coordination with State Water Resources Control Board. Funding has been provided by a grant from the CALFED Watershed Program and administered by the State Water Resources Control Board. Contents Page Chapter 1 Introduction ........................................................................................... 1-1 1.1 Introduction ................................................................................. 1-1 1.1.1 Phase I .................................................................................. 1-1 1.1.2 Phase II ................................................................................. 1-2 1.2 Project Location .......................................................................... 1-3 1.3 Document Purpose and Scope ................................................... 1-3 1.4 Document Organization .............................................................. 1-4 Chapter 2 Background ........................................................................................... 2-1 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................. 2-1 2.1.1 Location and Description ...................................................... 2-1 2.2 Physical Natural Resources ........................................................ 2-2 2.2.1 Topography ........................................................................... 2-2 2.2.2 Geology/Soils ........................................................................ 2-2 2.2.3 Geomorphology .................................................................... 2-4 2.2.4 Hydrology .............................................................................. 2-5 2.2.5 Water Quality ........................................................................ 2-7 2.2.6 Vegetation and Wetlands .................................................... 2-12 2.3 Vegetation Characteristics ........................................................ 2-12 2.3.1 Land Cover Types ............................................................... 2-12 2.3.2 Nonnative Plant Species ..................................................... 2-15 2.3.3 Fish ..................................................................................... 2-17 2.3.4 Land Use ............................................................................. 2-18 Chapter 3 Methods ................................................................................................. 3-1 3.1 Literature and Data Reviewed .................................................... 3-1 3.2 Development of Assessment Protocols ...................................... 3-2 3.3 Data Collection ............................................................................ 3-3 3.3.1 Segment and Reach Identification ........................................ 3-5 3.3.2 Geomorphic Assessment ...................................................... 3-6 3.3.3 Aquatic Survey Assessment ............................................... 3-10 3.3.4 Vegetative Assessment ...................................................... 3-10 3.3.5 Wildlife Surveys .................................................................. 3-11 3.3.6 Restoration Opportunities ................................................... 3-11 Draft Existing Conditions and Assessment Report/ October 2007 Stream Corridor Management Plan for the i Arcade Creek Watershed J&S 06766.06 Chapter 4 Results ................................................................................................... 4-1 4.1 Introduction ................................................................................. 4-1 4.2 Segment and Reach Descriptions .............................................. 4-1 4.2.1 Segments .............................................................................. 4-1 4.2.2 Reaches ................................................................................ 4-1 4.3 Geomorphic Channel Characteristics ......................................... 4-2 4.4 Aquatic Habitat Conditions .......................................................... 4-7 4.5 Vegetation Characteristics .......................................................... 4-7 4.5.1 Land Cover Types ................................................................. 4-7 4.5.2 Nonnative Plant Species ..................................................... 4-10 4.5.3 Land Cover Types and Nonnative Plant Species by Project Reach ............................................................... 4-12 4.6 Wildlife and Fish Resources ..................................................... 4-19 4.6.1 Wildlife ................................................................................ 4-19 4.6.2 Fish ..................................................................................... 4-19 4.6.3 Benthic Macroinvertebrates ................................................ 4-20 Chapter 5 Restoration Opportunities ................................................................... 5-1 5.1 Stream Corridor Management Plan ............................................ 5-1 5.2 Restoration Opportunities ........................................................... 5-2 5.2.1 Prioritization of Restoration Opportunities............................. 5-4 5.2.2 Summary of Restoration Opportunities ................................. 5-5 5.3 High Priority Restoration Opportunities ..................................... 5-40 5.3.1 Restoration Opportunities ................................................... 5-40 5.3.2 Restoration Sites ................................................................. 5-43 5.4 Data Gaps and Future Studies ................................................. 5-43 Chapter 6 References ............................................................................................ 6-1 6.1 Printed References ..................................................................... 6-1 6.2 Personal Communications .......................................................... 6-5 Appendix A Arcade Creek Stream Corridor: Representative Digital Images, by Reach [Included on CD] Appendix B Arcade Creek Stream Corridor: Existing Conditions and Restoration Opportunities Maps (2007) [Included on CD] Appendix C Public Involvement Plan [To Come] Appendix D Invasive Species Plan [To Come] Appendix E Environmental Permit Requirements Appendix F Common and Scientific Species Names Draft Existing Conditions and Assessment Report/ October 2007 Stream Corridor Management Plan for the ii Arcade Creek Watershed J&S 06766.06 Tables On Page 2-1 Hydrologic and Erosional Characteristics of Soil .................................... 2-4 2-2 Major Land Cover Types and Associated Dominant Species Observed in the Arcade Creek Stream Corridor, by Reach................................................................................... follows 2-14 2-3 Invasive Nonnative Plant Species Observed in the Arcade Creek Stream Corridor, by Reach ............................................ follows 2-16 3-1 Channel Characterization Methodology .................................................. 3-7 3-2 Terms Used to Describe Bank Stability Conditions ................................ 3-9 4-1 Geomorphic Characteristics of the Arcade Creek Stream Corridor, by Segment.............................................................................. 4-2 4-2 Summary of Geomorphic Channel Conditions in Lower Segment ................................................................................................. 4-3 4-3 Summary of Geomorphic Channel Conditions in Middle Segment ................................................................................................. 4-4 4-4 Summary of Geomorphic Channel Conditions in Upper Segment ................................................................................................. 4-5 4-5 Summary of Geomorphic Channel Conditions