Canal Replacement Project, Phases 2-5 [California Endangered Species Act (CESA) Incidental Take Permit No. 2081-2013-022-03 (ITP), Amendment No. 1]

Canal Replacement Project, Phases 2-5 [California Endangered Species Act (CESA) Incidental Take Permit No. 2081-2013-022-03 (ITP), Amendment No. 1]

The Canal Replacement Project - Phases 2-5 involves only the unlined portion of the Contra Costa Canal, which beings at the Rock Slough Headworks and extends west 3.61 miles to Phase 1 near Marsh Creek. Pipeline installation for all phases includes mobilization of pipe-laying equipment (excavators, crane, and haul trucks), removal of soft sediment at the bottom of the canal as needed and transport of the sediment to drying ponds, placement of pipe bedding material, pipe laying, backfill in the pipe zone with aggregate base, and trench zone backfilling using the material from the berms and sediment from the canal. Project activities include isolation of the unlined Canal from the Delta by the installation of stop logs and coffer dams construction staging area improvements, unwatering of the Canal, fish rescue, shallow groundwater dewatering wells, groundwater dewatering distribution systems, filling of the Canal, construction of a flood isolation structure, installation of the new pipeline, importing fill, final grading, and installation of perimeter fencing. Phases 2-5 of the Project will permanently impact 42.533 acres of giant garter snake aquatic habitat and 89.178 associated upland habitat. The project is expected to result in incidental take of giant garter snake, which is designated as a threatened species listed under CESA that may occur as a result of Project implementation. CDFW issued the existing CESA ITP in order to address and authorize, as fully mitigated, related impacts to giant garter snake (Thamnophis gigas) and their habitat. Minor Amendment No. 1, as approved, modifies the previously issued CESA ITP, by changing the principal officer and the timing of phase 2 pipeline construction activities. In approving Minor Amendment No. 1, CDFW determined, among other things, that there would be no substantial increase in the nature or scope of the previous authorization provided by the CESA ITP, and that no new significant or substantially more severe environmental impacts than previously considered and disclosed would occur.

Oakley

Contra Costa