Blog: Protecting Sandhill Cranes Under the BDCP
From the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) Blog:
“The permanent Delta footprint of the water delivery system proposed by the Bay Delta Conservation Plan has shrunk by half. And the shift in tunnel alignment announced recently by the California Department of Water Resources as part of that downsizing is now understandably raising concern for the greater sandhill crane.
“The new alignment for the BDCP’s proposed water conveyance system would route tunnels under Staten Island. Staten Island, managed by The Nature Conservancy for cranes for the last 12 years, is one of the most popular roosting areas in the Delta for sandhill cranes. …
“The permanent footprint of the tunnel project on Staten Island (two vent shafts) would cover at most a few dozen acres. That’s less than one percent of the 9,000-acre island. Soil pulled from under the subsided island by a tunnel boring machine could be used to build setback levees to bolster the island’s relatively weak levees and provide riparian habitat or to raise the elevation of subsided areas. … To minimize disturbance, the BDCP would implement stringent avoidance and minimization measures year round. …
“The BDCP would give the cranes more of what they need. Over the course of 50 years, the BDCP — a habitat conservation plan that covers 56 species besides greater sandhill cranes — must improve overall conditions for cranes and contribute to recovery of crane populations in the Delta to satisfy permit requirements.”