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Y The aggregate plant uses approximately 2.3 million gallons of process water per day. Process water,is made up of storm water collected in the settling ponds during the rainy.season and,ground water'pumped from two 500 gpm:(rmaximum' pumping rate)production wells. The plant receives up to 4000 gprn of water from the settling ponds to remove fines (silts and-clays) fr6i r�the sand and gravel., Up to 150 gpm is pumped to the plant from the main production well to apply a.final , ' ._nnse. ' Process water from bath of these operations is-:pumped to the settling ponds: Except for,what is lost from eva oration 'this process water is recycled. p During the summer.months;' when evaporation rates are high, water levels in the ponds are augmented by pumping water from'a second production well directly into the final sektluig pond. .Typical summer supplemental water requirements are approximately 251/10 of the total process needs; or approximately 600,000 gallons per day. During the summe'i months when-both wells are operational, the average pumping rate from, both wells f combined) is -approximately 600 gpm. This pumping rate.is well below the maximum.sustained pumping rate of 1310 gpm demonstrated in the step-rate drawdown test in 1992. D. Soil Assessment: If the reclamation plan ro oses.reve etation an assessment of existing soil conditions tnay be 4ppEgLriate, Soils in the proposed Permit Area are expected to be similar to those described in the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the existing permit area. The soils in the existing permit area are not suitable for field crops, but they do support annual grasses for grazing. CKRC has had success in utilizing the overburden as suitable plant growth material for reclamation. After the aggregate is harvested, the overburden which had been removed prior to mining is respread to achieve reclamation on topography in accordance with the reclamation plan. KRC plans to salvage and respread the thin soils as well as the suitable overburden to form a plant growth material layer suitable to reestablish grasslands for grazing. Reclaimed areas will be revegetated naturally, which has been quite successfal in the existing permit area. When natural revegetation is unsuccessful, augmented reseeding will be done using seed mixes recommended by the U.S. Department of Agriculture(USDA)National Resources Conservation Service(NRCS). E. Vegetation and Wildlife: A discussion of existing plant and wildlife s ecies is necessM to assess pptential adverse environmental impacts. Vegetation and wildlife in the proposed Permit Area are expected to be similar to those described in the EIR for the existing permit area. The project site is located in eastern Sara Joaquin County in the lower Sierra Nevada foothills. This area is characterized by plant communities and associated wildlife that are typical of the foothill region of California. Natural and artificial biological communities in the project side include: Distribution Copy Page 4 of 14 August 2, 2006