ITEM:		INFORMATIONAL ITEMS/STAFF REPORTS
22.	QUARTERLY IRRIGATION PROGRAM AND RIPARIAN PROJECTS REPORT
Meeting Date:			October 17, 2011	Budgeted	N/A
From:			Dave Stoldt,	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 September: 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

July – September 2.46

Year-to-date 3.67 AF

MONITORING OF RIPARIAN VEGETATION: During May and September 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 22-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 the summer. The graph in Exhibit 22-A shows average canopy ratings for willows and cottonwoods in selected restoration sites in the lower Carmel Valley. The graph in Exhibit 22-B shows impacts to water table elevations.

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

Monitoring Measurement

Canopy ratings (See Exhibit 22-A for trends.)

Soil moisture (tensiometers)

Groundwater levels (monitoring wells) (See Exhibit 22-B for trends.)

Groundwater pumping (production wells)

OTHER TASKS PERFORMED SINCE JULY 2011:

1. Carmel River Vegetation Management: District staff and the California Conservation Corps completed two weeks of “vegetation management” work along the Carmel River starting on September 19, 2011. Vegetation was selectively removed from eight critical areas with vegetation encroachment in the channel bottom. Approximately 1,000 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.

EXHIBITS

22-A Average Willow and Cottonwood Canopy Rating

22-B Depth to Groundwater

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