Title
Consider recommending that the Monterey County Board of Directors:
a. Adopt a resolution authorizing and directing the General Manager to enter into a grant agreement with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to receive a grant of $17 million dollars for the construction of Fish Exclusion System in conjunction with the Interlake Tunnel construction; and
b. Recommend that the Monterey County Board of Supervisors adopt a similar resolution.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Finance Committee recommend that the Monterey County Board of Directors:
a. Adopt a resolution authorizing and directing the General Manager to enter into a grant agreement with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to receive a grant of $17 million dollars for the construction of a Fish Exclusion System in conjunction with the Interlake Tunnel construction; and
b. Recommend that the Monterey County Board of Supervisors adopt a similar resolution.
SUMMARY:
The Fiscal Year 19/20 budget for the State of California included seventeen ($17) million dollars for the construction of a Fish Exclusion System (fish screens) in the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) budget. In order to secure these funds, MCWRA and CDFW must enter into an agreement by June 30, 2021.
DISCUSSION:
White Bass (Marone chrysops), native to St. Lawrence-Great Lakes, Hudson Bay and Red River Basin, and Mississippi River basins from Quebec to Manitoba and south to Louisiana are present in the Nacimiento Reservoir and have periodically been physically observed in the Nacimiento River, a tributary of the Salinas River. White Bass were introduced to Nacimiento Reservoir in 1965, but concerns about the spread of the fish during the 1970s resulted in management actions to eradicate the species in all but Nacimiento and subsequent regulatory and state code changes to preclude White Bass from any waters of California other than Nacimiento Reservoir.
White Bass are a non-nati...
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