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This study contributes to the ongoing work on the restoration of the Tecate Creek corridor, in Baja California. Tecate Creek originates east of Tecate, at the confluence of Cañada Joe Bill and Arroyo San Pablo. Cañada Joe Bill has its headwaters in eastern San Diego County, where it is named Campo Creek. The study encompasses the reach of Tecate Creek, from its upstream point east of Tecate, at the Highway 2 bridge with Cañada Joe Bill, to its downstream point west of Tecate, at the Highway 2 bridge with Tecate Creek, a total of 11.1 km. The study will consider the following stream uses: (1) flood mitigation, (2) groundwater replenishment, (3) land use, (3) recreation, (4) landscaping, (5) habitat for flora and fauna, (6) preservation and conservation of the riparian corridor, (7) improvement of water quality, and (8) compliance with federal stream zoning restrictions.
The following specific objectives are identified: (1) a hydrologic study to determine flood discharges, (2) a hydraulic study to determine flood conveyance, (3) a stream mechanics study to assess streambed stability, and (4) a low-flow runoff study to assess the permanence of low flows. These objectives will complement current work on the Tecate Creek corridor restoration. The hydrologic study will determine flood discharges for 2-, 5-, 10-, 20-, 50-, 100-, 200-, 500-, and 1000-yr return periods.. Mathematical modeling with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers HEC-HMS will be used to calculate the flood discharges. Flood discharges will be determined spatially within the basin, to facilitate analysis and design of tributary inflows to Arroyo Tecate. A geographic information system (GIS) will be used to support the hydrologic analysis. The hydraulic study will inventory the current channel conditions throughout the 11-km study reach and will work with stakeholders to identify and propose the most appropriate solutions to the channelization, considering the diverse uses of the stream (rural, semirural, urban, and industrial). Mathematical modeling with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers HEC-RAS will be used to determine flood stages, depths, and velocities. The stream mechanics study will assess the streambed stability of Tecate Creek, in lieu of recent experience which indicates a degradation of up to 1 m of channel. The extent to which this degradation is due to sand mining upstream of the study reach will be ascertained. Solutions will be proposed to mitigate and reduce the negative effects of stream degradation due to anthropogenic activities. The low-flow runoff study will analyze the existing runoff data to determine whether low-flow runoff may have been affected by anthropogenic activitites on both sides of the border, i.e., retention and detention in Campo Creek and sand mining in the Cañada Joe Bill. The research team will assemble relevant geographic, topographic, hydrologic, soil, vegetation, hydraulic, riparian, urban, architectural and landscape design data to provide disciplinary and interdisciplinary synthesis to contribute to the Tecate Creek Corridor restoration. The research team will coordinate and work closely with other consultants and local stakeholders to ensure that the research results are relevant and meaningful to the proposed stream corridor restoration. The requested amount is $84,000. |