2007 Annual Monitoring Report (pdf 16MB) - Bolsa Chica Lowlands ...

Bolsa Chica Lowlands Restoration Monitoring2007 Annual ReportThe Plan identifies the ecological monitoring objectives as follows:Facilitate evaluation of the effectiveness of the restoration to provide habitat for fish andwildlife;Document changes in the ecology of the wetlands environment over time;Provide timely identification of any problems with the physical, or biological development ofthe restored area; andAssist in providing a technical basis for resource management of the restored wetland bydocumenting maintenance needs and enhancement opportunities.The plan calls for biological monitoring to be conducted during the 2nd, 5th, and 10th years aftercompletion of construction. Listed species will be monitored each year. Physical monitoring will beconducted in years 1, 2, 3, 5, and 10.Immediately west of the Lowlands is Bolsa Bay, which was established as an Ecological Reserve in1973 to be managed by the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) (Figure 0-1). On August24, 2006, the Bolsa Chica Lowlands Restoration Project acreage and the Muted Pocket Marsh wereincorporated into the Ecological Reserve by agreement of the State Lands Commission and CDFG.This monitoring program study boundary includes only the restored Lowlands and Muted PocketMarsh, not Bolsa Bay, with the exception that California Least Tern and Western Snowy Plovermonitoring was conducted throughout the Ecological Reserve (Restoration Area and Inner Bolsa).The Beach Monitoring for this program conforms to the Bolsa Chica Lowlands Restoration ProjectBeach Monitoring Plan (USFWS, 2001b). The Beach Monitoring Plan defines monitoring activitiesand analyses that are expected to assure restoration project-related adverse impacts to area beaches aremitigated.The State Lands Commission contracted Merkel & Associates, Inc. (M&A) and its team to implementthe first three years of the Biological and Beach Monitoring Plans. The monitoring team includedMerkel & Associates, Moffat & Nichol Engineers, Coastal Frontiers, and Chambers Group, Inc. TheFull Tidal Basin was opened to the ocean on August 24, 2006, with additional remedial constructionactivities continuing to address various shoreline stabilization issues. Contracting was not in place toinitiate immediate monitoring until late 2006. However the year 2 biological monitoring was initiatedon schedule in Fall 2007. To simplify the reporting process, the annual monitoring reports will beprepared by calendar year, but will include data collected by monitoring year, which is based on aschedule starting in October 2006. Therefore this first monitoring report includes all data collectedfrom November 2006 through December 2007. It captures all monitoring conducted under Year 1 ofthe monitoring program (October 2006 to September 2007), as well as the first quarter of Year 2(October to December 2007). A schedule of monitoring activities and reporting is presented forclarification (Figure 0-2).This document serves as the annual report for 2007. It is organized to follow the organization of theBolsa Chica Lowland Restoration Project Biological Monitoring and Follow-up Plan and is dividedinto three primary sections: Ecological Monitoring, Physical Monitoring, and Dredging Analysis. Thedata included in this report supersede all previously distributed interim data reports, the draft annualreport, and any working analyses of these data sets.Merkel & Associates, Inc. 10