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United States Department of the Interior In Reply Refer To: 08ESMF00-2015-F-0206-1 FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE San Francisco Bay -Delta Fish and Wildlife Office 650 Capitol Mall, Suite 8-300 Sacramento, California 95814 Mr. Michael Jewell Acting Chief, Planning Division U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Sacramento District 1325 J Street Sacramento, California 95814-2922 Received AUG 2 2 2019 SJAFCA US. FISH & WILDLIFE SHHVICE TyT`c 2019 Subject: Reinitiation of formal consultation on the Lower San Joaquin River Feasibility Study, San Joaquin County, California; Smith Canal Gate SPK -2016-00037 Dear: Mr. Jewell: This is in response to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' (Corps) October 19, 2018, letter requesting formal consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) on issuance of an Army permit for the Smith Canal Gate Project (project). The project for which you are requesting consultation is an element of the Lower San Joaquin River Feasibility Study (LSJRFS) Recommended Plan, San Joaquin County, California, for which a Biological Opinion (BiOp) was previously issued on June 13, 2016. The LSJRFS is a Federal project with the Corps as the Federal lead agency and the Central Valley Flood Protection Board and the San Joaquin Area Flood Control Agency (SJAFCA) as the non -Federal local sponsors partnering with the Corps. The LSJRFS consists of improvements to 24 miles of levees in the Central and North Stockton areas to address seepage, slope stability, overtopping, and erosion concerns. Under the permit that is the subject of this consultation request, the Smith Canal Gate element would be constructed by SJAFCA as the applicant, instead of by the Corps with SJAFCA as the local sponsor. At issue are effects of the project on the federally -listed as threatened delta smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus), and delta smelt critical habitat. Your request was received on October 22, 2018 with a Biological Assessment (BA). According to that BA, the project has been revised and the associated compensatory mitigation differs from that described in our 2016 Biop. After receiving your request, we requested and received additional information, and participated in a meeting, site visit, and conferences with the Corps and applicant (see Consultation History). During the course of those activities, we concluded it appropriate to modify the compensatory mitigation for both the Smith Canal and Fourteenmile Slough gates. In order to maintain consistency, we have decided to treat your request as a reinitiation of formal consultation of the LSJRFS and to amend our 2016 BiOp as appropriate. This response is provided under the authority of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) (Act), and is to be considered sufficient for the additional purpose of consultation on the issuance of an Army permit.