Draft Environmental Impact Report - California Off Highway Vehicle ...

3.5 Biological Resources
Facilities such as OHV tracks and roadways envisioned in the General Plan would be sited to avoid
vernal pool habitat to the maximum extent possible, consistent with Water Guideline 1.1 in the
General Plan. (See Impact 3.5‐9 below for discussion of the headquarters facilities.) This site
planning would minimize fill of vernal pool habitat from construction of these facilities. If fill were
unavoidable, all affected wetlands and other waters of the U.S. would be replaced, restored, or
enhanced on a “no net loss” basis, in accordance with CWA Sections 404 and 401 requirements,
and the California Fish and Game Code, as described above in Impact 3.5‐3 Potential Fill of Waters
of the U.S., including Wetlands. However, such fill would also pose a potential risk for loss of
special‐status vernal pool shrimp species or their habitat. General Plan Wildlife Guideline 1.4
requires that if fill of such habitat were unavoidable, all affected habitat suitable for vernal pool
fairy shrimp would be replaced, restored, or enhanced consistent with Water Guideline 1.2, and in
accordance with Section 7 ESA requirements including consultation with the USFWS, so that all
functions and values of the affected habitat would be replaced or enhanced. This may include the
restoration or enhancement, and preservation of habitat on‐site. Such habitat would be managed
to maximize conditions favorable to shrimp occupancy. With implementation of Water Guideline
1.1 and Wildlife Guideline 1.4, potential impacts to special‐status vernal pool shrimp and their
habitat by direct fill would be less than significant.
In some cases, facilities proposed and envisioned in the General Plan could be constructed near
existing vernal pools which could provide suitable habitat for vernal pool fairy shrimp and
potentially for other listed vernal pool invertebrates. To avoid potential adverse impacts on water
quality and associated indirect impacts to vernal pool fairy shrimp from the construction or
operation of such facilities, water quality protection measures would be implemented. Numerous
goals and guidelines in Chapter 4 of the General Plan provide specific guidance for the protection
of water quality at Clay Pit SVRA (see Chapter 3.8 “Hydrology and Water Quality” for a detailed list
of water quality protection goals and guidelines). In particular, Water Guideline 2.1 provides
guidance for the protection of water quality during construction. With implementation of these
goals and guidelines, potential indirect impacts on vernal pool fairy shrimp and their habitat as a
result of water quality degradation would be less than significant.
In addition, the General Plan contains NRM Guidelines 1.4, 2.1 and 2.2, Soils Guideline 1.2, and
Wildlife Guideline 1.3, which require annual monitoring of biological resources at the SVRA,
require the use of adaptive management strategies to respond to monitoring results, and provide
guidance for implementing adaptive management strategies should ongoing monitoring reveal
that impacts to biological resources may be occurring.
Impacts on federally listed vernal pool fairy shrimp and other listed branchiopods and their
habitat resulting from implementation of the General Plan would be less than significant because
(1) vernal pool fairy shrimp populations have persisted at Clay Pit SVRA despite ongoing OHV use;
(2) the General Plan contains goals and guidelines requiring that if habitat suitable for vernal pool
fairy shrimp were filled, such habitat would be replaced, restored, or enhanced; (3) the General
Clay Pit State Vehicular Recreation Area
February2012 3.5-12 Draft EIR