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ENVIRONMENTAL SETTING The Brown Sand & Gravel land, referred to in this report as the project site, is composed of 497 acre located within and adjacent r-, to the "V" formed by the junction of I-580 and I--5 in southwest San Joaquin County (Figure 1) . it is surrounded on the north and j -y ` east by irrigated orchard and pasture land and across I-580 to the southwest by heavily grazed upland annual grassland. i i Irrigated almond orchards occupies 333 acres of the project site (Figure 2) . The orchard floor is free of grass/£orb ground cover throughout the year. Only a few small areas along the orchard F border where dead trees are piled for burning support temporary stands of weedy cover exist (Figure 3) . �F A gravel quarry occupies 43 acres at the southern apex of the 376 acre triangular tract between the two highways (Figures 1 & 4) . Most of this area has been greatly disturbed by the gravel mining operation, and there is 24 hour human and watch dog presence. The 121 acre parcel west of I-580 is a highly degraded area which Y has previously been mined for gravel in the mid-1950s by the Neilsen Gravel Company, San Andres, California. This operation removed all of the top soil and upper layer gravel, creating a shallow basin area and leaving numerous of apparently undesireable gravel and rubble behind (Figure 5) . In addition to numerous mounds of gravel/dirt spoils, this area is also used as ' an ad hoc dump site by trespassers (Figure 6) . This area is also insenively grazed, with the result that nearly all vegetation except for small clumps of unpalatable species such as California 1; sagebrush and spiny cocklebur has been consumed by cattle. -- Two permanent water impoundments other than pits and sumps within the quarry area occur on the project site. The largest is a one acre pond on the eastern edge of the orchard area (Figure 7) . This artificial impoundment stores water from the adjacent California Aqueduct for use in the orchard drip irrigation system. It is populated by several fish species which are continuously introduced with the water supply, which then continue to grow and thrive in this new habitat. The second 4 permanent aquatic site is a small stock water pond situated near the western edge of the site (Figure 8) . It provides water to a very large herd of cattle which graze both on this segment of the project site and the expansive Bogetti property to the south. Y A seasonal aquatic habitat, Hospital Creek, passes through the southern portion of the project site (Figure 1) . Decades of intense grazing has destroyed nearly all bank vegetation and has resulted in progressive bank erosion ( Figure 9) . The 1950 's gravel mining activities also created a low levee area along the western edge of the site which destrowed the natural creek channel in that area. As a result water now moves in a sheet flow manner over this area as it makes its way back to the original channel northeast of the levee site. } � Further disruptions of the original creek course have occurred on the Caltrans and natural gas line right-of-ways which bisect r Hospital Creek on the project site (Figure 10) . At both the I-5 3 F �