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12. Environmental Description - Briefly describe environment of site and surrounding area. Include existing area land use, soil, vegetation, ground water elevation, surface water characteristics, average annual rainfall and other factors pertaining to environmental impacts and their mitigation and reclamation. (Use additional pages of necessary) The project area can best be described as a flood plain environment characteristic of the lower reaches of the San Joaquin River. The gentle gradient of this section of the river has created significant sedimentation within the primary river channel which, accounts in part for broad areas of flooding within the existing river levees. The immediate area of the project is inundated on an annual basis by flood water which have tended to strip much of the larger vegetation from the site and depositing large accumulations of river sediment in the form of sand. While all of the immediate surrounding land area is devoted to agriculture, the project site apparently lacks sufficient nutrients to support agriculture. Precipitation in the area averages from 7.00 to 9.50 inches per year. Groundwater in the area is the result of recharge from the San Joaquin River and is approximately 20 feet below the lowest proposed point of excavation on the project. Surface water is relegated to the San Joaquin River which surrounds the project on three sides; north, east and south. The west side of the project borders agricultural lands also owned by the project owner. Vegetation on the site is limited to grasses and low shrub vegetation. Larger vegetation in the immediate project vicinity is apparently lacking due to previous flood events and the poor characteristics of the soil. Prior development of sand borrow operations may also be responsible for the removal of vegetation in the past. Shrub vegetation observed to date consists primarily of willow and buttonbrush. No removal of large vegetation is proposed for this project. It is believed that existing vegetation on the site could be removed as part of the sediment removal operations by tracked scrapers and front end loaders. The proposed operation can best be described as a reclamation project due to the particular characteristics at the site. Previous flood events have created a cut in the up-stream, south bank of the project site. This cut now extends approximately 600 feet from the normal river bank into the property. In addition, previous borrow pits on the property have been excavated to depths below the normal bank level of the river. As a result of these two features of the property, the river now has the potential to create a major avulsive cut thus seriously altering the existing river