Owens Basin Wetland and Aquatic Species Recovery Plan lnyo and

209 Pages·2000·15.95 MB·English

Owens Basin Wetland and
Aquatic Species Recovery Plan
lnyo and Mono Counties,C alifornia
OWENS BASIN WETLAND AND AQUATIC
SPECIES RECOVERY PLAN
INYG AND
MONO COUNTIES, CALIFORNIA
Owens pupfish,
Owens tui chub,
and Fish Slough milk-vetch
and Selected Species ofConcern
Region I
U.S. Fish andWildlife Service
Portland, Oregon
Approved:
U.S. ish andWildlife Service
Date:
Cooperators
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r Concurred ~zz:~~;WN
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Director, CaliforniaDepartment ofFishand Game
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State Director, U.S. BureauofLanaManagement
Concurred
Regional
ii
DISCLAIMER
Recoveryplans delineatereasonable actionsthat are believedto be
required to recover and/orprotectlisted species. Plans arepublished by theU.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service(Service),and sometimesprepared withthe assistance
ofrecovery teams, contractors, State agencies, and others. Objectiveswill be
attainedand necessaryfunds made availablesubjectto budgetaryand other
constraints affectingthe parties involved, as well asthe needto addressother
priorities. Recoveryplans do notnecessarilyrepresentthe views orthe official
positions or approval ofany individuals oragencies involved intheplan
formulation, otherthan the U.S. Fishand WildlifeService. Theyrepresentthe
official positionoftheU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service only after theyhavebeen
signedbythe RegionalDirector or Directoras approved. Approvedrecovery
plans are subjectto modification asdictated bynewfindings, changes in species
status, andthe completion ofrecovery tasks.
LITERATURECITATIONS
The literature citation for this recoveryplan should readas follows:
U.S. Fish and WildlifeService. 1998. Owens BasinWetland and Aquatic
SpeciesRecovery Plan, Inyo and Mono Counties, California. Portland, Oregon.
iii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Preparation oftheOwens Basin Wetland and Aquatic SpeciesRecovery
Planwasjointly funded bythe U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, California
DepartmentofFishand Game, and U.S. BureauofLand Management. The U.S.
Bureau ofLandManagement office in Bishop providedexpertise and facilities for
geographic information system mappingand analysis.
A draftofthis plan wasprepared under contractbyDr. Donald W. Sada,
Dr. Richard MacMillen and Mrs. Mary DeDecker. Preparation ofthe plan also
benefitted greatly from the involvement of members ofthe Owens Valley Multi-
Species Recovery Task Force:
CarlBenz, U.S. Fishand WildlifeService
Betsy Bolster, California DepartmentofFish and Game
Cat Brown,U.S. Fishand WildlifeService
John Gustafson, California Department ofFishand Game
Anne Halford,U.S. Bureau ofLandManagement
Chris Howard, Inyo County Water Department
SallyManning, Inyo County WaterDepartment
David Mays, U.S. Forest Service
Clarence Martin, Los Angeles Department ofWaterand Power
Mary Meyer,CaliforniaDepartmentofFish and Game
Sandy Morey, CaliforniaDepartment ofFish and Game
SteveNelson, U.S. BureauofLandManagement
Patti Novak, Los Angeles DepartmentofWater and Power
Alan Pickard, CaliforniaDepartmentofFish and Game
EdwinP. Pister, DesertFishes Council
Denyse Racine, CaliforniaDepartmentofFish and Game
Terry Russi, U.S. Bureau ofLand Management
Diane Steeck, U.S. Fish and WildlifeService
Kate Symonds, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Brian Tillemans, Los Angeles Department ofWater and Power
Darrell Wong, CaliforniaDepartment ofFish and Game
iv
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
CurrentSpecies Status: Owenspupfish and Owens tui chub arelisted as
endangeredthroughouttheirrange. Fish Slough milk-vetchis listed as threatened
throughoutits range. Owens pupfish is declining, Owens tui chub and Fish
Slough milk-vetcharestable orslowly declining. Owens Valleycheckerbloom
(Sidalceacovillei) (stable), InyoCounty mariposa lily (Calochortus excavatus)
(stableor declining), Owens speckled dace (stable), LongValley speckled dace
(declining), Owens Valley vole (statusunknown), andthe Owens, Fish Slough,
andAardhal’s springsnails (presumed stable)are species ofconcern.
HabitatRequirementsand Limiting Factors: The fish species reside in springs,
streams, orriver. The plants and thevole requiremesic alkali meadows adjacent
to aquatichabitats. Springsnails requiresprings, but do not inhabitstreams or
rivers. All species areaffected by non-native species, habitatmodification for
diversionand groundwater pumping. Excessivelivestock grazingmay affect
voles, plants,and springsnails.
Recovery Objectives: Delist Owenspupfish, Owens tui chub, andFish slough
milk-vetch. Protect species ofconcern sothat listing is unnecessary.
Recoverv Criteria: Owenspupfish delisting may occurwhenreproducing
populations areestablished as partofself-sustaining native fish assemblages in
aquatichabitats infour ConservationAreas foraperiod of7 consecutiveyears.
Owens tui chubdelisting may occurwhenreproducing populations areestablished
aspart ofself-sustaining native fish assemblages inseven Conservation Areas for
aperiod of5 consecutiveyears. Delisting ofFish Slough milk-vetchmay be
consideredwhenthe vegetation communities in whichit occurs are restored,
populations are on protected lands and adequately secured fromhuman-induced
threats, and populations havemaintained demographic characteristics, as
measuredby monitoringovera 10 to 15 yearperiod, indicating they are likelyto
be viableoverthe long-term.
ActionsNeeded
1. Protectand expand Owenstui chub and Owens pupfish refuges until
Conservation Area populations aresecure.
2. Delineate ConservationAreaboundaries.
3. Manage ConservationAreas to control deleteriousnon-native plants and
animals, rehabilitate habitats, reestablishpopulations, andprotect habitats.
V
:
4. Conductresearchto determinemanagementstrategiesthat willmaintain
characteristics ofnatural community persistence and resilience.
5. Implement populationand habitat monitoringin ConservationAreas.
6. Initiate apublic informationand educationprogramaboutthe rare species
inthe Owens Basin.
Date ofRecoverv: Delisting couldoccuras early as2015.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Pane
Executive Summary v
ListofTables ix
List ofFigures x
I. INTRODUCTION 1
A. Location, History, andEcology 6
B. Species Accounts 17
1. Listed and Proposed Species 18
OwensPupfish 18
Owens TuiChub 22
Fish sloughmilk-vetch 28
2. Species ofConcern 32
Owens ValleyVole 32
Owens SpeckledDace andLongValley
SpeckledDace 36
Owens ValleySpringsnail, Fish Slough Springsnail
andAardhal’s Springsnail 40
Owens Valleycheckerbloom 44
Inyo County mariposalily 48
C. Conservation Measures 53
D. Strategy ofRecovery 54
Conservation Areas Summaries 65
II.RECOVERY 81
Objective 81
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Prevent Extinction 81
Downlisting Criteria 82
Delisting Criteria 84
ConservationofSpecies ofConcern 85
Narrative Outline for RecoveryActions 86
References 114
III. IMPLEMENTATIONSCHEDULE 126
IV. APPENDIX A: ConservationArea SelectionMatrix
andAnalysis Summary Al
APPENDIX B: Recovery PrioritySystem Matrix B1
APPENDIX C: OwensBasin SensitiveWetland and Aquatic
Species Management Guidelines Cl
APPENDIX D: PeerReviewand Summary ofComments Dl
viii
LIST OFTABLES
Page
Table 1. Listed,proposed, and species ofconcerncovered in
Owens Basinwetland and aquatic species recovery
plan (Tier 1 species) 4
Table 2. Other listed and species ofconcernassociated with
Owens Basinwetland andaquatic ecosystems (Tier
2 species) 5
Table3. Natural Resource ConservationService Ecological Site
Descriptions for Owens basinwetlandecosystems 10
Table 4. Matrix variables for rating ConservationAreaecological
values 57
Table 5. Recommended Owens Basin ConservationAreas and
theirassociated rarespecies 62
Table 6. Estimated potential aquatic habitatin Conservation
Areas 83
Table 7. Priority ranking ofConservationAreas for implementation
ofrecovery tasks 88
Table 8. Possible conflicting usesoccurring inConservation Areas 108
. . ..
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