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Final Study Plan
Botanical Resources
Borel Hydroelectric Relicensing Project
May 2001
Introduction
The purpose of this study is to obtain information regarding the botanical resources in the Borel Project area. The botanical studies outlined in this plan were developed in consultation with the resource agencies and focus on addressing public and agency concerns and meeting the FERC application requirements contained in 18CFR Section 4.51[f][3]. The results of the botanical surveys described in this plan will be reported in Exhibit E of Southern California Edison’s (SCE’s) draft Application for License. The following paragraphs discuss the target species and methods that will be used to conduct the field surveys.
Target Species
Special Status Species
A list of special status target species for the proposed surveys was developed using the California Native Plant Society (CNPS) Electronic Inventory. A search of the inventory based on project location, elevation, and habitat types identified 14 taxa that could potentially occur within the project area. This listing was updated with taxa of special concern (and "sensitive") identified by the Forest Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, and Bureau of Land Management. These special status target species are listed in Table 1.
Noxious Weeds
Surveys of the project facilities will include observations of noxious weeds as listed by the State of California and the Sequoia National Forest (SQF). Table 2 lists species that have the potential to occur near the project facilities.
Survey Methods
Survey Timing
SCE proposes to conduct field surveys of the project facilities and other requested areas during three separate times: April, May, and August/September. These survey times were selected to coincide with the times that special status plants are blooming or otherwise identifiable.
Survey Area
Surveys will be conducted within 300 feet of all project facilities, including the Lake Isabella Auxiliary Dam area, Forebay and Penstock, project access roads, and the Borel Powerhouse. Surveys will be conducted within the project right of way along the Borel Canal. As requested by the Forest Service, surveys will also be conducted at the Black Gulch South dispersed recreation area and at Sandy Flat Campground. As requested by the BLM, surveys will be conducted in the Keyesville South mitigation area.
USFWS/CDFG Field Protocol
The field surveys will be conducted in accordance with the CDFG and USFWS plant survey guidelines. The CDFG guidelines require that: 1) every species encountered is identified to the point that its rarity can be confirmed; and 2) the entire study area be covered completely (although the intensity of the coverage may vary based on the study goals and site characteristics). The USFWS guidelines require that: 1) surveys be conducted when species are present and identifiable; and 2) all potential habitats are surveyed.
Mapping
Populations of special status plants or noxious weeds that are identified in the field will be mapped on USGS maps at a scale of 1:24000. In addition, GPS data will be taken at each location.
Documentation
Survey results should be documented on CNDDB forms and/or SQF botanical survey forms. Copies of forms will be provided to the land management agencies where surveys occurred.
Table 1
Special Status Plants Potentially Occurring within the Borel Project Area
|
Species |
Status 1 Fed/State CNPS/FS BLM |
Phenology |
Habitat 2 (elevation requirement, habitat association) |
|
Forked fiddleneck |
-/- List 4/- - |
Mar-May |
150-3,000 feet; cismontane woodland, valley/foothill grasslands. |
|
California jewelflower |
FE/CE List 1B/- - |
Feb-May |
200-3,000 feet; cheonpod scrub, pinyonjuniper woodland, valley/foothill grassland. |
|
Alkali mariposa lily |
FSC/ - List 1B/ FSS BLMS |
Apr-Jun |
225-5,000 feet; alkaline soils in chaparral, moist creosote-bush scrub, and meadows. |
|
Shirley Meadows star-tulip |
FSC/- List 1B/ FSS BLMS |
May-June |
4,500-6,300 feet, board-leaf upper-montane forest, lower montane conifer forest meadows on granitic substrates. |
|
Mariposa pussypaws |
FT/- List 1B/- BLMS |
April August |
1,200-3,660 feet, chparral, cismontane woodland on sandy, gravelly, and granitic substrates. |
|
Slender clarkia |
-/- List 4/- - |
Apr-May |
380-3,200 feet; cismontane woodland. |
|
Kern Canyon clarkia |
-/- List 1B/- - |
May-Jun |
3,000-4,800 feet; dry slopes in cismontane woodland. |
|
Piute cypress |
-/- List 1B/ FSS BLMS |
N/A |
2,300-5,700 feet; pinyon/juniper and oak/pine woodlands or chaparral in southern Sierra Nevada. |
|
Gypsum-loving larkspur |
-/- List 4/- - |
Apr-May |
500-4,000 feet; slopes in grassland, open oak woodland, and saltbush scrub. |
|
Kern County larkspur |
-/- List 4/- BLMS |
Apr-May |
960-4,160 feet; rocky, often carbonate soils in chaparral, cismontane woodland, and pinyon-juniper woodland; |
|
Striped adobe lily |
FPT/CT List 1B/FSS- |
Feb-Apr |
400-4,600 feet; adobe soils in cismontane woodland and valley/foothill grassland. |
|
Shevock's hairy golden-aster |
-/- List 1B/FSSBLMS |
Aug-Nov |
1,500-2,500 feet; chaparral and cismontane woodland with sandy soils. |
|
Calico monkeyflower |
-/- List 1B/FSSBLMS |
Apr-May |
350-4,100 feet; bare, sunny areas around shurbs; rock outcrops on granitic soils. |
|
Kelso Creek monkeyflower |
FSC/- List 1B/ FSS BLMS |
Mar-May |
2,475–4,000 feet, joshua tree woodland, pinyon-juniper woodland on sandy and granitic surfaces. |
|
Piute Mountains navarretia |
FPT/- List 1B/ FSS BLMS |
Apr-Jun |
1,600-6,700 feet; depressions in clay or gravelly loam in cismontane woodland, pinyon/juniper woodland, and valley/foothill grassland. |
|
Bakersfield cactus |
FE/CE List 1B/- - |
May |
350-1,700 feet; arid plains; destert, chaparral, pinyon-juniper woodland, grasslands. |
|
San Joaquin adobe sunburst |
FT/CE List 1B/- - |
Mar-Apr |
350-2,500 feet; bare, dark clay in grasslands. |
|
Piute Mtns. Jewelflower |
FSC/- List 1B/FSS BLMS |
May-July |
3,300-5,100 feet, Broad-leaf upper-montane forest, close cone forest, and pinyon-juniper woodland. |
|
Mason’s neststraw |
FSC/- List 1B/- BLMS |
Mar-May |
300-3,600 feet, chaparral, pinyon-juniper woodland on sandy substrates. |
Notes on Protection Status 1
Federal
FPT Federally Proposed Threatened.
FSC Federal Species of Concern.
FT Federally listed threatened
FE Federally listed endangered.
California Native Plant Society (CNPS)
List 1B CNPS listed plants that are rare, threatened, or endangered in California and elsewhere.
List 4 CNPS listed plants of limited distribution - a watch list.
State
CE State of California listed endangered.
CT State of California listed threatened.
Forest Service
FSS Forest Service Sensitive
Bureau of Land Management
BLMS BLM Sensitive
Notes on Habitats 2
Habitat information reported from Skinner and Pavlik 1999; and CDFG 2000.
Table 2
Noxious Weeds Potentially Occurring with the Borel Project Area
|
Common Name |
Scientific Name |
Pest Rating* (FS/CPR) |
|
Tree of heaven |
Ailanthus altissima |
SQF / -- |
|
Black mustard |
Brassica nigra |
SQF / -- |
|
Cheat grass |
Bromus tectorum |
SQF / -- |
|
Italian thistle |
Carduus pycnocephalus |
SQF / CA-C |
|
Bachelor’s buttons |
Centaurea cyanus |
SQF / -- |
|
Spotted kapweed |
Centaurea maculosa |
SQF / CA-A |
|
Tocolate |
Centaurea melitensis |
SQF / -- |
|
Yellow-star thistle |
Centaurea solstitialis |
SQF / CA-C |
|
Bull thistle |
Cirsium vulgare |
SQF / -- |
|
Scotch broom |
Cytisus scoparius |
SQF / CA-C |
|
Bermuda grass |
Cynodon species |
-- / CA-C |
|
Foxglove |
Digitalis purpurea |
SQF / -- |
|
Russian olive |
Elaeagnus angustifolia |
SQF / -- |
|
Fennel |
Foeniculum vulgare |
SQF / -- |
|
Halogeton |
Halogeton glomeratus |
SQF / CA-A |
|
Klamath weed |
Hypericum perforatum |
SQF / CA-A |
|
Purple loosestrife |
Lythrum salicaria |
SQF / CA-B |
|
White horehound |
Marrubium vulgare |
SQF / -- |
|
Scotch thistle |
Onopordum acanthium |
SQF / CA-A |
|
Black locust |
Robinia psueadoacacia |
SQF / -- |
|
Himalayan blackberry |
Rubus discolor |
SQF / -- |
|
Russian thistle (tumbleweed) |
Salsola tragus |
SQF / CA-C |
|
Milk thistle |
Silybum marianum |
SQF / -- |
|
Medusahead |
Taeniatherum caput-medusae |
SQF / CA-C |
|
tamarisk |
Tamarix chinensis |
SQF / -- |
|
Punter vine |
Tribulus terrestris |
SQF / CA-C |
|
Woolly mullein |
Verbascum thapsus |
SQF / -- |
|
Common cocklebur |
Xanthium strumarium |
SQF / -- |
Notes:
Forest Service (FS):
SQF Listed as "noxious" by the Sequoia National Forest (SQF).
California Pest Rating (CPR):
CA-A An organism of know economic importance subject to state (or commissioner when acting as a state agent) enforced action involving: eradication, quarantine, containment, rejection, or other holding action.
CA-B An organism of known economic importance subject to: eradication, containment, control or other holding action at the discretion of the individual county agricultural commissioner; or an organism of know economic importance subject to state endorsed holding action and eradication only when found in a nursery.
CA-C An organism subject to no state enforced action outside of nurseries except to retard spread. At the discretion of the commissioner, or an organism subject to no state enforced action except to provide for pest cleanliness in nurseries.
The species above are not listed under the Federal Noxious Weeds Act of 1974 (7CFR360)
Revised May 2, 2001
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