CCWD Vegetation Management for Fire Resilience 2024-2025
Summary
SCH Number
2024081204
Public Agency
Contra Costa Water District
Document Title
CCWD Vegetation Management for Fire Resilience 2024-2025
Document Type
NOE - Notice of Exemption
Received
Posted
8/28/2024
Document Description
The purpose of this project is to perform various vegetation management activities to reduce fuel loads within Reclamation and CCWD’s right-of-way and increase wildfire resilience. The project sites are located adjacent to residential homes and publicly accessible recreation areas along the Contra Costa Canal or near conservation lands in eastern Contra Costa County, where fuel loads pose an increased risk of fire to the public. CCWD is planning to partner with Civicorps through the Nature-based Solutions Grant Program administered by the California Conservation Corps. Under the program, Civicorps crews would be contracted to perform the work. Project activities at each of the nine project sites include mowing, weed eating and abatement, brush removal, and pruning/trimming trees.
The work proposed under this project is consistent with routine maintenance activities covered by CCWD’s existing maintenance permits. Maintenance activities occurring along the Contra Costa Canal on U.S. Bureau of Reclamation lands is covered by the Programmatic Biological Opinion (PBO) on Operations and Maintenance occurring on Central Valley Project Facilities issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in 2005. At the Los Vaqueros Watershed Conservation Lands, operations and maintenance activities are primarily governed by the PBO on the Los Vaqueros Watershed Long-Term Operations and Maintenance Program issued by the USFWS in 2012 and the California Endangered Species Act (CESA) Incidental Take Permit (ITP) for the Los Vaqueros Reservoir Expansion Project issued by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) in 2011. CCWD will adhere to the environmental commitments required by these permit coverages.
Sites 1-7 are all located adjacent to residential areas as shown in the approximate project footprints for these sites in Attachment A. These sites will be accessed using paved city/county roads. The two sites at the Los Vaqueros Watershed Conservation Lands (Sites 8 and 9) are also located near residential areas or adjacent to public roads (Deer Valley Road). Attachment A also provides approximate project footprints for Sites 8 and 9. Site 8 will be accessed from the existing paved Deer Valley Road and Deer Valley East will be accessed from a dirt access road off of Briones Valley Road.
The project is expected to occur between October 2024 and May 2025. The types of equipment that are expected to be present on site at any one time consists of the following:
• Two (2) utility trucks
• One (1) portable toilet
• Hand tools including weed whackers, blowers, and hedgers
Staging will occur from paved surfaces (roads and parking lots) or existing dirt access roads located within the project footprints of the sites. No excavation, grading, or other land clearing activity is necessary for the project. Tree removal will not occur at any of the project sites.
Contact Information
Name
Matthew Novak
Agency Name
Contra Costa Water District
Job Title
Maintenance Manager
Contact Types
Lead/Public Agency / Project Applicant
Phone
Email
Location
Cities
Brentwood, Concord, Oakley, Walnut Creek
Counties
Contra Costa
Regions
Countywide, Unincorporated
Total Acres
90.14
State Highways
SR 4, SR 160, SR 242
Waterways
Contra Costa Canal, Pine Creek, Dry Creek, Briones Creek, Marsh Creek, Galindo Creek, Walnut Cr
Other Location Info
This project is located within U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) and Contra Costa Water District (CCWD) right-of-way within Contra Costa County. There are nine project sites in total. Seven of the sites are located within Reclamation right-of-way: Sites 1-4 span across a portion of the Contra Costa Canal in the City of Oakley, Site 5 spans a portion of the Clayton Canal in the City of Concord, Site 6 spans a portion of the Ygnacio Canal in the City of Walnut Creek, and Site 7 spans a portion of the Loop Canal in the cities of Concord and Walnut Creek. Two of the sites are within CCWD right-of-way on Los Vaqueros Watershed mitigation properties (conservation lands) owned by CCWD: Site 8 is located at the Deer Valley West property in the City of Brentwood and Site 9 is located at the Deer Valley East property in the City of Brentwood and unincorporated Contra Costa County. See Figure 1 for a vicinity map of the project locations.
Notice of Exemption
Exempt Status
Categorical Exemption
Type, Section or Code
Class 4, Section 15304
Reasons for Exemption
The purpose of the project is to restore these project sites to conditions prior to the storm event. This project involves minor public or private alterations in the condition of land, water, and/or vegetation which do not involve removal of healthy, mature, scenic trees except for forestry or agricultural purposes.
County Clerk
Contra Costa
Attachments
Notice of Exemption
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