ITEM:		INFORMATIONAL ITEMS/STAFF REPORTS
33.	QUARTERLY IRRIGATION PROGRAM AND RIPARIAN PROJECTS REPORT
Meeting Date:			July 18, 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 May 2011 at five Monterey Peninsula Water Management District (District) riparian habitat restoration sites. The following irrigation systems were in use May through June: Trail and Saddle Club, Begonia, Schulte, Valley Hills, and San Carlos at the Dow Property.

Water Use in Acre-Feet (AF)

(preliminary values subject to revision)

January - March 2011 0.01 AF

April - June 2011 1.20

Year-to-date 1.21 AF

MONITORING OF RIPARIAN VEGETATION: During May and June 2011, staff recorded bi-monthly 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 33-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 values are measured at all four sites using 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 California American Water service area, the District’s monitoring provides insight into the status of soil moisture through the riparian corridor.

Current monitoring results for the 2011 monitoring season to date show that riparian vegetation is below threshold stress levels. Late spring rains and adequate river flows have helped trees in the riparian corridor remain vigorous during early summer. The graph in Exhibit 33-A shows average canopy ratings for willows and cottonwoods in selected restoration sites in the lower Carmel Valley. The graph in Exhibit 33-B shows impacts to water table elevations.

The types of monitoring measurements made during May through June 2011 are as follows:

Monitoring Measurement

Canopy ratings (See Exhibit 33-A for trends.)

Soil moisture (tensiometers)

Groundwater levels (monitoring wells) (See Exhibit 33-B for trends.)

Groundwater pumping (production wells)

OTHER TASKS PERFORMED SINCE APRIL 2011:

1. Carmel River Vegetation Management Project Notification: On June 1, 2011, District staff notified the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, NOAA Fisheries, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG), and the Regional Water Quality Control Board of nine sites that are scheduled for vegetation management activities this fall. A total of approximately 2,700 lineal feet of stream encompassing approximately 0.62 acre in the channel bottom will be affected by this year’s project.  The goal of the vegetation management activities is to reduce the risk of streambank erosion along riverfront properties where vegetation encroachment could potentially divert river flows into streambanks during high flow periods.

EXHIBITS

33-A Average Willow and Cottonwood Canopy Rating

33-B Depth to Groundwater

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