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<br />Soil Investigations for Data Collection in the Delta <br />Initial Study/Proposed Mitigated Negative Declaration 49 <br />occurrences. There are several reported occurrences of California red-legged <br />frog less than 0.5 mile from multiple Impact Areas in the southern portion of the <br />Study Area, east and southeast of the Clifton Court Forebay, within Contra Costa <br />and Alameda Counties. <br />Implementation of the following mitigation measures to avoid impacts to all <br />suitable aquatic habitat, upland refugia habitat, and individuals that could be <br />moving through the Study Area: MM-AES-1, MM-AES-2, MM BIO-1, and MM <br />BIO-2, would reduce potential project impacts to California red-legged frog to: <br />Less than Significant with Mitigation Incorporated. <br /> <br />Western spadefoot (Spea hammondii) <br />Western spadefoot is identified as a CDFW Priority One Species of Special <br />Concern (CDFW 2019b, Thompson et al 2016). It is an olive toad, ranging from <br />1.5 to 2.5 inches SVL, with orange tipped skin tubercles, vertical pupils, and a <br />single black spade on each hind foot (Stebbins and McGinnis 2012, Thompson et <br />al 2016). Western spadefoot is found throughout the Central Valley and coastal <br />lowlands from the Shasta County in Northern California to Baja California in <br />Mexico, at elevations ranging from sea level to 4,500 feet (Jennings and Hayes <br />1994, Stebbins and McGinnis 2012). This species occurs in grasslands, mixed <br />woodland, open chaparral, and pine oak woodlands, with shallow temporary <br />pools or washes. <br />Breeding coincides with the rainy season and usually occurs from January to <br />May, peaking in February and March, in temporary pools and drainages, <br />although breeding can also occur in man-made water sources such as cattle <br />ponds (Thompson et al 2016). Adults remain in underground burrows for most of <br />the year and will travel up to several meters on rainy nights (CDFW 2000a). Eggs <br />are laid in cylindrical clusters and usually hatch in three to four days, with <br />tadpoles metamorphing in 4 to 11 weeks (Nafis 2019). Juveniles will leave the <br />pool a few days after metamorphosis. On land movement is generally thought to <br />be nocturnal, with juveniles and adults able to dig burrows up to eight inches <br />deep (Thompson et al 2016). They will also make use of existing mammal <br />burrows. <br />Western spadefoot has a moderate potential to occur within the Study Area <br />based upon presence of suitable habitat and proximity to reported occurrences. <br />Although there are no reported occurrences within 8 miles of the Study Area <br />displayed in the CNDDB GIS layer, there are several recent research grade <br />occurrences reported on iNaturalist (2019) that are within established with 2 or 5 <br />miles of the southernmost portion of the Study Area, south of Clifton Court <br />Forebay, in Alameda County. <br />