4.4 Biological Resources
habitat, alterations in abundance, diversity, and species composition would be expected to last from a few
weeks to months.
The footprints of the proposed beach receiver sites have been designed to avoid direct burial of sensitive
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habitats. There would be no direct impacts to nest locations of western snowy plovers or the California
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least tern. Sand is the predominant habitat at the proposed receiver sites, although most are characterized
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by bands of cobble as well. In some instances, low relief rock and/or small localized reef areas with
coralline turf algae and annual species occur within the footprint of the fill. Due to the widespread
occurrence and rapid recovery rates of these types of organisms, direct impacts to marine life within the
receiver site footprints are expected to be less than significant.
California grunion spawn on sandy beaches in the San Diego region between March and August and have
the potential to be affected by beach replenishment. As described in Section 2.5, SANDAG would
implement a monitoring program during predicted grunion runs to determine if grunion spawning occurs
during construction of the receiver site. If grunion are observed, construction would cease and a buffer
zone established around the area of spawning. The buffer zone would be retained until the eggs hatched
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(typically 14 days) and surveys verify that no subsequent spawning has occurred. This project feature
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would ensure no significant impact from the project on this species. It should be noted that, if the project
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is successful and the beaches are widened, grunion would have additional spawning habitat. This would
be beneficial at several of the receiver sites where either dense cobble or narrow beach width precludes
spawning habitat under existing conditions.
Potential direct impacts to each proposed receiver site are summarized below. None of the receiver sites
are predicted to experience long-term, significant direct impacts. It should be noted that the footprints
shown on the figures on this section are the worst-case, largest footprint, and may be either Alternative 1
or Alternative 2. Refer to Section 2.4 for the exact configuration under each alternative.
South Oceanside. The footprint of the receiver site for this alternative would be approximately 41 acres
and replenishment would involve 380,000 cy. The footprint includes the beach berm and sand slopes into
the water as well as up and down coast as shown in Figure 4.4-1. The footprint assumes a conservative,
gradual slope into the water depth where sand would more quickly mobilize, but where depths would be
minimal. Over time, the replenishment material would be carried offshore/onshore and up and down the
coast by natural processes. The longer term sediment transport evaluation is provided under indirect
impacts. Sand and cobble (limited) occur throughout the site, but the area of greater than 30 percent
cobble is centered around Cassidy Street. One high relief rock without surfgrass occurs near Oceanside
Regional Beach Sand Project EIR/EA
Page 4.4-3
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