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APPENDIX G CULTURAL RESOURCES The passage of the National Environmental Policy Act(NEPA)in 1969 and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) in 1970 created a need for the development of objective standards for the identification and evaluation of environmental resources potentially affected by development. By definition, these resources include prehistoric and historic archaeological sites, structures, their environments, and other evidence of human use or occupation. At the request of the County of San Joaquin,Benjamin Ananian and Carolyn Rice, in conjunctionwith Mills Associates, conducted a cultural resources investigation of a proposed residential and recreational development near the City of Lodi, California,to comply with these laws, as well as with the County heritage and environmental regulations and guidelines. The objective was to locate, record and evaluate surface manifestations of cultural resources within the area subject to potential impact. ENVIRONMENTAL SETTING The project site, known locally as Brovelli Woods, is situated on the Mokelumne River, approximately five miles north of the City of Lodi in San Joaquin County. This region's central location ensured its contact with more natural ecozones and cultural groups than most other areas of California. Intensive agricultural uses and cattle grazing have caused massive alterations to the valley ecology. The Tracy Lakes vicinity is known as the last area remaining in the San Joaquin County with moderate environmental and archaeological integrity. The property under consideration lies on the upland edge of the California Delta and includes Tracy Lakes. These lakes lie between the Mokelumne River to the west and Jahant Slough to the east, and constitute the terminal drainages for the Jahant Slough watershed. As Pleistocene drainage channels,the lake beds were eroded from the present land surface. The lakes formed when sediment from the Mokelume River deposited a natural levee, creating a barrier across Jahant Slough and the lake heads. This levee is a deposition of an organic loam that extends at least 50 feet wide along the bank of the river and lies between the lakes and the river. The lake soil type and the Jahant Slough soil type are the same. The two lakes cover 350 acres and have a capacity of 2,300 acre feet, with an elevation of +25 feet when full (USGS Datum). The topography of the area suggests that historically,the two bodies of water joined in the winter or spring months, when the water level was highest. Historically, the entire area was subject to floods and, therefore,a levee that lies to the north and west of the lakes was constructed to keep all flood waters on the project site (Brovelli, 1991). The predominant landform consists of rolling plains and drainages,with at least two vernal pools. These pools are small, shallow depressions with hardpan bottoms that fill with water in the spring and become completely dry in the summer and fall. The development of the Lodi Fan, a large deposit of fluvial material, prevents flooding from the Mokelumne River at Tracy Lakes. This has preserved cultural surface features in the area. Elevation ranges are between 20 and 35 feet above sea level, the steepest 1