SFPUC 2001 Alameda Watershed Management Plan

II. PROJECT DESCRIPTION• southern Alameda Creek watershed, encompasses 175 square miles, of which 36,000 acres, orapproximately one-third, are owned by the SFPUC. 2 SFPUC’s Alameda Watershed holdings aresplit between Alameda (23,000 acres) and Santa Clara (13,000 acres) Counties. The SFPUCownedlands contain two reservoirs – the San Antonio Reservoir to the north and the CalaverasReservoir to the south. Interstate 680 (I-680) and State Route (SR 84) meet in the northernportion of the Alameda Watershed, and Calaveras Road extends in a north-south direction downthe center of the Alameda Watershed. Milpitas and Fremont lie to the west, and Pleasanton andLivermore are located to the northeast. Figure II-2 provides a schematic delineation of theAlameda Watershed, while Figure II-3 shows the Watershed on a topographic base. For purposesof the Management Plan, the Alameda Watershed is divided into “primary and “secondary”Watershed lands (see Figure II-2). The primary Watershed lands are defined as the areas wherelocal drainage is collected, treated, and used as part of the SFPUC water supply system. Underexisting conditions, the primary Watershed lands drain directly to San Antonio and CalaverasReservoirs. In the Management Plan, the primary Watershed also includes drainage to AlamedaCreek just downstream of the Sunol Valley Water Treatment Plant (WTP) to the site of aproposed water release and recapture facility that would be used for fisheries enhancement (seeSection II.C.1.0). Secondary Watershed lands are defined as SFPUC-owned lands that do notdrain into the SFPUC water supply system for drinking water uses. Under existing conditions,these areas drain to Alameda Creek downstream of the two reservoirs. In the Management Plan,the secondary Watershed lands are identified as Alameda Creek drainage areas downstream fromthe proposed water release and recapture facility. Section III.D, Hydrology and Water Quality,includes a more detailed description of the hydrologic system and the primary and secondaryWatershed areas of the SFPUC-owned lands.3.0 MANAGEMENT PLAN OVERVIEWThe Alameda Watershed Management Plan is presented in six chapters. An Introduction(Chapter 1.0) is followed by a discussion of Existing Conditions and Resource Sensitivity(Chapter 2.0). Chapter 3.0 briefly describes the major Watershed Management Issues.Chapter 4.0 takes the major management issue areas (established in Chapter 3.0) and describesWatershed Management Goals and Policies for each of these issue areas. Chapter 5.0 presentsthe actions and guidelines that form the basis of the Management Plan. Chapter 6.0 provides adiscussion of Phasing and Implementation.The Management Plan was designed to improve the SFPUC’s ability to protect its overallWatershed in general, and in particular the specific resources that make up that Watershed.Given the intention behind the Management Plan design, the overall environmental impacts of theManagement Plan are beneficial. However, some actions also have the potential to causephysical impacts on the environment. These management actions are described in Table II-1 (atthe end of this chapter). Analysis of these actions forms the core of this EIR.2 This 36,000 acres does not include Sheep Camp, Bernal Property, and Arroyo de La Laguna, also owned by theSFPUC. It does include SFPUC-owned land leased to East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD).NOP 96.223E: Alameda Watershed Management Plan II-4 ESA / 930385January 2001