3.4 Biological Resources
Nearby Sensitive Resources
The closest western snowy plover and California least tern nesting locations are located within
approximately one mile of the receiver site at Tijuana Estuary (Figure 3.4-1). Nearshore habitat is sand
and no sensitive hard bottom resources are known to occur immediately offshore.
No kelp canopy was mapped in the vicinity of the site in 1999. In 1997, giant kelp was found beginning
at 2,250 feet offshore of Imperial Beach at a depth of -20 feet MLLW and extending to a depth of -35 feet
MLLW. The inshore edge of the kelp was about 1,900 feet seaward of the site boundary (Table 3.4-2).
This kelp bed was approximately 0.5 square mile in size. Historically, kelp persistence has been relatively
low to moderate in the vicinity of the site.
Borrow Sites
3.4.4
Site specific informationat and/or near the borrow sites includes data from NPDES wastewater monitoring
studies for San Elijo Joint Powers (Encinitas/Solana Beach) and Encina Wastewater Facility (Carlsbad),
regional monitoring studies coordinated by SCCWRP, City of San Diego Monitoring Studies for their
ocean outfalls, and sampling at borrow sites SO-5 and SO-7. Representative monitoring stations were
considered with locations at or near the proposed borrow sites.
Because the proposed borrow sites would be located at similar depths and have relatively similar sediment
type, they have many species in common (Table 3.4-3). The fish and epibenthic macroinvertebrate
communities in each borrow site are also well known and inhabited by species common throughout the
Bight. Table 3.4-4 summarizes the fish species encountered at various representative locations near or at
the borrow sites.
Species within all the borrow sites are typical for their water depth and tend to be common throughout the
Bight. There are no threatened, endangered, or sensitive species within any of the borrow sites. Detailed
descriptions of the sampling results at SO-7 and SO-5 undertaken for this project are provided in
Appendix D.
The focus on this text below is to disclose the proximity of specific borrow sites, pipeline routes or mono
buoy locations to areas of hard-bottom substrate.
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