River parkway project running smoothly

San Benito County supervisors voted Tuesday to add the San Benito River Habitat Conservation project to the capital outlay fund as a new capital project, which will help the county move forward with a proposed river parkway along the San Benito River that will eventually stretch from San Juan Bautista to the San Benito County Historical Park in Tres Pinos.
Supervisors also approved a loan from the general fund to cover the cost of a contract with Biotic Resources Group for environmental consulting services costing $68,120.
The county received a grant of $75,000 from the California Department of Parks and Recreation, Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Division for restoration planning efforts along the San Benito River and adjacent habitat areas.
Planning funded by the grant will identify the damaging effects of illegal off-highway vehicles as well as develop a strategy to correct existing damage and prevent future damage.
The planning will focus on the area between Hospital and Nash roads, along the proposed river parkway.
The grant can be used just for restoration planning on land owned by the county, so Public Works Administrator Steve Wittry said he hopes to leverage habitat mitigation money to buy the needed land.
To receive the grant, the county has to provide a minimum matching funding of 26 percent, which will be repaid to the general fund from the state Habitat Conservation Fund.
Land acquisition will follow the completion of the environmental assessment, habitat management plan and a restoration plan.
As part of the contract, Biotic Resources Group staff members will identify biological resources along the river parkway by looking at a variety of habitat maps.
They will also do fieldwork to identify resources not on the maps and to identify species in the area. They will identify any cultural resources, such as prehistoric sites in the area; evaluate OHV activity in the area and identify the types and levels of damage to the riverbed resources.
From those studies, they will develop restoration techniques and riverbed management strategies and actions that can be put together into a management plan.