BOARD AGENDA MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT:
Title
Receive Update on Feasibility Study Findings for the Calabazas and San Tomas Aquino Creek Realignment Project, a Part of Salt Ponds A5-11 Restoration Project, Project No. 20444001, Approve Proceeding with a Formal Planning Study to Identify a Preferred Realignment Project Alternative, and Approve Preliminary Budget and Schedule for Proceeding with Planning Phase.
End
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
A. Approve Proceeding with a formal Planning Study for the Calabazas and San Tomas Aquino Creek Realignment Project (Realignment Project), to Identify a Preferred Realignment Project Alternative; and
B. Approve the recommended preliminary budget and schedule for proceeding with the Realignment Project.
Body
SUMMARY:
Background
Prior to human modification, Calabazas Creek dissipated into freshwater wetlands and San Tomas Aquino (STA) Creek flowed to tidal marshes along the edge of the Bay. Over the past decades, the two creeks have been directed through artificial channels that make 90-degree turns before discharging to the Guadalupe Slough, bypassing tidal marsh. With funding from the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Healthy Wetlands, Resilient Baylands Project, Valley Water and the San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) developed a landscape vision to realign Calabazas and STA Creeks and directly connect them to A8 Ponds, where tidal marsh is being restored as part of the separate South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project (SBSPRP). EPA's Regional Sediment Strategy Report highlights the Realignment Project, as the first creek-bayland connection along the lower South Bay shoreline.
Feasibility Study
Valley Water staff conducted a study evaluating the feasibility of realigning the two creeks to flow directly into the A8 Ponds, consisting of former salt ponds A5, A7, A8, and A8S (See Attachment 1, Project Map), SBSPRP is in the process of restoring the A8 Ponds to tidal marsh. The Realignment Project would support...
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