North Haiwee Dam No. 2 Geotechnical Investigations and Archaeological Resources Testing for the Haiwee Power Plant Penstock Replacement Project; California Enda

North Haiwee Dam No. 2 Geotechnical Investigations and Archaeological Resources Testing for the Haiwee Power Plant Penstock Replacement Project; California Enda

This proposed project amendment involves additional geotechnical trenches and dozer cuts (scraping of the existing surface) to be constructed in order to locate an active earthquake fault. The trenches would measure approximately 300 feet long, 5 to 20 feet deep and approximately 30 to 100 feet wide. The project amendment also includes Archaeological Resources Testing for the Haiwee Power Plant Penstock Replacement Project intended to evaluate each of 19 archaeological sites for their significance under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) and/or the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The Project includes disturbance of up to 25 acres of undeveloped land as a result of trench digging, borings, mechanized excavation, shovel scrapes, shovel test units, controlled excavation units and Project area access. The Project will result in temporary impacts up to 10 acres of Mohave ground squirrel (Spermophilus mohavensis) and desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) habitat. The project is expected to result in incidental take of Mohave ground squirrel and desert tortoise which are designated as threatened species under the California Endangered Species Act. The ITP referenced above as issued by CDFW authorizes incidental take of species listed under CESA that may occur as a result of Project implementation.

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