Mitigation Measure 4.4-2: Riparian Habitat Protection

If projects require encroachment into the riparian habitat, project applicants will be required to develop a riparian habitat mitigation plan. The mitigation plan will include the following:

• implementation of Best Management Practices (BMPs) while working near riparian habitats to avoid inadvertent damage to riparian vegetation to be retained. BMPs will include establishment of nodisturbance buffers around the outer edge of the riparian vegetation to prevent root and crown damage, soil compaction, and implementation of standard BMPs to reduce erosion and water quality impacts, and introduction and spread of invasive species. Exceptions to riparian buffers will be granted to permit necessary road and bridge repair and construction, trails construction, and other recreational access structures that are water dependent, such as docks and piers;

• methods to be implemented to avoid and/or compensate for impacts on riparian habitat at a ratio adequate to offset the loss of riparian habitat functions and values. At a minimum, riparian habitat losses will be compensated at a 1:1 ratio;

• identification of mitigation sites and criteria for selecting these sites;

• site-specific management procedures to benefit establishment and maintenance of native riparian plant species;

• monitoring protocol, including schedule and annual report requirements (compensatory riparian habitats shall be monitored for a minimum period of five years);

• ecological performance standards and corrective measures if performance standards are not met;

• responsible parties for monitoring and preparing reports; and

• responsible parties for receiving and reviewing reports and for verifying success or prescribing implementation or corrective actions.

Mitigation may be accomplished through preservation, replacement, restoration or enhancement of degraded habitat, reestablishing riparian vegetation in areas that historically supported it, or purchase of credits at an established mitigation bank, such as the Cosumnes Floodplain Mitigation Bank. Compensatory mitigation will be provided within Amador County to the extent feasible and available; however, certain impacts may be compensated at an agency-approved mitigation bank in an adjacent county if required by CDFW and an agency-approved mitigation bank is not available in Amador County. If a proposed project requires work on the bed or bank of a stream, or other water body, the project applicant will also obtain a streambed alteration agreement under Section 1602 of the Fish and Game Code from CDFW prior to project implementation, and will implement all requirements of the agreement in the timeframes required therein.