Corps, Travis Air Base work to minimize wetland impacts

By Brandon Beach
District Public Affairs Office

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 6, 2009 -The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — San Francisco District recently issued a permit to the Department of the Air Force, as plans are set to upgrade a major runway at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, Calif.

The 18-month project calls for demolishing the existing 10,995-foot long, 300-foot wide runway, which is one of two runways at Travis. In its place will be a slimmer 10,995-foot long, 150-foot wide runway equipped with new approach lights, paved shoulders and an underdrain system. That’s the easy part.

In spring, these shoots of Curly Dock, found in many vernal pool areas on Travis Air Force Base, will start to flower. The base is set to begin an 18-month construction project to upgrade one of its major runways, including replacing approach lights, like the one in the photo’s background. (Photo by Brandon Beach)

Not so easy are the more than eight acres of vernal pool wetland habitat directly on or near the project site. As Air Force planners drew up initial project specs, permanent impacts to these habitats, considered a vital ecosystem to various federally-threatened and endangered species like the California tiger salamander, seemed unavoidable.

Under the Corps’ no-net loss to wetlands policy, any impacts would require restoring the loss by mitigation, an oftentimes costly endeavor.

“Mitigation for just one-tenth of an acre can be in the tens of thousands [of dollars],” said Bryan Matsumoto, a project manager in the San Francisco District’s Regulatory Division.

The question soon became: “Is there a way to minimize these impacts?” said David Musselwhite, chief of the 60th Civil Engineer Squadron Asset Management Flight on Travis. “They [contractor] had this big wide zone, and we wanted to try to narrow it.”

Musselwhite consulted with the district’s Regulatory Division on steps to change the project’s construction methods.

Though not apparent in the dry fall months, vernal pools appear dramatically different in spring, as water collects in low spots making grasses green and flowers bloom. It’s also not the best time to drive in heavy machinery.

Uprooting approach lights with large backhoe loaders in fall when the ground is relatively dried up was agreed upon. Initially too, machine operators were given 150 feet of space to work in. That space was reduced to 20 feet on either side of the approach lights. Other changes to the plans involved the location of access roads and contractor staging areas.

“We took it [the plan] and minimized the footprint that they were allowed to construct in,” said Musselwhite.

The changes have resulted in less impact to the base’s wetland areas. “We were able to work with them and refine the project description to get the impacts down to temporary impacts,” said Matsumoto.

Travis Air Force Base operates two major runways. While the 21L/03R runway will be closed until 2010, all incoming and outgoing flights will use the base’s second runway. Getting this project off the ground is a top priority for Air Force planners.
“This is a very high DoD [Department of Defense] project,” said Cmdr. Jason Zeta, resident construction officer of the Naval Facilities Engineering Command on Travis. “Every mission is impacted by this runway at least Pacific-wide.”

With all the comings and goings at one of the nation’s busiest military airports, not to be overlooked, said Musselwhite, are the many acres of environmental habitat on the base. “All of our ecological issues are wetlands. Without our wetlands, none of our species here are protected,” he said.