Okaloosa County BOCC — March 18, 2014 — reading text

Okaloosa County FWC Construction Grant Supplemental Information Packet Pg. 632  3 of 11 Project Site Selection and Environmental Assessment (Attachments 1 – 8) General Location Map Attachment 1 includes General Location Maps for proposed reef sites Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, and Echo. The maps display the proposed reefs with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) chart overlay, the adjacent coastline, and the distance to East Pass in nautical miles. Table 2 of Attachment A shows the bearing to each site from East Pass. The fish haven sites lie between 2.4 and 14.2 nm west-southwest of the inlet. The LAARS A centroid (Echo) lies 18.9 nm southeast of the inlet. Notably, the LAARS A General Location Map illustrates the FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute hardbottom GIS polygons. Review of numerous other NOAA and historical maps reveals no documented hardbottom or cultural resources within the permitted construction areas. Site-Specific Maps Attachment 2 presents Site-Specific Maps for the five proposed reefs. Notably, no hardbottom or environmental sensitive areas appear within the proposed reef areas. Table 3 of Attachment 2 lists the characteristics of past deployments within the permitted area including the deployment date, reference name, material description, amount of material, coordinates, and depth. Bottom Surveys Attachment 3 contains the Site Survey results for the centroid locations of Fish Havens 13 – 16. All four of these locations lie in State waters with depths less than 100 feet. The bottom surveys included SCUBA observations and fathometer surveys. SKC, LLC surveyed FH13 and 14 on February 28, 2012 and surveyed FH15 and 16 on January 21, 2013. The FDEP-permitted area surveys suggest that the sites are devoid of limestone outcroppings (hardbottom) and have sand substrate characteristic of seafloor offshore of northwest Florida. Methods and results of the survey provide reasonable assurance that the reef sites have no natural hardbottom or seagrass within 150 ft of the deployment site. Given the uncertainty of the fiscal ability to complete the deployment within LAARS A, OCARP has not completed an official fathometer survey. If the County is granted sufficient funds, the County will consult USACE and FWC prior to conducting the survey and report to them upon completion. The depth at the centroid location is approximately -127 feet. Unofficially, Scott Henson — OCARP Program Manager — has visited this location and ran transects over approximately 10,000 square feet around the centroid. The graphical return on the fathometer indicated the seafloor was relatively flat with no indication of anomalies. Environmental Assessment Attachment 4 contains a Biological Assessment (BA) that pertains to the subject sites and the region of the Gulf of Mexico offshore of Okaloosa County. The following briefly summarizes the BA and other environmental factors. The proposed site primarily comprises a thick (> 3 ft) layer of medium-grained textured sand, which indicates a firm substrate to support the proposed artificial reef structures. Okaloosa County FWC Construction Grant Supplemental Information Packet Pg. 633  4 of 11 Vegetation: Anecdotal evidence indicates no submerged aquatic vegetation has been observed in the area of deployment. The proposed deployment site lies at water depths that preclude the growth of submerged grasses and no known coral outcrops/formations are present in the sites. Bottom surveys ensure that no live bottom is present. Threatened or endangered species: No threatened or endangered species occur at this site. Wildlife: Most typically observed species on the offshore sand bottom areas include the beaded sea star and the pearly razorfish. Water Quality: The proposed project should not adversely impact water quality. Reef material deployment will likely suspend some in-situ sediments and cause a temporary localized increase in turbidity. This temporary impact to water quality will rapidly disappear as the re-suspended sediments settle on the sea floor. Cultural Resources: No submerged cultural resources have been observed or are suspected to lie within ½-mile radius of the site based on results of a Florida Master File search of each proposed reef site (results included as Appendix C of Attachment 4). Science and observation suggests that a wide variety of marine organisms will assemble on the artificial reefs. This would include a variety of sponges (porifera), segmented worms (annelida), shrimp, crabs, lobsters, hermit crabs, barnacles (arthropoda), bryozoans (ectoprocta), and tunicates (chordate). The primary fish species expected to utilize the newly created habitats and take up permanent residence or pass through would include, but not limited to, red snapper, gray snapper, vermillion snapper, goliath groupers, pinfish, red porgy, sheepshead, shark, Spanish mackerel, cobia, great barracuda, tomtate, scamp, gag, black sea bass, sand perch, hogfish, peacock flounder, leopard toadfish, spotted goatfish, yellow goatfish, cubbyu, nurse shark, Gulf flounder, gray triggerfish, and greater amberjack. All of these species are commonly found in the general vicinity of the permitted sites and these species represent a mix of demersal and pelagic species. Monitoring of other reef material in this area (LAARS A) supports the assumptions above. The minor subsidence that will occur will provide a stable foundation for the material. The County expects the proposed artificial reefs to have insignificant impact to any non-living marine resources in either the immediate vicinity or the surrounding area. Because these sites lie significant distances from other known public reefs, nominal migration of benthic fish or mobile invertebrates will occur. However, observations of other artificial reefs in the region have shown substantial populations of benthic and reef fish within six months to two years of deployment. Migratory pelagic species will pass through, either staying on a temporary basis or staying longer depending on the availability of food. Current fiscal restrictions do not allow for a sustained marine population investigation. Okaloosa County FWC Construction Grant Supplemental Information Packet Pg. 634  5 of 11 With these reefs, the County seeks to enhance the fisheries habitat for such species as the grouper, snapper, and amberjack, which have been widely observed in other artificial reef systems deployed in LAARS A. Given the high limestone content of the construction material and the relatively steep relief, the County expects that substantial marine growth across the food chain spectrum will colonize the new reef in short order. Availability of other Relevant Data A variety of studies regarding artificial reefs and ecology of the Northeastern Gulf of Mexico have been published. These data are useful to put the proposed reef project into prospective with the current knowledge base and its intended objectives. Today's artificial reef projects include specific design goals, as opposed to previous years when materials were indiscriminately discarded. Emphasis on increased awareness and stewardship of the marine environment has directed the artificial reef community’s focus toward sustainable and stabilized reef structures. Scientific studies also show data demonstrating targeted fisheries species enhancement may be possible through proper reef design and management. Attachment 5 contains a discussion and additional detail about the relevant biological and environmental data that Okaloosa County incorporates into the design and management of its artificial reefs. Physical Oceanography Conditions Attachment 6 describes the Physical Oceanography Conditions in the waters offshore of Okaloosa County. The document details research from various sources including The Gulf of Mexico Data Atlas and the USACE Wave Information Studies, to provide comprehensive analysis of the physical and oceanographic characteristics of the permitted reef sites. The physical and oceanographic conditions include geological characteristics, range of wind and wave characteristics, current velocities, temperature, salinity, visibility, tidal range, dissolved oxygen and nutrient composition, and geographic description. The physical and oceanographic conditions at the proposed reef sites are ideal for successful ecological habitation, longevity, as well as recreational and economic benefit. Material Placement Report Forms There have been no previously unsubmitted, non-FWCC funded public reef projects completed during the last calendar year (Attachment 7). Existing Artificial Reef Deployments No known existing artificial reef systems occur within 0.25nm of the proposed reef sites Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, and Echo (Attachment 8). Project Objectives (Attachments 9 – 10) Specific Project Objectives The primary objective of this project is to construct artificial reef habitat compliant with applicable regulations in a manner that will provide a productive long-term marine resource to the citizens of Okaloosa County and area visitors. See Attachment 9 for an additional discussion of Specific Project Objectives and County reef program goals. Okaloosa County FWC Construction Grant Supplemental Information Packet Pg. 635  6 of 11 Objective Achievement Plan Attachment 10 defines how the County plans to achieve the primary objective of constructing artificial reef habitat compliant with applicable regulations in a manner that will provide a productive long-term marine resource to the citizens of Okaloosa County and area visitors. It also provides a detailed plan to achieve and measure the success of additional specific measurable objectives defined in the preceding section. Project Design (Attachments 11 – 12) Reef Design and Construction The proposed artificial reef project design will consist of constructing a circular-based rubble-mound structure at the centroids of the permitted Fish Haven/LAARS sites. The size of the reefs, in plan view and vertical relief, will be based on the winning bidder’s proposal and compliance with permit restrictions. OCARP anticipates that fiscal constraints will dictate the quantity placed, due to the abundance of the material source. Future deployment plans include the construction of several patch reefs within each permitted site, for a total of nine reef systems within the Fish Haven reef areas, see Attachment 2. The currently proposed centroid construction location will preserve an approximate 600- ft buffer between the proposed construction limits and the permitted boundary. When the future patch reefs are constructed within the