Agmt 2006 State Coastal Conservancy

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. . , e e .' .~. be known presently because all plants, while they appear dead, are senescing (sleeping) as they do during the winter and spring. ISP and partners are cautiously optimistic that results will prove successful because of the use of imazapyr: Imazapyr is known to have up to 90% efficacy in the State of Washington where managers have been fighting a much larger infestation of invasive Spartina in WalIapa Bay. Proiect Description for Requested Authorization 1. 2006 Control Proeram . The Conservancy.authorized disbursement of funds for treatment through 2006 in its June 2005 authorization. The proposed authorization would allow an expenditure of an additional $715,299 of the WCB Proposition 50 funding already reserved for the ISP (S.ee "Project Financing") to supplement existing treatment grants. While the nature, extent . and scope of the proposed treatment and eradication projects have not changed from what was described in connection with the 2005 authorizations, additional funding is needed to cover unanticipated costs of operations through 2006. These unexpected increases include 1) a significantly higher cost of the herbicide imazapyr, and 2) greater than expected costs for subcontracts to specialized applicator companies that conduct treatment operations. Building upon partnerships and the successful regional coordination in 2005, ISP will continue the same aggressive strategy for 2006. This will involve re-treating the' same sites where partial infestation may have returned, and adding a majority of the remaining phased sites' for initial" treatinent. These activities are already incorporated into the existing Site-Specific Plans, covering 2005 and 2006, but work' for 2006 will include some treatment work that was originally planned to take place in 2005. ISP consultants are working with all grantees to update the Site-Specific Plans for the 2006 treatment season, evaluating experiences from 2005 in order to improve what is planned for 2006, making present~tions to regional stakeholders, obtaining necessary permits, and seeking landowner permission to work on sites where work has not previously been done. 2. Monitorine Proi!ram The Conservancy was awarded a grant .from the California Bay-Delta Authority Ecosystem Restoration Program (ERP) to continue and. expand monitoring associated with the ISP Control Program through 2009. This includes 1) annual surveys for non- native Spartina in the San Francisco Estuary and the outer coast marshes lying in proximity to the mouth of the Estuary; 2) monitoring marsh areas treated to control invasive Spartina to determine if treatment was effective, including genetic analysis of . Spartina samples, and' 3) surveys of endangered species, with special emphasis on .the California clapper rail (collectively, the "Monitoring Program"). The Conservancy will disburse ERP funds as an augmentation to existing ISP management contract(s) for monitoring and mapping. The Monitoring Program will also involve a new interagency agreement to the University of California at Davis or to an environmental services contractor, for the genetic analysis of Spartina samples. 0-5 EXHiBtT .~ )