BOARD AGENDA MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT:
Title
Resolution Approving the Application for Grant Funds from The Wildlife Conservation Board, for the Bolsa Road Fish Passage Project (Project No. 26044002), (Gilroy), (District 1).
End
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
A. Approve the grant application submitted by Chief Executive Officer (CEO) on June 21, 2019 to the State of California, Natural Resources Agency, Department of Fish and Wildlife, Wildlife Conservation Board, for Proposition 68 funds.
B. Authorize the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), if the grant is awarded to the District, to:
1. Accept the grant and execute a grant agreement with the California Wildlife Conservation Board for the Bolsa Road Fish Passage Project, provided all grant requirements can be met;
2. Sign and submit invoices and requests to the California Wildlife Conservation Board for grant disbursements to be made pursuant to the Grant Agreement between the District and the California Wildlife Conservation Board to construct the Project; and
3. Delegate such other authority as needed to provide management and support services required for the performance of the work and administration pursuant to the grant agreement, as deemed necessary and appropriate.
C. Adopt the Resolution of the Board of Directors of the Santa Clara Valley Water District APPROVING THE APPLICATION FOR GRANT FUNDS FROM THE WILDLIFE CONSERVATION BOARD FOR THE BOLSA ROAD FISH PASSAGE PROJECT.
Body
SUMMARY:
The purpose of the Bolsa Road Fish Passage Improvement Project (Project) is to improve fish passage at the Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) crossing of Uvas Creek to allow steelhead and other aquatic organisms to move freely between the lower and upper reaches of the creek. This is being accomplished through development of a geomorphically designed project that restores the creek invert to historic elevation.
Specific outcomes of the Project are:
1. Restore upstream steelhead passage at the UPRR crossing, providing access to spawning grounds in the upper reaches of the watershed.
2. Restore stability and stream function and prevent incision for 1,700 feet of Uvas Creek.
The Project consists of a series of roughened riffles with pools and glides in between. Its overall length is 1,500 feet at an overall slope of 0.5 percent to overcome 7½ vertical feet. The riffles are 40 feet long and drop 1 foot at approximately 4 percent slope. Downstream of each riffle is a pool and glide that has a length of 52 to 54 feet. The pool bottoms are 2 feet below the next downstream riffle crest. In total, there are eleven riffles and nine pools. Two riffles downstream of the ninth pool are intended to provide additional stability of the channel bed. The modified channel would extend approximately 1,700 linear feet downstream of the UPRR Bridge.
On April 26, 2019, staff submitted a pre-application to the California Wildlife Conservation Board (Conservation Board) for a Proposition 68 grant for the Project. On May 23, 2019, the Conservation Board staff invited Santa Clara Valley Water District (Valley Water) to submit a full application. At the Board meeting on May 28, 2019, Watersheds Chief Operating Officer Richardson informed the Board as part of the CEO/Chiefs’ Report that the Conservation Board staff invited Valley Water to submit a full application to the Conservation Board for a grant for the Project, and that the application is due on June 21, 2019. The Conservation Board grant application process also requires submission of a resolution approving the application for funding.
Staff prepared the full grant application and the CEO executed and submitted it to the Conservation Board in order to meet their immediate deadline of June 21, 2019. The application process includes submission of a specific resolution adopted by the Valley Water Board, which is included in this agenda item, and it also approves the application previously submitted.
Project Funding
Adequate funding for the Project activities that will take place in this fiscal year have been included in the Board-adopted Fiscal Year 2018-19 Project budget. Funding for construction will be accounted for in Safe, Clean Water and Natural Flood Protection Program (SCW) Project D4 - Fish Habitat and Passage Improvement and Priority D6 Creek Restoration and Stabilization. Any grant amount for this Project will allow Valley Water additional funds to allocate toward additional fish passage improvement activities.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The Wildlife Conservation grant is a reimbursable grant. Staff has requested for $2.3 million in the grant application. The estimated construction contract cost for the Project is $2.5 million to $3 million. The Bolsa Road Fish Passage Project No. 26044002 currently has enough funds to cover the estimated construction cost.
CEQA:
The recommended action does not constitute a project under CEQA because it does not have a potential for resulting in direct or reasonable indirect physical change in the environment.
The grant requires grantees to comply with CEQA. This project is exempt from CEQA review pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15333 which exempts projects not exceeding five acres in size that are proposed for maintenance, restoration, enhancement, or protection of habitat for fish, plants, or wildlife. Appropriate documentation of CEQA compliance was provided by Valley Water to the Conservation Board as part of the grant application.
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment 1: Resolution
Attachment 2: Grant Application
UNCLASSIFIED MANAGER:
Manager
Ngoc Nguyen, 408-630-2632