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average 16 inch annual rainfall for the area. Since the drought began in 1987 average annual rainfall has been about 12 inches. During the drought the lakebeds remained dry during 1987-1990. The unusual late spring rains of 1991 filled the South Lake with about 1-2 feet of water and beds were dry by mid-summer. In the past, it is likely that there was significantly more runoff from Jahant Slough. Modifications made to the watershed for agriculture, roads and railroads impede runoff. Figure 6 shows the stage versus storage relationship for both lakes combined. Also shown for comparison are estimates of the amount of accumulated runoff from Jahant Slough for total yearly rainfall amounts of 12, 16 and 20 inches. These estimates do not take into account evaporation and seepage losses and are based on the assumption that ten percent of the rainfall over the drainage area makes it into the lakes and that the lakes are empty at the start of the wet season. In most years since 1940, any accumulated runoff in the lakes has been drained and/or pumped from the lake to the river, to allow dry farming of the lake bed. Key hydrologic features of Buckeye Ranch are presented in Figure 1. A channel, labeled Point "A", serves as the outlet to the river. A second channel, labeled Point "B",drains the North Lake into South Lake. Other hydrologic modifications include the damming of a small side channel of South Lake to form a permanent water body,referred to as the 'Beaver Pond". This pond is fed by irrigation tail water from a neighboring vineyard. Wetlands Protection Wetlands are lands transitional between aquatic systems and uplands. Wetlands are extremely valuable from a wildlife perspective. Jurisdictional wetlands are a special, regulatory category of wetlands. According to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, Buckeye Ranch Resource Plan (November, 1993) 29