Title
Receive the Annual Report to the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board for the Salinas River Stream Maintenance Program 2016 Work Season.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Monterey County Water Resources Agency Board of Directors:
Receive the Annual Report to the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board for the Salinas River Stream Maintenance Program 2016 Work Season.
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION:
This report summarizes the 2016 activities of the Salinas River Stream Maintenance Program (SMP). The objective for the SMP is to reduce flood risk to land adjacent to the Salinas River while maintaining or enhancing natural habitat and ecological and hydrological processes. This is achieved through vegetation maintenance, sediment management, and non-native vegetation removal primarily in designated secondary or high flow channels outside of the low flow channel. This Annual Report provides regulatory agencies and interested parties with an overview of the work completed during the 2016 maintenance season and the program's compliance with the Regional Water Quality Control Board's Water Quality Certification's conditions. It also allows the MCWRA to summarize and analyze the project success and impacts for future planning activities.
The 2016 work season was the first to include both Phase 1 and Phase 2, implementing a uniform approach for the entire program. Phase 1 includes two River Management Units (RMUs) along the Salinas River at river miles that were permitted in 2014 as a pilot program. Phase 2 of the SMP was developed following the same process as Phase 1 and includes five additional RMUs within the SMP Program Area (river miles 2 to 94). Stream maintenance activities began on Thursday, October 1st and finished on November 15th. Maintenance activities were performed in 5 of the 7 RMUs for a total of 13 new Maintenance Areas and retreatment of 10 previously constructed secondary channels and arundo removal areas....
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