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C. Any Irreversible Environmental Changes Which would be 2nvolved in the Proposed Action Should it be Implemented- The major irreversible environmental impact from this project will be conversion of agricultural land to parking for recrea- tional vehicles. Although the land could revert back tc agri- culture with time and work, development is generally regarded as a higher and more financially lucrative use. Very rarely will the land revert to a natural state. Loss of agricultural land and a more intensive use of the area will also cause several species to search for other habitats. Frequently, these species cannot compete with species established in the new habitat. D. Growth-Inducing Impact : Numerous marinas of various sizes have been developed in the Delta. Turner Cut is already the site of two other sizeable marinas with a total of 280 berths. This proposed marina will add another 159 berths. If all the boats from these berths were to utilize the waterways on one particular day, 439 boats would be crowding Turner Cut. The State Department of Navigation and Ocean Develop- ment (DNOD) has estimated that 15% to 20% of the boats in wet storage will be in operation during the busiest weeks. Thus, 88 boats could be used in the Delta 's waterways from the Turner Cut marinas. DNOD has also estimated that for safe traffic in lakes, the density of boats should not exceed one boat per acre. For multiple uses (fishing, speedboating, waterskiing) densities should not exceed one boat for every five acres. No comparable estimate exists for waterways. A large problem in lake boat movements is cross traffic. This may be less of a problem in narrow waterways where two way traffic will be the predominant pattern. A reasonable density for safety in waterways could be two boats per acre. For multiple uses the density may be two boats for every five acres. Turner Cut is, on the average, 250 feet wide and approximately seven miles long or over 200 acres. A maximum density,according to this standard, is 80 boats at any one time. The proposed marina, then, would significantly push the density of Turner Cut to the safety limit. Growth from the marina will also affect land circulation. Caltrans has estimated the number of boating related automobile trips for most marinas in the Delta. Both existing resorts on Turner Cut are heavily utilized generating 17,000 boat related auto trips per year. Since this marina will probably lack a launching ramp, the average trips per berth will be slightly less than the average for marinas with a launching ramp. Therefore, assuming that the proposed marina is typical with other "ramp-less" marinas, the average trips per berth per year is 302. DNOD has estimated that the average person who rents a covered berth space for his boat spends an average of 25-40 days/year at the marina. The average - 23 -