Laserfiche WebLink
<br />III. WILDLIFE MONITORING & EVALUATION <br /> <br />A. IlI'tllODUCTIOR: <br /> <br />Wildlife upland and wetland habitat is being monitored <br />at selected sites in the McElmo Creek salinity Control Unit. <br />These sites (as outlined in the McElmo creek EIS) include 15 <br />contracts (farm units) selected each year from the first <br />three years of the salinity Program for a total of 45 sites. <br />Habitat changes are presently being tracked for all salinity <br />contracts to measure habitat quality and quantity (for <br />existing, planned and applied conditions). <br /> <br />B. OBJECTIVES: <br /> <br />The McElmo Creek Salinity Control Unit, located in a <br />once xeric basin with irrigated agriculture introduced 75 <br />years ago, contains extensive wetlands associated with over- <br />irrigation, seepage (canal, lateral and ditch) losses, and <br />accumulation (perching) in geological depressions (includes <br />drainages). As irrigation systems and management practices <br />become more efficient water supply to these wetlands will be <br />diminished. Losses of upland habitat will occur in order to <br />facilitate these new systems (such as incidental field <br />squaring, ditch removal, etc.). Evaluations will be made to <br />measure the impacts of salinity project implementation to <br />wetland and upland wildlife habitat and to also assess the <br />effectiveness of voluntary actions by landowners to replace <br />or mitigate for any habitat losses attributed to irrigation <br />system improvement. These evaluations will be conducted to <br />document existing, planned (projected) and applied <br />conditions for every contract. <br /> <br />C. METHODOLOGY: <br /> <br />Habitat quality will be determined by using the U.s. <br />FiSh and Wildlife Service Habitat Evaluation Procedures <br />(HEP). Habitat data gathered from individual salinity <br />contracts and randomly selected monitoring sites will be <br />used to calculate Habitat suitability Index (HSI) values for <br />selected wildlife species. The HSI is a numerical index <br />rating which measures habitat quality for wildlife species <br />on a scale of zero (0) to one (1). The value attained <br />reflects the potential of a habitat type to support a <br />specific wildlife species. (HSI models basically look at the <br />life requisites, food, water and cover, of a species and <br />their seasonable availability to that species.). An HSI <br />value of 1.0 implies an area has the greatest potential to <br />support the selected wildlife species, while a value of .1 <br />denotes significantly lower potential (one-tenth of ~'~~ <br />potential to support that species) for that species to $~i~V <br />in the area. \.'~ <br />