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2.9 Mitigation Effectiveness Monitoring
and Adaptive Management Plan
I
n the Final Solar PEIS, the BLM
committed to developing and
incorporating a monitoring
and adaptive management
plan into its solar energy program.
The BLM “Assessment, Inventory,
and Monitoring Strategy for
Integrated Renewable Resources
Management” (AIM Strategy)
(Toevs et al. 2011) will guide
the development of a Dry Lake
monitoring plan that will inform
management questions at multiple
scales of inquiry (e.g., the land use
plan area, mitigation area, project
area, and treatment). Detailed
information about how the AIM
Strategy will be implemented to
support long-term monitoring of
solar development is provided in
Appendix A, Section A.2.4 of the
Final Solar PEIS. This monitoring
plan will also be consistent with
and complement the BLM regional
and national monitoring activities.
In the context of solar
energy development, long-term
monitoring should be conducted
to (1) evaluate the effectiveness
of mitigation measures, including
avoidance measures, onsite
mitigation, and regional mitigation;
(2) detect unanticipated direct and
cumulative impacts at the project
and regional level; and (3) evaluate
the effectiveness of elements of
the BLM’s solar energy program
(e.g., policies, design features). To
ensure that investments in regional
mitigation actions are effective
and that regional mitigation
goals and objectives are being
met, it is critical that the longterm
monitoring plan include
monitoring objectives specific to
the regional mitigation locations
and actions. The findings of the
long-term monitoring activities
will be examined by the BLM to
support adaptive management of
solar development (i.e., to identify
the need to adjust operational
parameters, modify mitigation
measures, and/or implement new
mitigation to prevent or minimize
further impacts). The following
steps will be conducted to develop
the mitigation effectiveness
monitoring plan for the Dry Lake
SEZ:
Step 1. Developed Management
Questions and Monitoring Goals.
The BLM interdisciplinary team
developed management questions
to articulate the issues of concern
related to monitoring mitigation
effectiveness. The management
questions provide the basis for
developing monitoring goals.
The management questions and
monitoring goals for the Dry Lake
SEZ are provided in the two text
boxes that follow.
Management Questions Established for
the Dry Lake Solar Regional Mitigation Strategy
1. Were the design features of the solar development effective to contain the impact of solar installation to the project site (e.g., trend of
attributes, special status species habitat indicators, invasive species, habitat metrics)?
2. Are the avoidance areas maintaining ecological composition and process similar to those adjacent to the project area?
3. Did the regional mitigation actions achieve their objectives?
4. Were the Dry Lake Solar Energy Zone (SEZ) mitigation actions, collectively, effective in improving the trend of rangeland health attributes
and landscape metrics in the regional mitigation site(s)?
5. What is the status and trend of rangeland health attributes for critical ecological processes necessary to sustain the Mojave Desert
ecosystem at three scales: the Dry Lake SEZ 2-mile buffer area, the mitigation area(s), and the Mojave Basin and Range ecoregion? (Note:
Some impacts may need to be assessed at different distances (e.g., watershed, airshed).)
REGIONAL MITIGATION STRATEGY FOR THE DRY LAKE SOLAR ENERGY ZONE • TECHNICAL NOTE 444 • 35