SFPUC 2001 Alameda Watershed Management Plan

III. ENVIRONMENTAL SETTING AND IMPACTSD. HYDROLOGY AND WATER QUALITYveg7 requires that construction activities comply with erosion control best management practices.Action aqu1 requires site-specific review to ensure that construction of new non-water-dependentfacilities are not located within a high water-quality vulnerability zone.The Management Plan includes management actions under Design and ConstructionRequirements (Actions des1 and des2) that would minimize and avoid wherever possible theabove-described potential effects. These actions require a review process for proposed plans andprojects to determine compatibility with the Management Plan goals and policies for waterquality as well environmental review for CEQA compliance (Actions env1 through env6).Actions lea3, lea4, and lea5 require that all new land use leases include water quality protectionmeasures and monitoring plans. Action sta6 provides specific water quality training for SFPUCstaff. Action fic2 authorizes or prohibits specific lease or permit activities, partially based onimpacts to water quality. Action inf3 requires recording and updating water quality data toestablish a database for overall water quality management.As described previously, the Management Plan calls for development of water storage reservoirsfrom existing mining pits following completion of gravel mining. While the Management Planprovides only conceptual planning for the new water storage reservoirs, it includes generalpolicies and management actions to maintain and protect water quality in the reservoirs.Policy WQ9 addresses the water quality of the reservoirs after the Sunol Valley mining pits arereclaimed as reservoirs. Action sun3 provides reservoir design guidelines for maintaining highwater quality; Action sun6 calls for development of operational guidelines for maintaining highwater quality; and Actions sun8 and sun9 call for establishing a water quality sampling andmonitoring program in the reservoirs. At this time, since plans for the water storage reservoirshave not been defined, analysis of potential water quality impacts associated with thesereservoirs would be speculative. Potential effects on hydrology and water quality would dependlargely on the design of the reservoirs, use of bentonite cutoff walls, and the source of waterstored in the reservoirs. Effects on downstream and groundwater hydrology and water qualitywould be examined in detail once project details were defined and proposed.On a program level, implementation of the policies and management actions described above,and as described in Section IV.D, would reduce potential water quality impacts related toconstruction of Watershed facilities to a less than significant level. However, the San FranciscoPlanning Department would require examination of many specific management actions proposedin the Management Plan at the time they are proposed for implementation to determine if furtherenvironmental review at a more detailed project-specific and site-specific level were necessary.Table II-1 identifies the specific management actions that are likely to require such study.Watershed Operations and Maintenance ActivitiesSFPUC Watershed operations and maintenance activities involve regular procedures as well asemergency response procedures. These activities include stormwater control, hazardousmaterials management, facility maintenance, road maintenance, vegetation and pest control, sliderepair, controlled burning, etc. Unless appropriate precautions were employed, any of theseactivities could result in inadvertent impacts to water quality and Watershed resources. ForNOP 96.223E: Alameda Watershed Management Plan III.D-23 ESA / 930385January 2001