Ocotillo Wind Energy Facility Off-site Habitat Restoration Plan May 21, 2012 Prepared for: Ocotillo Express LLC 1600 Smith Street Suite 4025 Houston, TX 77002 Prepared by: HELIX Environmental Planning, Inc. 7578 El Cajon Boulevard, Suite 200 La Mesa, CA 91942 Ocotillo Wind Energy Facility Off-site Habitat Restoration Plan TABLE OF CONTENTS Section Title Page ES EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ES-1 I. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................1 A. Project Background .............................................................................................2 1. Project Location .............................................................................................2 2. Project Description .........................................................................................2 B. Summary of Impacts ...........................................................................................2 1. Jurisdictional Habitat Impacts ........................................................................2 2. Peninsular Bighorn Sheep Habitat Impacts ....................................................4 3. Sensitive Vegetation Community Impacts .....................................................5 C. Mitigation Requirements .....................................................................................5 1. Jurisdictional Areas ........................................................................................7 2. Peninsular Bighorn Sheep Essential Habitat ..................................................7 3. Sensitive Vegetation Communities ................................................................8 D. Agency Coordination ..........................................................................................8 II. RESTORATION PROJECT .......................................................................................9 A. Location ...............................................................................................................9 B. Environmental Setting .........................................................................................9 C. Existing Functions and Services ........................................................................10 1. Vegetation ....................................................................................................10 2. Hydrology .....................................................................................................12 3. Wildlife .........................................................................................................12 D. Mitigation Site Suitability .................................................................................13 III. MITIGATION DESIGN CONCEPT ........................................................................13 A. Mitigation Design ..............................................................................................13 1. Design Details ..............................................................................................14 2. LBV Avoidance and Minimization Measures ..............................................15 B. Target Functions and Services ..........................................................................17 C. Rationale for Expecting Implementation Success .............................................17 D. Adaptive Management ......................................................................................18 IV. PROJECT RESPONSIBILITY .................................................................................19 A. Project Proponent ..............................................................................................19 B. Restoration Specialist ........................................................................................19 C. Implementation/Maintenance Contractor(s) ......................................................20 D. State Agencies ...................................................................................................20 i TABLE OF CONTENTS (cont.) Section Title Page V. MITIGATION IMPLEMENTATION ......................................................................20 A. Implementation Schedule ..................................................................................20 B. Pre-construction Meeting ..................................................................................21 C. Delineating Limits of Work ..............................................................................21 D. Non-native Plant Removal ................................................................................21 E. Documenting Baseline Conditions ....................................................................21 VI. FIVE-YEAR MAINTENANCE ...............................................................................21 A. Maintenance Activities ......................................................................................21 1. General Maintenance ....................................................................................22 2. Non-native Plant Removal ...........................................................................22 3. Other Pests ....................................................................................................22 B. Maintenance Schedule .......................................................................................22 VII. MONITORING .........................................................................................................23 A. Habitat Changes ................................................................................................23 1. Photo Documentation ...................................................................................23 2. Vegetation Data ............................................................................................24 3. General Wildlife ...........................................................................................24 4. CRAM ..........................................................................................................24 B. Activity Monitoring ...........................................................................................25 1. Implementation Monitoring .........................................................................25 2. Maintenance Monitoring ..............................................................................26 3. Least Bell’s Vireo Monitoring .....................................................................26 C. Annual Reports ..................................................................................................26 VIII. SUCCESS CRITERIA ..............................................................................................27 A. Tamarisk Cover ..................................................................................................27 B. Noxious Weed Cover ..........................................................................................27 C. Weed Cover by Other Weed Species ..................................................................28 D. Native Sapling Density .......................................................................................28 E. Anticipated Functions and Services Improvements ............................................28 1. CRAM ............................................................................................................28 2. Surface and Groundwater ..............................................................................30 IX. COMPLETION OF MITIGATION ..........................................................................31 A. Notification of Completion .................................................................................31 B. Confirmation .......................................................................................................31 C. Long-term Management ......................................................................................31 D. Site Protection .....................................................................................................31 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS (cont.) Section Title Page X. CONTINGENCY MEASURES ...............................................................................31 A. Implementation ..................................................................................................31 B. Initiating Procedures ..........................................................................................32 C. Natural Disaster .................................................................................................32 XI. REFERENCES .........................................................................................................33 LIST OF APPENDICES Letter Title A Carrizo Marsh Endowment LIST OF FIGURES No. Title Follows Page No. 1 Regional Location Map ........................................................................................................2 2 Project Location Map ...........................................................................................................2 3 Marsh Location Map ..........................................................................................................10 4 Preliminary Tamarisk Removal Plan .................................................................................12 5 Preliminary Tamarisk Removal Plan .................................................................................14 6 CRAM Sampling Locations ...............................................................................................26