Western Riverside County Regional Conservation Authority MULTIPLE SPECIES HABITAT CONSERVATION PLAN Annual Report 2015 Cover Description On February 27, 2015, the RCA acquired a property known as TNC/Monte Cristo. The project is located north of Avocado Mesa Road in the unincorporated Tenaja area of the County of Riverside. The property size is 22.92 acres and was purchased with State and Federal grant funding. The property is located within Rough Step Unit 5, MSHCP Criteria Cell number 7029, within Tenaja of the Southwest Area Plan. The vegetation for this property consists of grassland, coastal sage scrub, and woodland and forest habitat. Within this area, species known to exist, include California red-legged frog, Bell’s sage sparrow, Cooper’s hawk, grasshopper sparrow, bobcat and mountain lion. The property is adjacent to previously conserved lands on the south and east and connects to conserved lands to the north and west. Conservation of this land will help to assemble the reserve for this area, protecting important grassland and woodland forest habitats that are vital to many species. Western Riverside County MULTIPLE SPECIES HABITAT CONSERVATION PLAN ANNUAL REPORT For the Period January 1, 2015 through December 31, 2015 Submitted by the Western Riverside County Regional Conservation Authority TABLE OF CONTENTS Section Page EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................... ES-1 1.0 INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................... 1-1 1.1 Overview of the Plan ........................................................................................... 1-1 1.2 Reporting Requirements ...................................................................................... 1-1 1.3 Methods................................................................................................................ 1-3 2.0 HABITAT GAINS ......................................................................................................... 2-1 2.1 Conservation Summary ........................................................................................ 2-1 2.2 Conservation by Jurisdiction................................................................................ 2-3 2.3 Conservation by Area Plan .................................................................................. 2-4 2.4 Conservation and Acquisition Trends .................................................................. 2-6 2.5 Development Projects and Future Conservation ................................................. 2-6 2.6 Non RCA Conservation ...................................................................................... 2-7 3.0 HABITAT LOSSES ....................................................................................................... 3-1 3.1 Habitat Loss Summary ......................................................................................... 3-1 3.2 Rough Step Summaries ........................................................................................ 3-6 4.0 ACTIVITIES WITHIN PLAN AREA ......................................................................... 4-1 4.1 Single-Family/Mobile Home Activity ................................................................. 4-1 4.2 Public Works Projects .......................................................................................... 4-2 4.3 Participating Special Entity Permits .................................................................... 4-4 4.4 Criteria Refinement .............................................................................................. 4-4 4.5 Agency Cooperation ............................................................................................ 4-4 4.6 Clerical/Minor Amendments to the MSHCP ....................................................... 4-6 4.7 Fires, Floods, Drought ......................................................................................... 4-7 4.8 Activities Affecting Reserve Assembly ............................................................... 4-8 5.0 FUNDING SUMMARY................................................................................................. 5-1 6.0 MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES ................................................................................... 6-1 6.1 Management Goal ................................................................................................ 6-1 6.2 General Management Activities .......................................................................... 6-1 6.3 Reserve Management Units ................................................................................. 6-2 Western Riverside County MSHCP Annual Report (January 1, 2015 through December 31, 2015) TOC-1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Section Page 6.4 Reserve Management Staffing ............................................................................ 6-3 6.5 RCA Properties Managed by the Parks District ................................................. 6-4 6.6 2014 Management Activities ............................................................................... 6-6 6.7 Lands Received through 404 Permits and Section 7 ......................................... 6-13 6.8 Future Management Activities ........................................................................... 6-22 7.0 MONITORING ACTIVITIES ..................................................................................... 7-1 7.1 Goals and Objectives ........................................................................................... 7-1 7.2 Inventory Phase and Long-term Monitoring Phase ............................................ 7-1 7.3 Monitoring Program Operations .......................................................................... 7-2 7.4 Summary of 2014 Monitoring Activities and Evaluation of Progress toward Achieving Measurable Objectives ........................................ 7-6 7.5 Suggested Changes and Feedback for Adaptive Management .......................... 7-59 8.0 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................... 8-1 LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix A RCA MSHCP Technical Reports ............................................................................... A-1 1. GIS Methodology, Process and Procedures ........................................................ A-1 2. Monitoring Program Survey Results ................................................................. A-1 3. Clerical Amendments to the MSHCP ................................................................. A-2 4. Agricultural Operations Database and Maps ..................................................... A-2 5. Development Project – Future Conservation GIS Data Files ............................. A-2 6. GIS Data Files ..................................................................................................... A-3 7. Conservation by Area Plan Subunits ................................................................. A-4 8. Contact Information ............................................................................................ A-9 LIST OF FIGURES ES-1 Funding Expended 12/31/2015 ......................................................................................ES-3 ES-2 Acres Conserved 12/31/2015 .........................................................................................ES-4 1 Cumulative Acreage Contributions by Federal, State, and Local Jurisdictions .............. 2-2 2 Western Riverside County MSHCP Rough Step Analysis Units .................................... 3-7 3 Rough Step Unit #1 ........................................................................................................ 3-14 Western Riverside County MSHCP Annual Report (January 1, 2015 through December 31, 2015) TOC-2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page 4 Rough Step Unit #2 ........................................................................................................ 3-17 5 Rough Step Unit #3 ........................................................................................................ 3-20 6 Rough Step Unit #4 ........................................................................................................ 3-23 7 Rough Step Unit #5 ........................................................................................................ 3-26 8 Rough Step Unit #6 ........................................................................................................ 3-28 9 Rough Step Unit #7 ........................................................................................................ 3-31 10 Rough Step Unit #8 ........................................................................................................ 3-35 11 Rough Step Unit #9 ........................................................................................................ 3-38 12 Reserve Habitat Management Units (HMU) ................................................................... 6-2 13 Acres by Habitat Management Unit (HMU) ................................................................... 6-3 14 Evandale Wilson Property .............................................................................................. 6-6 15 EMWD San Jacinto River Relocation Area................................................................... 6-11 16 DR Horton .....................................................................................................................