From Permitting to Post-Construction - Consistent Biological Assistance Helps a Project Run Smoothly

Rancho Laguna Project

Zentner Planning and Ecology was hired to complete the permitting and the Habitat Mitigation and Monitoring Plans for the Rancho Laguna project, a 27-unit single-family residential subdivision, located on approximately 179 acres in Moraga, California. The residential subdivision is clustered on 27 acres, leaving the majority of the site, approximately 152 acres, as open space. The Zentner Team was initially brought on to assist with the project’s permitting and to develop the necessary mitigation and monitoring plans. We remained with the project through the complex permitting, several seasons of construction, and are now assisting with post-construction monitoring and maintenance.

Permitting

Permitting for the project was relatively complex with a Section 7 consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) for Alameda whipsnake (Masticophis lateralis) and California red-legged frog (Rana draytonii), and permits required by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) and California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). The project included impacts to both seasonal wetlands and Rheem Creek.

Mitigation Planning

The mitigation plan Zentner Planning and Ecology created rerouted Rheem Creek with wetland planting in the creek and floodplain, and relatively dense riparian vegetation along the banks. The Town of Moraga also requested a specific plan along a section of the creek to combat potential erosion and scarification, which we also developed.

Preconstruction Surveys

The project’s permits from the USACE, the USFWS, and the CDFW required a range of surveys for special status species including Alameda whipsnake, California red-legged frog, burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia), bat species, nesting birds and raptors, San Francisco dusky-footed woodrat (Neotoma fuscipes annectens), and special status plants. Prior to construction each season, Zentner staff completed preconstruction surveys for the project. 

Once project construction began the Zentner staff completed daily clearance surveys prior to the start of construction. These surveys were completed to ensure no wildlife was within the work perimeter, to examine the perimeter exclusion fence, to inspect any excavated ditches or pits where species could become trapped, and to check any pipes or other stored materials on the project site. Our staff was also on hand to complete vegetation clearance surveys prior to vegetation stripping. We were also on site to ensure the proper placement and installation of exclusion fencing around the site and around sensitive habitats. In addition, we made sure that trees, creeks, wetlands, and other habitat features were properly excluded from the project area via orange construction fencing. If work was permitted in these or other sensitive features, Zentner Planning Ecology staff was on hand to ensure that the proper procedures are followed before, during, and after the work.

Worker Awareness Training

Zentner Planning and Ecology also created worker awareness training documents for the project. These documents included important information about special status species that may occur on the project site including photos for identification.  All work personnel were trained prior to work began each year, even if they previously had the worker training in previous years. We worked with the project foreman and the various subcontractors to ensure that worker training was completed as new workers come onto the site. A log of all personnel that had completed the training was kept with the training documents in the construction trailer.

Mitigation Monitoring and project management

Zentner Planning and Ecology ensured that the project permits were kept in an accessible location on the project site.  We also ensured that personnel knew where the permits were keep and provided everyone with copies of the worker training information to keep with their equipment. We recognize how vital it is to have a positive line of communication with the project foreman and other staff so that we can be alerted of potential concerns as they arise and before they become problematic.

For this project, our staff completed daily monitoring logs and submitted weekly logs summarizing the work activities to the project team.

Restoring Delta Wetlands

Pre-Construction Surveys in the Delta

Shin Kee is located on the eastern edge of the historic Delta and represented a unique opportunity to restore the full range of Delta habitats, perennial marsh, seasonal wetlands, riparian woodlands and native-dominated uplands. Working with the landowners, A.G. Spanos Companies, we provided final designs and oversaw the implementation of the restoration of this 140-acre site from tomato field to fully functioning wetlands. Today, Shin Kee hosts numerous species of native Delta wildlife, including relatively unusual species such as otters and white pelicans.

Shin Kee Marsh from above

Photo taken via drone as part of the site’s annual monitoring program.

Within Shin Kee Marsh

Annual tule monitoring completed at the marsh by Zentner biologists.

Native perennial grasslands

Restored native grasslands dominated by creeping wild rye surround the marsh.

Developing Mitigation Solutions

Developing Mitigation Solutions for the Mariners Walk Project

In relatively well-developed areas, such as western Contra Costa County, finding mitigation sites can be problematic. Uplands with potential for restoration are often earmarked for other development projects, making them cost-prohibitive for mitigation work. At Mariner’s Walk, in Martinez, Zentner Planning and Ecology worked with RWQCB staff to identify local mitigation sites for an Olson Company project. When no readily available sites were found, we identified a mitigation site in neighboring Solano County, across the Carquinez Strait. Although initially reluctant to cross County borders, RWQCB staff were persuaded by our ecological analyses demonstrating the similarities between the development and mitigation sites and approved the project. 

Defining the Range Limits of an Endangered Species

Endangered Species limits in San Joaquin County

Roddy Ranch is a 2,000-acre ranch in southern Antioch and includes rolling grasslands that were thought to host the San Joaquin kit fox. The fox is known from the southernmost parts of the San Joaquin County but in the past had been observed as far north as north-central Contra Costa County. Using recent research, environmental data on prey conditions, and ecological analyses of predator relationships, Zentner Planning and Ecology demonstrated that the kit fox was not likely to occur at Roddy Ranch or its environs. We then incorporated thus information into the biotic section of the EIR documents and a resource management plan for the project open space adjacent.

Multi-Faceted Corps Permits

Creating the Laguna Creek Complex

Today, Laguna Creek is a complex, diverse riparian landscape with thriving neighborhoods on either side. Twenty years ago, it was a farm ditch with a number of small vernal pools scattered in the heavily grazed adjacent fields. Working for the City of Sacramento, we mapped the wetland boundaries in these fields, using high-resolution, infrared aerial photography and a variety of other techniques to define wetland boundaries that had been complicated by years of farming. The Corps approved our final map and then our redesign of the creek system, which broadened and deepened the Creek to provide local flood protection while also allowing us to restore vernal pools and riparian woodlands to the landscape.