C153699 Feasibility Study - Laserfiche WebLink

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. MITIGATION PLAN . The following plan presents management actions and associated costs for mitigation of impacts to wetland wildlife habitat, big game, and Osterhout's milkvetch associated with the construction and operation of the proposed Muddy Creek Reservoir. These impacts are summarized in Table 1 and are diSCUSSed in the following three sections. Minimizing or eliminating these impacts is the overall goal of this mitigation plan. This is followed by two sections which present additional enhancement measures related to the project and a summary of mitigation and enhancement costs. t The success of each management action detailed in this mitigation plan is dependent upon several factors (i.e., administration. final design, implementation, maintenance, and monitoring). Risk of failure varies for each management action and factor being considered. The plan also assumes interdependency of certain management actions, especially those related to wetlands wildlife habitat mitigation. . The BLM, through permit stipulation and compliance procedures, is the agency responsible for ensuring that all management actions described in this plan are accomplished. The River District is the party responsible lor the actual implementation, accomplishment. and associated funding for all management actions. , WETLANDS SUMMARY OF POTENTIAL IMPACTS AND METHODS . Wildlife habitat values associated with wetlands were used as a basis to assess impacts on the project area and determine the capacity of the mitigation area to replace these values. Habitat evaluation procedures (HEP) were used to determine these wetland habitat values (USFWS 1980a; 1980b; and 1981). A detailed discussion of HEP and how it was applied to this project is presented in reports by Pekins and Hugie (1986) and Hugie and Masslich (1987). Selection of the lower Muddy Creek site for use in wetland habitat mitigation was based on an interagency review of several potential sites. Details of this selection process are presented in the Rock Creek/Muddy Creek SDEIS (USDNUSDI 1988). Two types of impacts to wetland wildlife habitat could not be effectively addressed using HEP: loss of 3 acres 01 cottonwood and loss of 8 acres of pond habitat. Therefore, these habitats will be replaced directly on an acre-for-acre basis. A jurisdictional wetlands study was conducted in the summer of 1989. That study is discussed in the final EIS and was used to reline some of the information in this mitigation plan. Implementation of the proposed project will impact approximately 892 acres of existing wetland habitat within the Muddy Creek drainage. Acreages of the eight types 01 wetland habitat are presented in Table 2. Most (822 acres) 01 the wetland habitat that will be lost is of the wet meadow type. A majority of the wetland habitat (approximately 514 acres) is either presently hayed, has previously been hayed, or has been used as pasture, and therefore, has been influenced by humans through irrigation. introduction of non-native vegetation for hay, and grazing of domestic livestock. These areas are classified as "wetlands affected by humans' in this report. Generally I these wetlands are in poor condition. No measurements are available that quantitatively show the effect of overgrazing, but observations during field studies lor the HEP report (Pekins and Hugie 1986) indicated much of the grasses were heavily utilized down 10 less than an inch, shrubs were heavily browsed, and several vegetation species uncharacteristic of wetlands were invading. Of the total 892 acres of wetland habitat impacted by the Muddy Creek project, about 210 acres are in fairty good condition and about , 3