The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My Public Portal About2-401 Annual Report 2014___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 10183 Truckee Airport Road, Truckee, CA 96161-3306 www.townoftruckee.com Administration: 530-582-7700 / Fax: 530-582-7710 / email: truckee@townoftruckee.com Community Development: 530-582-7820 / Fax: 530-582-7889 / email: cdd@townoftruckee.com Animal Services/Vehicle Abatement: 530-582-7830 / Fax: 530-582-7889 / email: animalservices@townoftruckee.com Police Department: 530-550-2328 / Fax: 530-550-2326 / email: policedepartment@townoftruckee.com Printed on recycled paper. Town Council Patrick Flora, Mayor Alicia Barr, Vice Mayor Dr. Mark Brown D.C., Council Member Joan deRyk Jones, Council Member Carolyn Wallace Dee, Council Member Department Heads Tony Lashbrook, Town Manager Andy Morris, Town Attorney Adam McGill, Chief of Police John McLaughlin, Community Development Director Kim Szczurek, Administrative Services Director Judy Price, Town Clerk Alex Terrazas, Assistant Town Manager Daniel Wilkins, Public Works Director/Town Engineer December 29, 2014 Tobi Tyler Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board 2501 Lake Tahoe Boulevard South Lake Tahoe, California 96150 Re: Brockway Road Trail Project, Truckee, California Annual Report 2014 for 401 Permit R6T‐2013‐0021 Dear Ms. Tyler: The Town of Truckee was issued a 401 Water Quality Certification for the Brockway Road Trail Project, R6T‐2013‐0021. As part of the permit requirements, an Initial Report of Construction was submitted to Lahontan by December 31, 2013. The project is a ½‐mile paved pedestrian and bike trail that is built along the north side of Brockway Road between the Truckee River Regional Park and “The Rock” commercial complex. The project impacted 0.035 acres of wetlands. In order to mitigate the wetland impacts of the new trail, the project installed two new areas of wetlands for a total mitigated area of 0.064 Acres. One of the mitigation measures was the removal of an existing culvert along the wetland ditch. Removing the 35 foot long culvert re‐established 0.008 acre of wetlands in the ditch and prevents vehicles from entering the interior of the property where wetlands and Plumas ivesia (a rare plant) occur. This further protects the existing 0.5 acres of seasonal wetland at the site. The Town did authorize a field change to the erosion control in this area for installation of biodegradable mats by North American Green SC150BN on the banks of the channel above the water line to further prevent erosion into the stream and increase the re‐vegetation success. The area was hydroseeded prior to mat installation. Sedge plugs were replanted along the bottom of the channel to promote faster re‐ vegetation of this area. The second area of mitigation involved removal of a pile of old dredged material adjacent to the wetland channel and excavating approximately 2 feet below native grade in this area. Surface vegetation was not able to be salvaged for replanting in the excavation due to the sparse existing vegetation. The area was re‐vegetated with the wetland seed mix. This area establishes 0.056 acres of wetland within the wet meadow that was previously degraded. Page 2 We would also like to note that in addition to mitigating the wetland impacts on site to the recommended ratio of 1.83:1, the Town also provided compensation per the Army Corp of Engineers 404 Nationwide Permit in the amount of $6,675 ($150,000 per acre x 0.0445 acres). This amount is earmarked for future mitigation in the Hydrologic Unit Code #16050102, Truckee, California. Post Construction Maintenance of Wetlands The contract with the construction contractor included maintenance of the wetlands for 1 year post construction. As part of the maintenance requirements in the construction contract, the site was evaluated in July 2014 to monitor the progress of the wetlands and make improvements as needed. The Town and the contractor met on site on July 3, 2014. Western Botanical Services, Inc. prepared a technical memo for the contractor that summarized their findings of the wetland progress, dated June 20, 2014. In general, the areas that were seeded were not germinating as well as anticipated. Plugs in the wetland ditch were healthy and doing well, but additional plugs were recommended to improve the coverage criteria required for the wetlands. The technical memo is attached to this report. Based on this meeting and the technical memo, work to improve the wetland was performed by the contractor from July to October 14, 2014. Due to the continued work on the wetlands, the Town planned to have a botanist evaluate the area as late as possible in order to ensure the new plugs were established. Work performed by the contractor between completion of construction in October 2013 through the wetland maintenance period through 2014 included the following:  Seeding and watering the banks of the wetland ditch with additional Revegetation seed mix (July 28, 2014).  Seeding and watering the banks of the wetland basin with additional Revegetation seed mix (July 28, 2014)  Added additional plugs to the wetland ditch July 15, 2014.  Planting the wetland basin with approximately 300 plugs. After planting plugs in the wetland basin September 23, 2014, the basin regularly filled up with water, as the holes allowed the high groundwater in the area to percolate up into the basin. Water was observed in the basin throughout the remaining fall months. Additional plugs were planted October 14, 2014.  Removal of invasive weeds  Increased watering Since the meeting with the contractor in July, the wetlands have shown improved progress. Plants have germinated on the banks and the plugs that were planted in 2013 and in July 2014 are healthy. It is too soon to determine the health of the plugs planted in September and October in the wetland basin as within 6 weeks of the final planting, the basin has been filled with water. Annual Report Modification Per our conversation last week with Tobi Tyler, we are requesting a modification to the permit requirement described under Additional Conditions Item 3 for this year. The permit requires monitoring of the success in restoring water quality, floodplain function, and biological resources relative to the wet meadow creation. A professional evaluated the site in June to review progress. Work was performed through the rest of the summer and fall to improve the wetlands per the recommendations. Since the completion of the work, we were not able to evaluate the success a second time as the wetland basin has been full of water due to the wet December this year (photos Page 3 attached). This has made evaluating the plant success criteria in the basin difficult as the plants cannot be seen. Therefore, we are submitting the annual report, but will follow up with a technical report from a qualified professional by May 31, 2015 regarding the plant establishment success and floodplain function as described in the permit. Attached to this letter, please find additional information including the technical memo from Western Botanical Services, Inc. as well as progress photos of the site comparing post construction completion in October 2013 to progress photos through 2014. If you have any questions regarding this project or need additional information, please contact me at 530‐582‐2938. Sincerely, Jessica Thompson, Senior Engineer Attachments: Western Botanical Service, Inc. Technical Memo dated June 20, 2014 Post Construction through 1 year Maintenance Period Photos WESTERN BOTANICAL SERVICES, INC. TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM To: Claudia Chambers, Kelley Erosion Control Kym Kelley, Kelley Erosion Control From: Julie Etra, Western Botanical Services, Inc. Date: June 20, 2014 Re: Brockway Road Trail Project observations of revegetation and recommendations 1. Upland hydroseeding. There has been little germination. Some of the hydroseeding was done over base rock and success of seeding is unlikely. There is also evidence of pedestrian disturbance (bike tracks) of hydroseeded slopes. The sites were weedy but no erosion was noted. There is no Performance Criteria for these areas. I recommend no action. 2. Access roads to pond (Photo 1, 2). It is presumed that this area has a performance criteria of 60% cover. Based on adjacent vegetation, 30% +/- is more realistic. The segment of the road to the pond is better-vegetated (Photo 1) than the segment directly off of the bike path (Photo 2), but neither meets the performance criteria. Two of the three species in the wetland seed mix typically have very poor rates of germination due to internal dormancy mechanisms. If re-seeding is to take place I recommend obtaining baseline data for the adjacent reference site to develop realistic goals and using the Revegetation Seed Mix listed below (also for the banks of the ditch). 3. Pond (Photo 3). There was no germination in the pond, not surprising given site conditions and the nature of the seeds in the mix. Establishing wetland vegetation would require planting of plugs such as Nebraska sedge and Baltic rush in the bottom and maintaining saturated conditions until they become established. The slopes could be hydroseeded with the Revegetation Seed Mix. 4. Ditch (Photo 4). The salvaged and transplanted wetland plugs in the channel are doing well. The specification required 12 plants; size was not specified. To achieve 60% cover I recommend planting an additional 30 plugs. The banks of the ditch can be reseeded with Revegetation Seed Mix (Table 1). Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. Technical Memorandum Page 2 Table 1. Revegetation Seed Mix Botanical Name Common Name/Variety PLS lbs./acre Achillea millefolium Yarrow 0.20 Achnatherum occidentalis Western needlegrass 1.00 Artemisia tridentata ssp vaseyana Mtn. sagebrush 1.00 Bromus carintaus California brome 3.00 Elymus elymoides Blue wildrye ‘Stanislaus’ 3.00 Elymus trachycaulus Slender wheatgrass, ‘Pryor’ 4.00 Eriogonum umbellatum Sulfur buckwheat 2.00 Lupinus lepidus Pacific lupine 3.00 Poa secunda Sandberg bluegrass 3.00 Wyethia mollis Mule’s ears 0.50 Total 20.70 Photo 1. Access Road to Pond Photo 2. Access Road from Bike Trail Photo 3. Wetland Mitigation Pond Photo 4. Ditch Post Co Wetland October 1 June 20, 2 onstructi d Ditch Pro 17, 2013 Wet 2014 ion throu ogress Pho land Ditch Po ugh 1 yea otos ost Constructi r Mainte on nance Peeriod Phootos July 15, 2014‐ Additional plugs and seeding added December 12, 2014 Wetlan October 1 October 1 nd Basin P 17, 2013 Wet 17, 2013 Wet Progress land Basin loo land Basin loo Photos oking northw oking south‐P west‐Post Con Post Construc struction ction June 23, 2 Septembe 2014 er 23, 2014‐First batch of pplugs looking east September 23, 2014‐First batch of plugs looking north October 7, 2014 December 12, 2014