Regulatory Agency Mitigation Compliance

Focus: Mitigation for jurisdictional wetlands, waters, and riparian habitats

Location: San Diego County, CA

Habitat Type: Mixed chaparral, mixed oak riparian, riparian buffer, and live oak woodland habitat

Implementation: Container plantings and seed, supplemental irrigation

Maintenance: 10-year maintenance and monitoring

Partnered with AECOM, RECON is providing comprehensive on-site habitat restoration services for temporary impacts along the entire 117-mile Sunrise Powerlink project route. This project focuses on restoring native habitat within all temporarily impacted areas resulting from construction of the Sunrise Powerlink and implements the project-approved Restoration Plan for Special Status Plants, the Restoration Plan for Sensitive Vegetation Communities in Temporary Impact Areas, and the Weed Control Plan. The project has signed off 100 percent of the restoration sites in Year 7, meeting success milestones for slow growing habitats ahead of schedule.

RECON also provided implementation of restoration and enhancement measures identified in the project's Final Habitat Mitigation and Monitoring Plan (HMMP). The mitigation program for project impacts to jurisdictional wetlands, waters, and riparian habitats comprised on-site restoration of 106 temporarily impacted waters sites and off-site mitigation at five HMMP sites: Desert Cahuilla, Mountain Springs, Long Potrero, Suncrest, and Chocolate Canyon. These five sites were chosen to mitigate for impacts to wetlands and non-wetlands waters associated with construction of the power line. Implementation activities included weed removal of non-native invasive plant species, grading to achieve proper hydrology in wetland areas, revegetation of native habitat through planting and seeding, monitoring, coordination with regulatory agencies, reporting, and providing recommendations and adaptive management strategies to achieve project success.