Tricolored Blackbird

The first three draft chapters of the SFPUC Alameda Watershed Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) have been revised and are now available. The HCP will address SFPUC activities within the SFPUC-owned portion of the Alameda Watershed, and planned conservation actions, including coordinated mitigation of impacts to natural resources.   

The SFPUC-owned Alameda Watershed consists of 36,000 acres of rolling grasslands, native woodlands, scrub and freshwater marshes within the Southern Alameda Creek Watershed. Habitat Conservation Plans are land-use and biological planning efforts that address the conflicts between human activities and endangered species protection. They provide comprehensive, long-term conservation measures for species listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act, or species that could be listed in the future. 
 
Chapter 1 of the Alameda Watershed HCP provides the HCP scope, its regulatory context, and the methodology for selecting the 18 special-status species for coverage. Chapter 2 addresses the evaluation and selection of covered activities associated with SFPUC water supply system operations and maintenance in the study area, lease permitting and easements, and HCP implementation. Chapter 3 covers the physical and biological setting for the Alameda Watershed HCP, the baseline conditions, and the data collection methods used to define them.

These initial chapters have been revised in response to comments from federal and state agencies and the public. They are posted below as separate attachments, so that the progress of the HCP, and changes made to date, can be tracked. However, these attached preliminary chapters do not represent either the final administrative draft chapters or the public draft chapters, since information is still being collected and analyses have yet to be completed.

The SFPUC is currently in consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and the California Department of Fish and Game. We anticipate presenting the entire draft HCP through the public outreach process during the summer of 2010, and we look forward to your comments at that time. The environmental review process will also provide opportunities for formal public comment.

For further information about the SFPUC Alameda Watershed Habitat Conservation Plan, please contact project manager Joanne Wilson, SFPUC Natural Resources and Lands Management, (650) 652-3205, jwilson@sfwater.org.

 
Attachments: (Help)
Chapter 1. Introduction (469 KB)
Chapter 2. Covered Activities (706 KB)
Chapter 3. Physical and Biological Resources (4323 KB)
Alameda Creek Alliance Comments on AWHCP (113 KB)
California Native Plant Society Comments on AWHCP (787 KB)
SFPUC Response to Alameda Crrek Alliance Comments (3418 KB)
SFPUC Response to California Native Plant Society Comments (1920 KB)
Letter from SFPUC General Manager, Feb. 3, 2010 (538 KB)
AWHCP and Alameda Watershed Overview (1129 KB)