EXCERPTS OF DOCUMENTATION THAT DISCUSSES USE OF BUREAU

Transcription

1 e onto r ee lpanan r nt. i-" '" Iii; C. Eppler, notes, 2011 EXCERPTS OF DOCUMENTATION THAT DISCUSSES USE OF BUREAU OF RECLAMATION FUNDS TO DO VARIOUS IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TONTO BASIN / ROOSEVELT LAKE AREA AS PART OF PLAN 6 RAISING OF THE DAM: The following is on page 3 & 4 of The Arizona Riparian Council Newsletter, 1989: Sometime after 1995 the rising lake levels behind a reconstructed Roosevelt Dam and the new Waddell Dam will flood about 460 acres of riparian vegetation at the mouth of Tonto Creek, the Salt River, and the upper end of Lake Pleasant where the Aqua Fria enters. In order to mitigate for these habitat losses, the Bureau of Reclamation (BR) is funding the largest share of an improvement project on about 6,000 acres of riparian habitat along 15 miles of lower Tonto Creek. The plan for this work is being designed cooperatively by the Tonto National Forest. Arizona Game and Fish Department., Fish and Wildlife Service, and the principal funding agency, the Bureau of Reclamation. The riparian management portion of the overall mitigation plan will focus on,c' th "T CkR " ' U This unit will be intensively managed and monitored to reverse a I long history of habitat degradation within the riparian types. The primary goal will be to diversify the age composition of the riparian canopy. Under many decades of holding cattle within very large rotation pastures, the limited riparian areas within these pastures have been heavily grazed. The result has been an over-mature canopy of decadent cottonwoods and sycamores. There is virtually no regeneration of young native trees along the lower reaches of Tonto Creek. To promote regeneration of new trees, the riparian areas need protection from grazing for critical portions of the year. The plan for the Tonto Creek Riparian Unit requires the creation of a number of riparian pastures. These fenced pastures would be grazed by cattle Page 1 of 10

2 only during February and March, when seedling production is least susceptible to damage. Browse would be monitored and limited to percentage guidelines established within the Tonto National Forest Plan ( 20%). The long tend monitoring plan is being developed. If control plots indicate that the new grazing plan is still having an adverse impact on riparian vegetation, then grazing will be excluded. To offset the loss of cattle watering areas, BR has provided funding for construction of pipelines to transport water to tanks outside of the riparian pastures. Despite the quality of the overall planning effort, the interagency team will face some real challenges in its implementation. There are some private lands within the riparian zones along lower Tonto Creek. These are possible sources of sand and gravel for the dam construction project These areas if commercially developed, are a threat to the integrity of the riparian unit because of attendant loss of habitat, access road construction, and disruption of the continuity of this habitat type. BR is currently investigating the possibility of buying some of these private lands so that they could be managed within the riparian unit. -F6f'mOfe" i..formatioh abouttbi$ - riparian unit, contact Dave Walker, AG&F ( ) or Henry Messing, BR ( ). Page 2 of 10

3 ********************************************************************************* Page 6 & 7 of: Minutes of the Meeting of the Arizona Game and Fish Commission Friday, June 24, :00 a.m. Saturday, June 25, :00 a.m. Best Western Inn 801 N. Beeline Highway Payson, Arizona PRESENT: (Commission) Chairman W. Hays Gilstrap Commissioner Joe Melton Commissioner Michael M. Golightly Commissioner William H. McLean Commissioner Robert Hernbrode (Director s Staff) Director Duane L. Shroufe Deputy Director Steve K. Ferrell Assistant Attorney General Jim Odenkirk Assistant Attorney General Shelley Cutts Chairman Gilstrap called the meeting to order at 8:00 a.m. The Commissioners introduced themselves and Chairman Gilstrap introduced Commissioner Hernbrode as this was his first Commission meeting, and then he introduced the Director and the Director s staff. This meeting followed an agenda revision dated June 20, Page 3 of 10

4 4.a. Request for the Commission to Approve a Modification to an Existing Agreement with U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Regarding the Roosevelt Lake Goose Forage Enhancement Project. Presenter: Bob Broscheid, Habitat Branch Chief Commission Meeting Minutes June 24-25, 2005 For the past several years, the Department and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Bureau) have been working cooperatively to develop a viable project to mitigate losses to winter Canada goose habitat at Roosevelt Lake as described in the Amended Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act Report on Plan 6 (dated May 4, 1989). In 1997, an agreement was reached between the Department and the Bureau to implement forage production along the north shores of Roosevelt Lake. However, the Tonto National Forest rejected implementation of that project. Since that time, other alternatives have been investigated, and a proposal has been developed as the best option to provide value to wintering Canada geese. The agencies have recently reached a consensus on a viable option to provide forage for geese at the Bureau s property at the Rock House Farm. Site visits have confirmed that the farm property has water and soil conditions suitable for forage production, and the former owner and current operator of the property, Mr. Bill Mercer, is available and willing to act as contractor to accomplish the planting and maintenance needs of the goose forage crop production. In August 1996, the Bureau of Reclamation purchased the formerly private farm and rangelands west of state route 288 behind the Rock House Farm. A portion of these lands have been dedicated to implementing aspects of the Roosevelt Lake Habitat Conservation Plan, which is to create and restore riparian habitat for the Southwest willow flycatcher and Yuma clapper rail. About 20 acres of the purchased property remains under irrigated pasture production by the original owner, Mr. Bill Mercer. Mr. Mercer has an agreement with the Bureau to continue to use these lands through Although water availability is somewhat limited, it is considered to be sufficient in the short term to produce forage crops for geese in the pastures. The 20 acres of irrigable land are separated into 3 individually fenced pastures with several borders per pasture. Water is applied through flood irrigation from a ditch along the east side of the fields. The Department is recommending that the Agreement ( FG ) be revised to specify that annual plantings of suitable goose forage crop be accomplished on the Bureau s 20-acre Rock House Farm property, and that planting, irrigating and maintenance of a goose forage crop during winter months will be accomplished by contract services for the duration of the project agreement. The Department recommends that the Commission VOTE TO APPROVE AN AMENDMENT TO THE AGREEMENT ( FG ) WITH THE U.S. BUREAU OF RECLAMATION TO DEVELOP A GOOSE FORAGE PROJECT AT THE BUREAU S PROPERTY AT ROCK HOUSE FARM, AND AUTHORIZE THE DIRECTOR TO EXECUTE THE AGREEMENT AS ATTACHED OR AS RECOMMENDED OR APPROVED BY OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL. ********************************************************************************* ************************************************************************************* Page 4 of 10

5 The image below is from the Biological Opinion the BOR received for mitigation measures re: raising of the dam in the 90 s. The image below is on page 39 of Page 5 of 10

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7 PROJECT TITLE: Tonto Creek Riparian Unit KEYWORDS: AGENCY/UNIT: US Bureau of Reclamation, Environmental Division, Arizona Projects Office STATUS: Ongoing EXPECTED COMPLETION DATE: 2002 DESCRIPTION: The Tonto Creek Riparian Unit was created to mitigate riparian habitat losses for the new Waddell Dam and modified Roosevelt Dam. The details of the TCRU are detailed in the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act amendment to Reclamation (May 1989) and the Resource Development Plan for the TCRU developed by the Forest Service in cooperation with the FWS, AGFD, and Reclamation. Year round grazing will be eliminated in favor of a three pasture system with a maximum of 7 weeks grazing in each pasture prior to the growing season. The response of the riparian habitat to this grazing regime will be monitored by Biosystems, Inc. under contract with the Bureau of Reclamation. It is anticipated that the increase in area and structure of the riparian habitat will be of benefit to many species of neo-tropical migrants. COUNTIES: Gila LAND OWNERSHIP: Forest Service HABITAT(S): Riparian PARTNERS: FWS, AGFD, FS and Reclamation CONTACT PERSON(S): Henry J. Messing, US Bureau of Reclamation, Arizona Projects Office, Environmental Division (150), N. 7th Street, PO Box 9980, Phoenix, AZ PHONE: (602) ************************************************************************************ /III_ConservationMeasures.pdf 6. Roosevelt Lake, Arizona The USFW S biological opinion on the operation of the modified Roosevelt Dam, dated July 23, 1996, directed USBR to implement an RPA that would allow the use of the newly developed water conservation space within the reservoir. To partially fulfill requirements of the RPA, USBR was required to: 1) acquire occupied willow flycatcher habitat on the lower San Pedro River, now owned and managed by The Nature Conservancy as the San Pedro River P reserve; 2) establish a $1.25 million Management Fund to conduct management activities that benefit the willow flycatcher through habitat acquisition, fencing, restoration, cowbird trapping, and other projects; 3) create a Southwestern Willow Flycatcher Conservation Coordinator position to assist the USFWS in initiating recovery and conservation planning, and to implement activities required by the Biological Opinion; 4) implement a 10-year program of willow flycatcher research and monitoring at Roosevelt Lake and the lower San Pedro River; 5) implement a cowbird trapping program on the lower San Pedro River; and, 6) fund a variety of research and monitoring programs range-wide (USFW S 1996). In addition to the above, the public is currently reviewing the Salt River Project s incidental take application, draft Environmental Impact Statement and draft Roosevelt Lake Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) for the continued operation of the reservoir. The Page 7 of 10

8 goals of the Roosevelt HCP are to minimize and mitigate incidental take (due to continued operation of Roosevelt) of flycatchers, Yuma clapper rails, bald eagles, and cuckoos, to the maximum extent practicable, and to not appreciably reduce the likelihood of survival and recovery...in the wild. If the Roosevelt HCP is approved, the Salt River Project commits to implementing the following measures for the southwestern willow flycatcher in Gila and Maricopa counties, Arizona: (1) creating and managing riparian habitat at Roosevelt Lake; (2) acquiring and managing riparian habitat in several basins in central Arizona to provide a diversity of geographic locations; and, (3) focusing acquisition of riparian land in locations that birds are expected to occupy (i.e., in proximity to existing populations of flycatchers). T his commitment will entail protection in perpetuity of a minimum of 1,500 acres of riparian habitat either on-site or near-site of Roosevelt reservoir, as well as 750 acres of riparian habitat management, water rights acquistion, and/or providing of benefits. The above is from page 9 and 10 of the pdf file for the section III. Conservation Measures of the August 2002 SWWF Recovery plan. (page of the full plan document) Page 8 of 10

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10 federal fundings sources Page 10 of 10