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<br />:UUU L35
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<br />surface runoff, but during Slimmer the water levels drop and the pot-
<br />holes dry up before \vater rt~appears in the fall when the water table
<br />ugain rises. These lands would be developed by improvement of
<br />naturnl features to provide about 5,000 tieres of shallow ponds and
<br />marshes by construction of about 48 miles of dikes by the contour-dike
<br />method which would radlit!).te efficient water management. Twenty-
<br />one miles of ditches would be needed to convey water from one marsh
<br />development to another Ilnd to provide proper management of water
<br />throughout the reluge.
<br />In order to improve this area so that it can rerlace other habitat
<br />that would be destroyed, refuge management woul( be directed towa1<1
<br />providing shallow impoundment.s int.ersl,ersed with islands and chan-
<br />nels. In early slJring, on or before Apri 1, about 5,000 surface acres
<br />of mnrshes UIH ponds would be f('quired. During ~lny, .June, and
<br />July, lands would be irrigated and approximately 3,000 acres of ponds
<br />and marshes would remain aft.er that time until Creezeup, normally
<br />Hbollt N o\"t'mber 30 oC each Vear_
<br />Proper operation of the refuge requires a controllable '....ater supply.
<br />As the inflow is rather erratic, the water supply should be obtained
<br />from project wells in an amount equivalent to that which would be
<br />obtained Crom the surface source. I t is understood that this would
<br />require some additional channelizlltion in the refuge area and some
<br />reloclltion of the well system in stage 5. It is also recognized that the
<br />quality oC the inflow is inferior to that from the well field. However,
<br />it is believed these items are oC minor im\)ortance. 'Vnter requirements
<br />would average 12,500 acre-Ceet annUn Iy of which 8,000 acre-feet
<br />would be consumptive use. Should natural runoff not equal 8,000
<br />acre-feet in a given year, the deficit would be repaid during years oC
<br />high runoff. There would be 110 use made of runoff down Sagullche
<br />Creek proper as this cha,nnel would be used as a Dumn.gement feature
<br />with the runoff water entering it going on through the reCuge proper.
<br />Refuge lands, particularly buffer zones, would be developed to their
<br />maximum production for upland game, shorebirds, Rno Cur animals.
<br />This would be nccomplished in part throu~h controlled grnzing. Obnox-
<br />ious plant growth existing on or invading the area would be controlled
<br />bv nH'chunicnl or chemical means.
<br />W Other wildIiC(, management prnctices would include census oC bird
<br />ilnd animal populations, patrol and protection of the firea against fire,
<br />control of undesirable animals, trapping and bunding programs, and
<br />irnpro,,-i!lg the upland.-gall1~ habitat. L~nds acqui~ed for refuge pur-
<br />pos('s wIll be of suffiCient size that hablt.at for resHlent game species
<br />would be improved incidentally to wutt~rfowllllanagement.
<br />A refuge headquarten:; including public use and interpretation facil-
<br />itit~S would be provided. Boundary C('lIces, posting, roads, trails, and
<br />cattleguards would be needed to administer the area pro/lerIy.
<br />Development, operation, and IlUlinteIHlIlce costs wouIe bewassumed
<br />by the project. Costs oC land, relocation, Il.nd severance are estimated
<br />to be $350,000. De,-elopnH'Ilt of refuge ftlcilities are estimated to be
<br />$1,358,000, resulting in II total cost of 81,708,000. Operation and main-
<br />tf'IUlIlCe costs are estimtlted to be $62,000 annually. These estimates,
<br />based upon 1969 costs, lire shown in table 4.
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