Mendota Pool Bypass & Reach 2B Channel Improvements - San Joaquin River Restoration Program
Live Oak Associates conducted protocol-level Fresno kangaroo rat trapping surveys to inform preparation of the project’s EIS/R and permit applications in 2016, and led a team of consultants tasked with conducting biological pre-construction surveys and biological monitoring during project construction in 2020-2021.
Working closely with the Bureau of Reclamation and resource agency personnel, Live Oak Associates coordinates and conducts focused surveys and monitoring for a wide range of sensitive species including:
Rare plants
Fresno kangaroo rat
Swainson’s hawk
Least Bell’s vireo
MBTA-protected birds including cliff swallow and tricolored blackbird
Pacific lamprey
Special status bats
San Joaquin kit fox
Burrowing owl
Western pond turtle
Giant garter snake
We have also overseen and performed sensitive wildlife exclusion and relocation efforts. Our work is driven by, and fully compliant with, the project’s EIS/R and Biological Opinion, and the Programmatic Biological Opinion for the larger San Joaquin River Restoration Program.
Client
Bureau of Reclamation
Location
Fresno & Madera Counties, California
Dates
2016-2021
Project Description
Construction, operation, and maintenance of a bypass channel around Mendota Pool, combined with improvements to the San Joaquin River channel. The project is part of the larger San Joaquin River Restoration Program (SJRRP), an effort to restore self-sustaining fish populations in the mainstem San Joaquin River below Friant Dam to the Merced River confluence.