54 



St a t w nfit of John S. CroMman 

 EastMn Municipal Watar Oittrlet 

 No««mbar 9, 1993 

 Pagas 



counties. The kno\wn area of remaining habitat totals lees than ten acres. 



To accomnwdate endangered spedee concerns, EMWD has added addttionai staff to address 

 these Issues In the project formulation and design phase, acquired a GIS data base for 

 threatened and endangered species, provided biological sun/ey information to the U.S. Rsh and 

 WildOfe Service and Califomia Department of Rah aid Gamo to update their data base, and 

 retained environmental specialists to work with staff on ESA issues. In additk)n to these steps, 

 the District has adopted and implemented an endangered species poBcy. The policy spectficaliy 

 seeks to avoid any impacts to sensitive species and their habitat If atvoidance is not possible. 

 EMWD will minimize the impact and mitigate for any unavoidable impact To implemem this 

 policy the District now requires a site visit and biological survey for each project area prior to 

 actual project design. It is estimated that these steps and future mitigation costs wil add 

 approximately S percent to the cost of all future projects. 

 SUMMARY 



TTie Endangered Spedes Act represents this Nation's commitment to protecting natural 

 resources «nd preserving biodlversKy. However, the current spedes by spedea habitat approach 

 is undennining the original intent of Congress. More and more the regulatory agendes find 

 themselvee administering the Act as a land use. growth limitation statute instead of a spedes 

 protection statute. TNs regulatory cfilemma has led to contOcta with state, county, and local 

 authorities responsible for maldng land use and economic growth and developmvit dedaione. 



