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B IOLOGICAL A SSESSMENT A PRIL 2020 S AN L EANDRO T REATMENT W ETLAND P ROJECT S AN L EANDRO, A LAMEDA C OUNTY, C ALIFORNIA P:\TER2001\BA\San Leandro Treatment Plant BA 4‐7‐20.docx (04/07/20) 11 1.4 FIELD INVESTIGATION LSA senior biologists Dan Sidle and Bernhard Warzecha conducted a field survey on February 5, 2020. The purpose of the survey was to perform a wetland delineation, assess current habitat conditions, and evaluate the potential occurrence of federally listed plant and animal species in the Action Area. 1.5 NOMENCLATURE The scientific nomenclature and vernacular nomenclature used in this analysis for the plant and wildlife species are from the following standard sources: plants, Baldwin et al. (2012) and updates listed on the Jepson Herbarium website (ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora); amphibians and reptiles, Crother (2017) and/or AmphibiaWeb (www.amphibiaweb.org); birds, American Ornithologists’ Union (1998) and supplements through 2020; and mammals, Bradley et al. (2014). For animals, subspecies names are used only when a specific subspecies is listed by the USFWS or NMFS. 1.6 CONSULTATIONS TO DATE A pre‐application meeting for the project with the Bay Restoration Regulatory Integration Team (BRRIT) occurred on January 8, 2020. Representatives from the USFWS and NMFS were present during this BRRIT meeting. No other formal consultation with the USFWS or NMFS has occurred to date for this project. The submittal of this BA is intended to initiate further FESA consultation with the USFWS and NMFS. 1.7 PROJECT LOCATION The Action Area includes a 4.3‐acre storage basin and adjacent upland areas owned by the City and managed by the San Leandro Water Pollution Control Plant (WPCP). The triangular‐shaped basin is located at the western end of the WPCP and the tidal slough is located along the southern boundary (Figures 1 and 2). 1.7.1 Action Area Description The basin is bordered on the south and east by a drainage channel with direct connection to the San Francisco Bay, and on the north by the Oakland International Airport and the Metropolitan Golf Links course. The Bay Trail runs along the northwestern edge of the basin. Other surrounding land uses include a gun club (property owned by the City), a waste transfer facility, and the Oyster Bay Regional Shoreline Area, which is a 194‐acre regional park operated by the East Bay Regional Park District. The storage basin itself maintains the physical appearance of active salt ponds in the region, which are void of vegetation in all areas except the perimeter of the basin, with plant assemblages consistent with other heavily disturbed sites along the San Francisco Bay. Historic photos from the early 1990s indicate that the lands to the west of the storage basin were graded or otherwise disturbed, but have since regained tidal marsh features.