The sweetwater authority (authority) is a publicly owned water agency that provides potable water to a populationof approximately 200,000 in national city, the unincorporated community of bonita,…

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) received a $366,667 Project Grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Region 8 under the Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund program (CFDA 15.615) to support development of the Sweetwater Authority Natural Community Conservation Plan and Habitat Conservation Plan (NCCP/HCP) in southern California. The NCCP/HCP will cover approximately 28,333 acres including 5,200 acres owned and managed by the Sweetwater Authority in the upper and middle portions of the Sweetwater River watershed. Thirty species and six natural communities will be evaluated for coverage. Funding will support completing an administrative draft of the NCCP/HCP which will establish conservation actions, avoidance, minimization and mitigation measures to allow the Authority to efficiently implement operations and maintenance activities while complying with endangered species laws. A subaward of $366,667 to the Sweetwater Authority will support the planning phase through February 2026.

The sweetwater authority (authority) is a publicly owned water agency that provides potable water to a populationof approximately 200,000 in national city, the unincorporated community of bonita, and the western portion of thecity of chula vista. Many of the authority s operations and maintenance (oand m) activities are subject toenvironmental laws and regulations, including federal and state endangered species acts (esas). The authority hashistorically approached permitting and mitigation for state and federally regulated projects and oand m activitieson a case by case basis. However, preparing the necessary environmental compliance documentation and processingpermits for routine oand m activities in this manner results in delays, budgetary impacts, overall uncertainty onthe ability to perform critical oand m activities, and inefficient implementation of habitat mitigation. Californiadepartment of fish and wildlife (cdfw) is requesting funding to support the authority s project to complete anadministrative draft natural community conservation plan (nccp) and habitat conservation plan (HCP) in support ofpermits for its oand m activities. The plan area for the proposed sweetwater authority nccp HCP includes lands owned, managed, and under easement bythe authority. This includes two reservoirs (sweetwater and loveland reservoirs) owned by the authority. Theauthority has a long standing interest in the protection and management of the sweetwater river watershed andsurrounding habitats of these reservoirs. The lands owned by the authority are located adjacent to and integratedwith large blocks of lands conserved as part of the subregional multiple species conservation program (mscp) HCP nccp in SAN diego county and represent an important opportunity for conservation. The sweetwater authority nccp HCP will be implemented in coordination with the management and monitoring of several adjacent subarea planpreserves associated with the mscp which includes the SAN diego national wildlife refuge and other adjacent andnearby public lands. By completing and permitting the sweetwater authority nccp HCP, the authority will be ableto fully contribute to the mscp conservation goals and conservation strategies for proposed covered species andthe natural communities that support them. The nccp HCP will establish meaningful conservation actions, andavoidance, minimization, and mitigation measures to be applied across the plan area on a consistent basis. The work to be completed under this grant will include all steps to prepare an administrative draft of thesweetwater authority nccp HCP. This will include identification and compilation of best available data, evaluation and determination of a covered species list, review of covered activities, development of aconservation and funding strategy, and prepare the administrative draft nccp HCP document. The authority may seekfuture section 6 planning assistance grant funds to complete additional tasks related to completion of thecalifornia environmental quality act (ceqa) national environmental policy act (nepa) process and preparation ofthe public review and final nccp HCP. The authority will continue to collaborate closely with the wildlifeagencies, key stakeholders, and the public during the preparation of the sweetwater authority nccp HCP.