(a) The department may authorize, under this chapter, the incidental take of unarmored threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus williamsoni) attributable to the periodic dewatering, inspection, maintenance, modification, or repair, including emergency repair, of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s Foothill Feeder water supply facility from Castaic Dam to the Joseph Jensen Treatment Plant in the County of Los Angeles, contingent upon the fulfillment of the following conditions:
(1) The department determines that the requirements of subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 2081 are satisfied for the take of the unarmored threespine stickleback.
(2) The department ensures that all further measures necessary to satisfy the conservation standard of subdivision (d) of Section 2805 are incorporated into the project.
(3) The take authorization provides for the development and implementation, in cooperation with the department, of an adaptive management plan for monitoring the effectiveness of, and adjusting as necessary, the measures to minimize and fully mitigate the impacts of the authorized take and to satisfy the conservation standard of subdivision (d) of Section 2805.
(4) A biologist who has substantial relevant experience evaluating impacts to inland fisheries is on duty whenever an activity is conducted that may affect the unarmored threespine stickleback.
(5) The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California consults with the department to consider feasible measures to avoid and minimize incidental take of unarmored threespine stickleback. For purposes of this paragraph, “feasible” has the same meaning as defined in Section 15364 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(b) The take authorization shall cover any incidental take of unarmored threespine stickleback attributable to the periodic dewatering, inspection, maintenance, modification, or repair, including emergency repair, of the Foothill Feeder that may occur in the following locations:
(1) Within the Santa Clara River, from the Bouquet Canyon Road Bridge to a point located 4,000 feet downstream of where Commerce Center Drive, as of January 1, 2016, dead-ends adjacent to the Santa Clara River.
(2) From the confluence with the Santa Clara River upstream to the following locations:
(A) In Charlie Canyon to a point 1,000 feet upstream of the Foothill Feeder facility dewatering structure.
(B) In San Francisquito Creek to the Copper Hill Drive bridge.
(C) In Placerita Creek to the Hacienda Lane crossing.
(D) In Bouquet Creek to the Newhall Ranch Road Bridge.
(c) The take authorization shall also cover any incidental take of unarmored threespine stickleback that may occur in the course of implementing mitigation or conservation actions required in the permit issued pursuant to subdivision (a) as may be modified through an adaptive management plan adopted pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (a).
(d) The permit issued pursuant to subdivision (a) shall include conditions that cover biological and scientific considerations including, but not limited to, criteria for the handling of stranded fish and their relocation into suitable habitat, the dewatering of the Foothill Feeder, and the reasonable and feasible mimicking of streamflows. The permit conditions shall be in compliance with the project description, mitigation measures, and release plan set forth in the certified environmental impact report known as the “Foothill Feeder Repair and Future Inspections Project Environmental Impact Report, January 2005, State Clearinghouse Number 2005071082.” The permit conditions are subject to amendment when required by the adaptive management plan or when modified by a subsequent final environmental document pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code).
(e) This section shall not be construed to exempt from any other law the periodic dewatering, inspection, maintenance, modification, or repair of the Foothill Feeder.
(f) If the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California receives a permit under this section, the permit shall require the district to report to the department within six months after every dewatering of the Foothill Feeder. The report shall address compliance with the permit conditions and the effectiveness of the adaptive management plan in contributing to the conservation of the unarmored threespine stickleback. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California shall ensure that each report is made available to the public.
(g) As used in this section, “modification” does not include alterations to expand the maximum physical capacity of the Foothill Feeder to deliver water.
(Added by Stats. 2016, Ch. 387, Sec. 2. (AB 2488) Effective January 1, 2017.)