San Lorenzo River Levee Burrowing Rodent Mitigation - Phase 2 - Grouting

The City of Santa Cruz Public Works Department is seeking contractors to implement a burrowing rodent management program on the San Lorenzo River Levees. This program is anticipated to be a multi-year effort to manage the burrowing rodent population and manage the impacts of burrows in the San Lorenzo River Levees. Burrowing rodents pose a threat to levee stability and management of the burrowing rodent population is needed. The last burrowing rodent mitigation project occurred in 2023.

The burrowing rodent management program will be implemented in two phases. Phase 1 consists of a licensed fumigator identifying burrows, flagging burrows, recording the number of burrows in each zone upon the levees and mitigating active burrows through carbon monoxide fumigation. (Fumigator obtained through IFB PW-0226). Phase 2 consists of a licensed contractor grouting the marked and fumigated burrows until they are sealed and covering with dirt. This will be done while following sediment control best management practices (BMPs), exercising caution for sensitive animal and plant species found on the levees and maintaining public levee access to the highest extent possible.

The City of Santa Cruz was incorporated in 1866 and formed its current charter in 1948. It is governed under a Council/Manager form of government. A Mayor and six Council members set policy for the City and a City Manager serves as chief administrator of those policies. The City is located on the coast, 75 miles south of San Francisco on the northern edge of the Monterey Bay. It encompasses 15.8 square miles with cultural and ethnic diversity among its population of 65,000. Santa Cruz is part of the National Marine Sanctuary and is a popular tourist destination owing to its beaches, surf culture, and historical landmarks.

The City provides a full range of municipal services and facilities including a recreational wharf, public golf course, over thirteen hundred acres of open space, full beach services, refuse management, law enforcement, fire protection, and water and wastewater utilities. The City is also host to University of California Santa Cruz, the Santa Cruz Harbor, and the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk amusement park.

The San Lorenzo River levees were constructed in 1959 as the main component of a large-scale cooperative flood control project between the City of Santa Cruz and the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). The City is the agency responsible for the levees. Burrowing rodents are a threat to levee stability and the City must mitigate burrowing rodent holes as part of the levee maintenance.