Founding Documents
The Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan (MSHCP) is the document behind RCA. It protects 146 rare, threatened, and endangered species of plants and animals and will preserve 500,000 acres of habitat in western Riverside County.
The MSHCP was implemented under an agreement that included the following entities:
all of the cities in Riverside county, the County of Riverside, the Riverside County Flood Control and Water Conservation District, Riverside County Regional Parks and Open Space District, Riverside County Waste Management District, Riverside County Transportation Commission, the California Department of Transportation, and California Department of Parks and Recreation.
All of these entities are considered to be parties to the Implementing Agreement for the MSHCP and are covered by the agreement with the U.S. Forest Service and the California Department of Fish & Game that provides for the formation of the Western Riverside County Regional Conservation Authority (RCA) and the establishment of reserves under the MSHCP.
RCA was formed by a Joint Powers Agreement on January 27, 2004. The signers of the original agreement included the County of Riverside and all of the cities in western Riverside County at the time: Banning, Beaumont, Calimesa, Canyon Lake, Corona, Hemet, Lake Elsinore, Moreno Valley, Murrieta, Norco, Perris, Riverside, San Jacinto, and Temecula. In 2009, they were joined by the recently incorporated cities of Menifee and Wildomar.
Each member agency adopted establishing ordinances that include an “Implementing Ordinance” that establishes the reasons and procedures for participating in RCA, a “Findings Resolution” where each member finds that the benefits of implementing the MSHCP will outweigh any adverse environmental impacts of the plan, and a “Fee Ordinance that provides for the collection of development-related fees to fund habitat acquisition.
On June 7, 2004, RCA adopted bylaws to “acquire, administer, operate and maintain land and facilities to establish habitat reserves for the conservation and protection of species covered in the MSHCP and to implement the MSHCP.”
Shortly after, on June 22, 2004 the US Fish & Wildlife Service issued the permit that enables the establishment of reserves. Under this permit, projects that have environmental impacts may mitigate those impacts by paying a fee that underwrites land acquisition for reserves that protect habitat and wildlife. The permit was amended on August 3, 2009 to add the new City of Menifee and new City of Wildomar as permittees to the plan. amended permit
