Environmental planning

Navigating the Permit Process: Ensuring Successful Approvals

Navigating the Permit Process: Ensuring Successful Approvals

Throughout the process, the team worked closely with agencies to ensure they received clarification and sufficient information for their reviews, vital for timely approval. This close coordination continued into the current construction phase when turbidity challenges arose. The team continued agency collaboration to promptly address the issue to maintain permit compliance.

 

From initial interagency meetings to ongoing construction, FlowWest has continuously worked closely with agencies to navigate challenges and ensure all permit requirements are met. With these permits in place, the project continues to advance, supporting the restoration of habitat for California native fish and wildlife, including Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and Steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss).

FlowWest Project is One of First in State to Receive Innovative CEQA Exemption for Habitat Restoration

FlowWest Project is One of First in State to Receive Innovative CEQA Exemption for Habitat Restoration

The Statutory Exemption for Restoration Projects will speed up project timelines and cut down on paperwork to implement much-needed restoration across California.

OAKLAND, CA, December 28, 2022. The Basso/La Grange Reach Floodplain and Spawning Habitat Restoration Project is one of the first in California, and the first in Stanislaus County, to qualify as statutorily exempt under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Statutory Exemption for Restoration Projects (SERP). The SERP is just one of the many innovative tools developed by California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) as part of its “Cutting the Green Tape” Initiative. The statutory exemption is solely for projects that "conserve, restore, protect, or enhance, and assist in the recovery of California fish and wildlife, and habitat upon which they depend or that restore or provide habitat for California native fish and wildlife". The project is one of only 12 projects that have been determined to be exempt under the SERP, and underwent a rigorous review process. FlowWest crafted the exemption documents and worked closely with CDFW to ensure the submittal materials included everything the CDFW Director needed to find the project statutorily exempt. FlowWest is providing the full suite of planning and floodplain design services for the project.