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4.Environmental Analysis — 4.9.2 Setting Study Area _ The project area extends from San Joaquin County into Stanislaus County. It is located in Township 4 South, Range 6 East, Sections 4 and 9 of the USGS Solyo 7.5-minute quadrangle. The project area contains approximately 688 acres. Of these, 590 acres are in San Joaquin County — and 98 acres are in Stanislaus County.The western border of the project area is the Delta- Mendota Canal, from the San Joaquin/Stanislaus county line north to Blewett Road. The project _ area is defined as those areas that may be directly affected by project-related construction activities (Figures 3-1, 3-3, and 3-4). Environmental Setting San Joaquin and Stanislaus Counties lie in the central region of the Central Valley. Historically, — both counties supported extensive native grasslands intermixed with a variety of vegetative communities including oak woodland, wetlands, and riparian woodland. Intensive agricultural and urban development has resulted in a reduction of these habitats. Agricultural production — (including cattle ranching) is the main use for land in San Joaquin and Stanislaus Counties.In San Joaquin County,row crops,orchards, and hay crops comprise the majority of agricultural production. Row crops, rice,alfalfa,and hay crops characterize agricultural production within — northern Stanislaus County. The remaining native plant communities occur in isolated remnant patches within urban and agricultural landscapes,or in areas where varied topography has limited disturbance. The project area lies in the Westside Alluvial Fans and Terraces subsection of the Great Valley (USDA 1998). This subsection contains very gently to gently sloping terraces and alluvial fans — along the western edge of the San Joaquin Valley, adjacent to Coast Ranges. More specifically, it is located at the extreme northern end of the northern half of the Solyo 7.5-minute USGS quadrangle, and elevations range between approximately 140 and 220 feet. As described in Section 4.7, soils in the area include Zacharias clay loam,Vernalis clay loam,Capay clay, and Cortina gravelly sandy loam. Some of the soils in the area may be alkaline, and while undisturbed _ soils may contain seasonal wetlands or vernal pools,the entire project area has been disturbed by agricultural activities including straightening Hospital Creek. Soil temperature regimes are thermic, and moisture regimes are xeric (Miles and Goudey, 1997). _ Plant Communities and Wildlife Habitats Wildlife habitats are described and classified here using CDFG's A Guide to Wildlife Habitats (Mayer and Laudenslayer, 1988). Wildlife habitats generally correspond to plant communities. , which are assemblages of plant species that occur together in a given area, and are defined by — species composition and relative abundance.The plant communities in this document were classified using A Manual of California Vegetation (Sawyer and Keeler-Wolf, 1995). The project area predominantly consists of agricultural land with two habitats with limited representation — including annual grassland and valley foothill riparian. RMC Pacific Vernalis Quarry Mining and Reclamation Project 4.9-2 ESA/203015 Draft Environmental Impact Report May 2006