DELINEATION OF WETLANDS AND DEEPWATER HABITATS GIACOMINI WETLAND RESTORATION PROJECT MARIN COUNTY, CALIFORNIA Prepared by: Lorraine Parsons, Leslie Allen, and Amelia Ryan Point Reyes National Seashore Natural Resources Management Division Point Reyes Station, CA 94956 March 1, 2005 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................................2 Background Information on Project and Project Area.................................................................2 MATERIALS AND METHODS..................................................................................................4 Compliance with Federal Policies, Laws, and Regulations.........................................................4 Park Service Director’s Order #77-1.......................................................................................4 Coastal Zone Management Act................................................................................................4 Wetland Definition/Delineation...................................................................................................5 Cowardin/FWS.........................................................................................................................5 Modified Cowardin/CDFG......................................................................................................8 Wetland Classification.................................................................................................................9 Cowardin..................................................................................................................................9 Modified Cowardin..................................................................................................................9 Literature Review......................................................................................................................11 Field Survey...............................................................................................................................12 Modified Cowardin/CDFG (CCC).........................................................................................12 Park Service...........................................................................................................................13 STUDY AREA BACKGROUND...............................................................................................14 Geology and Soils......................................................................................................................14 Hydrology..................................................................................................................................18 Vegetation Communities...........................................................................................................18 Previous NWI Delineation Efforts.............................................................................................20 SURVEY RESULTS...................................................................................................................22 Cowardin Wetland Classification................................................................................................22 System/Subsystem...................................................................................................................22 Class/Subclass........................................................................................................................24 Water Regime.........................................................................................................................25 Modified Cowardin/CDFG Wetlands (CCC).........................................................................26 Cowardin Wetlands (Park Service)........................................................................................27 WETLANDS SUBJECT TO PARK SERVICE AND CCC OVERSIGHT...........................39 Wetlands Subject to Executive Order 11990...............................................................................39 Wetlands Subject to Potential Regulatory Oversight by the CCC.............................................39 OTHER REGULATORY ISSUES............................................................................................41 REFERENCES............................................................................................................................42 APPENDICES.............................................................................................................................44 Appendix A: Modified Cowardin Classification System.........................................................45 Appendix B: Codes used for Modified Cowardin Classification System.................................49 Appendix C. List of Plant Species Observed in the Giacomini Wetland Restoration Project Delineation Study Area...........................................................................................................51 Appendix D. Datasheets from Wetland Delineation Sampling Points in Giacomini Wetland Restoration Project Delineation Study Area...........................................................................71 1 INTRODUCTION This report describes the methods and results of a delineation of wetlands potentially subject to oversight by the California Coastal Commission and National Park Service (Park Service) for the Giacomini Wetland Restoration Project (Project). Point Reyes National Seashore (Seashore), a unit of the Park Service, will be preparing an Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (EIS/EIR) for this Project. The Project Area is located in the southern portion of the Tomales Bay watershed in the county of Marin west of the town of Point Reyes Station and east of the town of Inverness Park (Figure 1). It incorporates the Giacomini Ranch proper, Olema Marsh, portions of Levee and Bear Valley Road, and undiked marsh areas directly adjacent to the Giacomini Ranch. The Delineation Study Area expands the Project Area by including areas directly adjacent that might be impacted by restoration activities (Figures 1 and 2). The Project proposes to restore natural hydrologic and ecological processes and functions to a historic coastal marsh that was diked in the 1940s for operation of a dairy. The Park Service purchased the Waldo Giacomini dairy ranch (Giacomini Ranch) in 2000 for the purpose of wetland restoration. Since that time, the Park Service has been working on assessing existing conditions and initiating the planning process. As part of the EIS/EIR, the Seashore must consider whether this Project could impact sensitive vegetation communities such as wetlands, as well as special status wildlife and plant species, water quality, and other environmental and socioeconomic factors. A preferred restoration alternative has not been selected yet, however, most of the alternatives involve some degree of topographic and hydrologic alternation, including levee removal, partial breaching, lowering or regarding of levees, excavation of tidal channels, revegetation with native plant species, etc. The goal of this study was to map and describe areas within the Delineation Study Area potentially subject to Park Service Director’s Order #77-1 and oversight by the California Coastal Commission under the federal Coastal Zone Management Act. A separate report was prepared that assesses acreage of waters potentially subject to regulation by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act (Parsons 2005). Information from these reports will be used to assess in the environmental document potential impacts of these restoration activities on existing wetlands and waters. Background Information on Project and Project Area The Park Service is proposing a 563-acre wetland restoration project at the Giacomini Ranch and Olema Marsh in the southern end of Tomales Bay in Marin County, California (Figure 1). The Park Service acquired the 563-acre Giacomini Ranch in February 2000 through a combination of Congressional appropriations and funding from the California 2 Department of Transportation (CalTrans). The Giacomini Ranch is located in the north district of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA), which is administered by the Seashore. The Giacominis have been operating a dairy ranch on this property since the 1940s when they constructed levees on Lagunitas Creek and, later in the 1960s, Tomasini Creek. Prior to that, the mouth of the Tomales Bay watershed was largely a combination of subtidal and intertidal habitat, with the latter increasing substantially after the 1860s due to increased sedimentation caused by watershed disturbances such as logging, agriculture, etc. As part of the purchase agreement with the Giacominis, the Giacomini family was granted a reservation of use agreement until 2007 on approximately 463 acres. The remaining 100 acres are already under Park Service management. These 100 acres are located in the northwestern corner of the Project Area in the northern portion of the West Pasture: Lagunitas Creek bisects the pasturelands into two pasture areas that have been termed the East and West Pastures (Figure 1). Since purchase of the property in 2000, the Seashore has been moving forward with the environmental planning process. Baseline studies on existing wildlife, vegetation, wetland, and cultural resources have been or are being conducted. Through integration of this baseline information with restoration science tenets, Park Service directives and management policies, and mitigation and contractual obligations, the Seashore has identified one primary project objective -- specifically, restoration of natural hydrologic tidal and freshwater processes, thereby enabling restoration of ecological processes and functions. Public and agency scoping for the environmental document – a joint EIS/EIR - - ended in January 2003. State ownership of land below the Ordinary Higher Water mark in Lagunitas Creek triggered the need to conduct a joint federal/state planning process. State Lands Commission agreed to participate in the planning process as the lead California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The Park Service will act as the lead National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) agency and principal project manager. Two of the alternatives include restoration in Olema Marsh, a 63-acre freshwater marsh that is owned by the non-profit organization, Audubon Canyon Ranch. Restoration would require alteration to Levee Road and possibly Bear Valley Road and the White House Pool County park that is owned by the state of California Wildlife Conservation Board and leased by the County of Marin Parks and Open Space District. The Park Service has been working collaboratively with Audubon Canyon Ranch, the County of Marin Public Works department, and the Open Space district, as well as the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, whose jurisdiction includes Tomales Bay, throughout the environmental planning process. In 2003, the Park Service held a series of internal workshops designed to prioritize restoration objectives based on a number of factors, including mitigation requirements, project Purpose, project Goals, and scoping comments and concerns. A hydrologic consulting firm was hired in spring 2003 to investigate existing hydrologic conditions and to develop and perform hydrodynamic modeling of preliminary restoration and public access concepts. During spring 2004, the Park Service conducted a number of workshops with adjacent landowners, regulatory agencies, local and state agencies and organizations, the general public and wetland restoration experts. The objective of these workshops was to gather feedback from these various groups on the preliminary 2 restoration and public access concepts and to use this feedback to refine alternatives prior to inclusion and analysis in the environmental document. At this point, the Seashore has finalized the restoration components, but is still collecting information regarding technical feasibility and land use/noise impacts that will better enable the Park Service to refine the public access component. The restoration and public access concepts developed to date involve various degrees of hydraulic and/or topographic alterations, such as partial levee breaching; complete levee removal; lowering and regrading levees; removal of tidegates, spillways and other infrastructure; removal of sediment to lower elevations; installation of larger culverts or bridges; construction of paved or unpaved paths and viewing platforms/elevated overlooks; revegetation of selected areas; creation of freshwater marsh, and creation of high marsh or upland areas to serve as high tide refugia habitat for bird species such as black rails and the California clapper rail. The Seashore anticipates that, due to construction timing constraints, restoration will probably be phased over a three-year period, with restoration on the 100 acres already managed by the Park Service planned for 2006. Preparation of the environmental document will begin in spring 2005. 3 MATERIALS AND METHODS Compliance with Federal Policies, Laws, and Regulations Park Service Director’s Order #77-1 Director’s Order #77-1 established Park Service policies, requirements, and standards for implementing Executive Order 11990 (Protection of Wetlands; 42 Fed. Reg. 26961). Executive Order 11990 was issued by the President “...to avoid to the extent possible the long and short term adverse impacts associated with the destruction or modification of wetlands and to avoid direct and indirect support of new construction in wetlands wherever there is a practicable alternative...” In compliance with this Executive Order, the Park Service adopted a policy of “no net loss of wetlands,” with a longer term goal of net gain Service-wide. Implementation of this policy meant that, for new development or new activities, the Park Service pledged to avoid adverse wetland impacts to the extent practicable, minimize impacts that could not be avoided, and compensate for remaining unavoidable adverse impacts through restoration of degraded wetlands at a 1:1 ratio. Unlike Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, adverse impacts under Executive Order 11990 are not interpreted strictly as discharge of dredged or fill material, but encompass a much broader range of actions, including groundwater withdrawals, water diversions, nutrient enrichment, livestock grazing, pumping, flooding, and impounding. To delineate which areas would be subject to Director’s Order #77-1, the Park Service elected to use the classification system developed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), “Classification of Wetlands and Deepwater Habitats of the United States,” (FWS/OBS-79/31; Cowardin et al. 1979), as the standard for inventory and classification of wetlands. This system is typically referred to as the Cowardin classification system. Since 2000, the Seashore and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) have been conducting an inventory of wetlands in high priority watersheds or portions of watersheds within their boundaries using the Cowardin classification system or a modified version of this system. Coastal Zone Management Act Within California, the California Coastal Commission (CCC) administers the state program (California Coastal Act) for implementation of the federal Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA). Any action by a federal agency such as the Park Service requires a federal consistency determination by the CCC as required by CZMA. The CCC reviews all proposed development projects within the California coastal zone, which, in many areas of the state, is effectively bounded to the east or inland by Highway One. The California Coastal Act (Coastal Act; 1976) directs each of the 73 cities and counties lying wholly or partially within the coastal zone to prepare a Local Coastal Program (LCP) Certification and Amendment Process. These LCPs must include regulatory policies concerning wetlands that are consistent with the Coastal Act. The Coastal Act Section 30121 broadly defines a wetland as: 4 Wetland means lands within the coastal zone which may be covered periodically or permanently with shallow water and include saltwater marshes, freshwater marshes, open or closed brackish water marshes, swamps, mudflats, or fens. However, the CCC Administrative Regulations (Section 13577(b)) provides a more explicit explanation: Wetlands are lands where the water table is at, near, or above the land surface long enough to promote the formation of hydric soils or to support the growth of hydrophytes, and shall also include those types of wetlands where vegetation is lacking and soil is poorly developed or absent as a result of frequent or drastic fluctuations of surface water levels, wave action, water flow, turbidity or high concentrations of salt or other substance in the substrate. Such wetlands can be recognized by the presence of surface water or saturated substrate at some time during each year and their location within, or adjacent to, vegetated wetlands or deepwater habitats. In the coastal zone, the CCC, with assistance from the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG), is responsible for determining the presence and size of wetlands subject to regulation under the Coastal Act. The CCC has adopted the CDFG wetland definition and classification system, which is a modified version of the Cowardin classification system. Wetland Definition/Delineation Cowardin/FWS The Cowardin system was developed primarily to serve as a foundation for the national wetlands mapping project known as the National Wetlands Inventory (NWI; Cowardin et al. 1979). As part of this effort, the FWS developed the following definition of wetlands: Wetlands are lands transitional between terrestrial and aquatic systems where the water table is usually at or near the surface or the land is covered by shallow water. For purposes of this classification system, wetlands must have one or more of the following attributes: (1) at least periodically, the land supports predominantly hydrophytes; (2) the substrate is predominantly undrained hydric soil; and (3) the substrate is nonsoil and is saturated with water or covered by shallow water at some time during the growing season of each year (Cowardin et al. 1979). While this definition appears to imply that areas need only to meet one of the three parameters to qualify as a wetland, the FWS has subsequently clarified that the true Cowardin system requires the presence of wetland hydrology and either the presence of hydric soils or hydrophytic vegetation, except in nonsoil areas, such as rocky intertidal areas, where only the presence of proper hydrology is required (Tiner 1989). In order to 5 be considered a wetland, areas must be “subjected to periodic inundation and/or soil saturation or be covered by shallow water,” whether wetland vegetation and/or hydric soils are present or not (Tiner 1989). The FWS did not provide any quantitative measure for the term “periodic.” Relative to the Corps’ delineation methodology, the FWS definition is generally regarded as being more inclusive in the delineation and subsequent classification of a wetland (CCC 2002). The Seashore is currently using the Cowardin/FWS definition to delineate areas potentially subject to oversight and management by the Park Service. Initially, the Seashore and GGNRA adopted a one-parameter approach to defining and delineating wetlands, but found that this approach incorporated too many coastal upland areas that were not wetlands, but simply dominated by mesic plant species adapted to the cool coastal climate. It attempted to correct for this problem by mapping based on pre- dominance of hydrophytic species with FACW or OBL indicator status, but has elected recently to align its methodology with that used by other units in the Park Service, which relies on two parameters. Consistent with the FWS methodology, an area must have wetland hydrology and hydrophytic vegetation or hydric soils to qualify as a wetland. As part of its methodology, the Seashore has provided some quantitative measures for evaluating whether an area meets two of the three parameters – vegetation, soils, and hydrology. Most of these criteria are based on the 1989 Federal Manual for Identifying and Delineating Jurisdictional Wetlands (Federal Interagency Committee for Wetland Delineation 1989), which was never formally adopted by the committee. Hydrology. An area exhibits wetland hydrology characteristics if it is inundated or if the soil is saturated at a sufficient frequency and duration to support wetland vegetation during the growing season under normal circumstances. The wetland hydrology criterion is met if standing water or saturated soils persist for seven (7) to 10 consecutive days during the growing season (PRNS May 2000). Areas that are only episodically inundated or saturated or never inundated or saturated are not wetlands. Evidence of wetland hydrology is determined by presence of either one primary indicator or two secondary indicators. Primary hydrologic indicators include standing water, water table within the top 12 inches of the soil surface, or saturation within the top 12 inches of the soil surface, drift lines, sediment depositions, and drainage patterns. Standing water is recorded in inches for the average depth found within the wetland. If standing water is not present, the soil is checked for an elevated water table and/or saturation in the upper 12 inches. Examination of these indicators requires digging a soil pit to a depth of 16 inches, observing the level at which water stands or saturation occurs in the hole. If no signs of primary hydrologic indicators are present, then, secondary hydrologic indicators are used, which include oxidized root or pore channels, algal matting, water marks/water-stained vegetation, etc. Indirect indicators of hydrology must be interpreted with caution in areas with artificial hydrology such as irrigation. Vegetation. Plant species identified were assigned a wetland indicator status according to the National List of Plant Species That Occur in Wetlands: California (Region 0) (Reed 1988). This indicator status refers to the probability that a particular plant species 6