Type: report

Article abstract: The construction of the Vista Del Mar Elementary School and associated extension of Del Sol Boulevard on a 20-acre project site in Otay Mesa, California resulted in impacts to 0.02 acre of vernal pool basin and associated federally listed species. To mitigate these impacts, offsite restoration/enhancement1 and creation2 (collectively referred to as “restoration” in this report) of vernal pool habitat was implemented according to a Vernal Pool Restoration Plan (Helix 2011, as amended by TAIC 2011; Appendix A), which was approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) on February 2, 2011. The vernal pool restoration site (“restoration site”) is located within a 1.05-acre parcel, under the ownership of the City of San Diego (City), that makes up a portion of the City’s Otay Mesa West Preserve—Parcel B in Otay, California (Figure 1), on the east side of Assessor’s Parcel Number 645-061-01-00. It occupies a portion of Section 31 in Township 18 South, Range 1 West of the U.S. Geological Survey 7.5-minute Imperial Beach Quadrangle (Figure 2). The restoration site occurs approximately 2,700 feet south of the Vista Del Mar Elementary School construction (impact) site on a mesa that is situated between Moody Canyon to the south and the San Diego Gas and Electric substation on Otay Mesa Road to the north.