ARCHIVED REPORTS_DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT

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5 CUMULATIVE IMPACTS 5.1 INTRODUCTION This section provides an analysis of overall cumulative impacts of the project taken together with other past, present, and probable future projects producing related impacts, as required by Section 15130 of the State CEQA Guidelines. The goals of this analysis are to first determine whether the overall long-term impacts of all such projects would be cumulatively significant and second to determine whether the project itself would cause a "cumulatively considerable"(and thus significant) incremental contribution to any such cumulatively significant impacts. (See State CEQA Guidelines Sections 15130[a]-[b], Section 15355[b], Section 15064[h], Section 15065[c]; Communities for a Better Environment v. California Resources Agency [2002] 103 Cal.AppAth 98, 120.) This analysis creates a broad context in which to assess the proposed project's incremental contribution to anticipated cumulative impacts, as viewed on a geographic scale beyond the project site itself, and to determine whether the project's incremental contribution to any significant cumulative impacts is itself significant(i.e., "cumulatively considerable"as defined by CEQA). Cumulative impacts are defined in State CEQA Guidelines Section 15355 as"two or more individual effects which,when considered together, are considerable or which compound or increase other environmental impacts." A cumulative impact occurs from"the change in the environment which results from the incremental impact of the project when added to other closely related past,present, and reasonably foreseeable probable future projects. Cumulative impacts can result from individually minor but collectively significant projects taking place over a period of time" (State CEQA Guidelines Section 15355[b]). Consistent with State CEQA Guidelines Section 15130(a),the discussion of cumulative impacts in this DEIR focuses on significant and potentially significant cumulative impacts. State CEQA Guidelines Section 15130(b), in part,provides the following: The discussion of cumulative impacts shall reflect the severity of the impacts and their likelihood of occurrence,but the discussion need not provide as great detail as is provided for the effects attributable to the project alone. The discussion should be guided by the standards of practicality and reasonableness, and should focus on the cumulative impact to which the identified other projects contribute rather than the attributes of other projects which do not contribute to the cumulative impact. 5.2 PROJECTS CONTRIBUTING TO POTENTIAL CUMULATIVE IMPACTS The State CEQA Guidelines identify two methods for establishing the cumulative environment in which the project is to be considered: the use of a list of past,present, and probable future projects or the use of adopted projections from a general plan, other regional planning document, or a certified EIR for such a planning document. For this DEIR,both the list and the plan approach have been combined to generate the most reliable future projections possible. A list approach is used to define the local project environment and includes projects within the City of Manteca. In addition, a list approach is used to define regional water quality projects that could affect San Joaquin River water quality. Because the project directly influences and is influenced by regional development activities,the plan approach is also used to allow a cumulative analysis on a regional scale. The plan approach encompasses large-scale water programs that could affect the water quality of the San Joaquin River and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Projects and plans included in these two approaches are described below. 5.2.1 CUMULATIVE CONTEXT Agriculture has been the driving force over the decades in the conversion of natural lands in Manteca and the surrounding region. This conversion of natural land removed biological habitat and has resulted in such Manteca WQCF and Collection System Master Plans EIR EDAW City of Manteca 5-1 Cumulative Impacts