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V Report Golden State Investments Il, LP Property, February 2006)concluded that there is a wetland feature (a "leaky ditch"wetland) in the one-acre drainage swale on the project site but that it is not a water of the United States. The study notes that because the wetland has been artificially created as a result of a continuing leak from the California Aqueduct, it should not be considered a water of the United States. In a letter to Michael Clevenger of Golden State Investments II LP (see Appendix 7), the Corps of Engineers has concurred with EIP Associates' conclusion. Consequently, the drainage swale is not currently regulated by the Corps of Engineers under Section 404 of the Federal Clean Water Act. Although the drainage Swale is not subject to Corps of Engineers regulation, it is a riparian habitat and wetland feature subject to County regulation and, possibly, State regulation. With respect to County regulation, the following provisions are applicable: General Plan: 1) Volume I, Policy VI, G, 5: "No net loss of riparian or wetland habitat or values shall be caused by development." 2) Volume I, Policy VI, G, 6: "Development projects which have the potential to destroy wetlands shall not be permitted, unless: a)no suitable alternative site exists for the land use, and the use is considered necessary to the public; b)there is no degradation of the habitat or numbers of any rare, threatened, or endangered plant, or animal species as a result of the project; and c)habitat of superior quantity and superior or comparable quality will be created or restored to compensate for the loss. '■ Master Plan: 1) Implementation 7.3.6 (b): "Wetlands mitigation shall provide for creation of wetlands to replace those which would be lost. Mitigation shall occur within the Mountain House Creek Restoration Plan. Specific Plan III: 1) Implementation Measure 7.3.4.3: "Wetland mitigation shall provide for creation of wetlands to replace those which would be lost. Mitigation shall occur within the Specific ` Plan III area adjacent to, and contiguous with, other preserved wetlands. San Joaquin County Development Title: 1) Section 9-1510.3: "An action that in the opinion of the Review Authority has the potential to destroy, eliminate, or degrade riparian habitats shall not be permitted, unless the Review Authority determines that all of the following are true: a)the potential loss is in the public interest; and b) potential destruction, elimination, or degradation of the riparian habitat would be mitigated through a Riparian Habitat Mitigation Plan that shall be part of the conditions of approval" [Note: Section 9-110.4 of the County Development Title defines riparian habitat as"the banks and other terrestrial environs of fresh water bodies, watercourses, estuaries, and surface waters whose conditions provide soil moisture sufficiently in excess of that other wise available through local precipitation to support the growth of mesic vegetation.] In response to the above, the Community Development Department(CDD) has included in its conditions of approval (COAs)for the Tentative Map (see Appendix 3)a requirement that the applicant submit to CDD a Wetland Mitigation/Replacement Plan ("Wetland Plan")for the elimination of the wetland on the project site. The Wetland Plan would be subject to a number of provisions, including the requirement that the lost wetland be replaced with 1.02 acres of new wetland to replace the 1.02 acres of wetland that will be filled. If feasible, replacement wetland 17 v