ITEM:		INFORMATIONAL ITEMS/STAFF REPORTS
31.	QUARTERLY IRRIGATION PROGRAM AND RIPARIAN PROJECTS REPORT
Meeting Date:			January 27, 2011	Budgeted	N/A
From:			Darby Fuerst,	Program/	N/A
			General Manager	Line Item No.:
Prepared By:			Thomas Christensen	Cost Estimate:	N/A
General Counsel Review: N/A
Committee Recommendation: N/A
CEQA Compliance: N/A

IRRIGATION OF RIPARIAN VEGETATION: The supplemental watering of riparian restoration plantings resumed in April of 2010 at seven Monterey Peninsula Water Management District (District) riparian habitat restoration sites. The following irrigation systems were in use April through October: Trail and Saddle Club, Begonia, Schulte South, Schulte, All Saints, Valley Hills, and Dow.

Water Use in Acre-Feet (AF)

(preliminary values subject to revision)

January - March 2010 0.00 AF

April - June 2010 1.33

July – September 2010 3.16

October – December 2010 0.55

Total in 2010 5.04 AF

MONITORING OF RIPARIAN VEGETATION: During May through October 2010, staff recorded observations of canopy vigor on target willow and cottonwood trees to provide an indication of plant water stress and corresponding soil moisture levels. Four locations (Rancho Cañada, San Carlos, Valley Hills, and Schulte) are monitored bi-monthly for canopy ratings based on a scale from one to eleven. This scale evaluates characteristics such as yellowing leaves and percentages of defoliation (see scale on Exhibit 31-A). A total of 12 willows and 12 cottonwoods at these locations provide a data set of established and planted sample trees that are representative of trees in the Carmel River riparian corridor. Soil moisture measurements are conducted at all four sites using tensiometers. Soil moisture values are measured at four stations with 18-inch and 36-inch tensiometers in the soil column. Combined with monthly readings from the District’s array of monitoring wells and pumping records for large-capacity Carmel Valley wells in the CAW system, the District’s monitoring provides insight into the status of soil moisture throughout the riparian corridor.

Monitoring results for the 2010 monitoring season show that riparian vegetation experienced moisture stress in some areas. Some signs of yellowing and defoliation were noted for willows and cottonwoods during the fall, but the overall riparian corridor faired well with 2010’s relatively high river flows as compared to average conditions. The graphs in Exhibits 31-A and 31-B show average canopy ratings for willows and cottonwoods in selected restoration sites in the lower Carmel Valley and impacts to water table elevations.

The types of monitoring measurements made during May through October 2010 are as follows:

Monitoring Measurement

Canopy Ratings (See Exhibit 31-A for trends.)

Soil moisture (tensiometers)

Groundwater levels (monitoring wells) (See Exhibit 31-B for trends.)

Groundwater pumping (production wells)

OTHER TASKS PERFORMED SINCE THE OCTOBER 2010 REPORT:

1. California Conservation Corps Assists with Carmel River Vegetation Management: District staff and the California Conservation Corps completed two weeks of “vegetation management” work along the Carmel River starting on October 18, 2010. Vegetation was selectively removed from nine critical areas with vegetation encroachment in the channel bottom. A total of 2,400 lineal feet of stream was opened up. These sites were chosen to minimize the potential that high flows would be directed from the center of the channel toward the bank, possibly causing erosion and property damage.

2. Carmel River Clean Up: District staff removed trash and plastic below major bridges along the Carmel River before winter rains and high flows washed the debris onto the riverbanks or into the ocean.

EXHIBITS

31-A Average Willow and Cottonwood Canopy Rating

31-B Depth to Groundwater

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