2.
Response
to
Comment
2.4
Master
Responses
to
Comments
Response
Background
Information
While
there
are
no
set
minimum
wind
speeds
required
to
support
windsurfing,
due
to
varying
skill
levels,
experience,
types
of
equipment,
and
water
conditions
(see
Draft
EIR
page
4.M-10),
changes
in
the
wind
speed
have
the
potential
to
directly
affect
the
windsurfing
resource.
Therefore,
measuring
changes
in
relative
wind
speed
provides
a
direct
relation
between
the
effects
of
a
change
in
the
upwind
surface
roughness
to
the
windsurfing
resource
of
concern.
See
Draft
EIR
page
4.M-10
for
more
information
on
the
effects
of
wind
speed
on
windsurfing,
and
Draft
EIR
page
4.M-12
for
discussion
of
the
effects
of
upwind
surface
roughness
on
downwind
wind
speed.
Weather-related
wind
phenomena
such
as
gusts
and
lulls,
as
well
as
the
seasonal
diurnal
winds,
occur
naturally
and
can
result
in
very
large
changes
in
wind
speed
and
direction
over
periods
of
minutes,
hours,
or
days.
These
weather-related
wind
phenomena
that
now
occur
regularly
in
the
area
solely
determine
the
direction
and
speed
of
the
wind
that
passes
over
the
Project
Site
and
over
the
windsailing
areas
at
any
given
time.
As
noted
by
commenters,
for
safety,
windsurfers
should
be
aware
of
these
weather-related
wind
events,
since
they
determine
the
direction
and
speed
of
the
wind
upon
which
the
windsurfers
rely
to
reach
and
return
from
windsailing
areas.
Such
weather-related
wind
phenomena
are
not
caused
by
Project
Site
development;
rather,
they
simply
are
the
driving
winds
in
the
atmospheric
boundary
layer.
As
they
pass
over
the
Project
Site,
those
winds
in
the
lowest
level
of
the
boundary
layer
will
be
slowed
by
the
“surface
roughness”
of
the
ground
and
any
structures
and
vegetation
that
may
be
present.
If
the
wind
direction
is
such
that
those
winds
then
flow
over
CPSRA,
these
roughness-related
changes
in
wind
speed
would
then
be
felt
in
the
CPSRA
windsurfing
area,
although
the
effect
would
not
be
uniform
over
that
area.
In
the
process
of
flowing
over
the
water,
the
smaller
“surface
roughness”
of
the
water
surface
will
allow
those
winds
in
the
lowest
level
of
the
boundary
layer
to
increase
speed
by
recovering
momentum
and
energy
from
the
winds
at
higher
levels
in
the
boundary
layer.
The
net
effect
would
be
for
the
wind
to
slow
down
as
it
moves
over
the
Project
Site
and
then
to
increase
in
speed
as
it
moves
over
the
water.
By
the
time
the
wind
reaches
the
eastern
boundary
of
the
grid,
it
typically
would
be
moving
faster
than
it
did
over
land.
This
effect
occurs
now,
with
the
Project
Site
in
its
existing
state,
just
as
it
would
occur
in
the
future
with
proposed
Project
Site
development.
The
differences
between
wind
conditions
with
and
without
Project
Site
development
are
accurately
quantified
by
the
wind
tunnel
measurements
reported
in
the
Draft
EIR.
The
differences
between
the
existing
wind
speeds
and
wind
speeds
with
Project
Site
development
would
be
less
than
5
percent
at
more
than
half
of
the
points
in
the
windsailing
area,
with
the
largest
difference
being
12
percent
at
a
single
location
in
the
grid.
By
comparison,
as
commenters
point
out,
the
daily
variability
in
existing
weather-related
wind
speeds
is
much
greater,
with
essentially
random
variations
that
are
nearly
an
order
of
magnitude
larger
than
the
measured
changes
that
would
result
from
Project
Site
development.
For
this
reason,
attempting
to
evaluate
the
localized
wind
speed
and
turbulence
impacts
of
Project
Site
Brisbane
Baylands
Final
EIR
2.4-98
May
2015
Previous Page | Next Page