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B10- <br />4. Fruitgrowers Reservoir: Wildlife - Related Public Recreation <br />Most public use of the Reservoir is for birding. Besides the large numbers of people attracted to the <br />Reservoir for the spring migration of sandhill cranes in March, significant numbers also come at other <br />seasons to observe birds. Birding may occur at any time of year, but is most prevalent during spring <br />migration (March through mid -May, with peaks probably during the crane migration in March and the <br />peak of shorebird migration in the second half of April). Birders may again peak during fall migrations, <br />which are more sporadic and spread out in time; high numbers of birders may coincide with shorebird <br />migrations in late August through September, and with waterfowl migrations in late October through mid - <br />November. Most birding is done along North Road, from the parking area and interpretive sign west of <br />the Reservoir (shown on Figure 3) to the east end of the causeway. Birding also occurs along other <br />county roads north and south of the Reservoir, and occasionally from boats. Limited waterfowl hunting <br />also occurs on the Reservoir in late fall, mostly from blinds built along the western shore on private lands. <br />5. Potential Impacts <br />The proposed project would include gravel mining at the site for an estimated 30 years. Mining at the site <br />would be during weekday business hours, and likely would not occur every weekday, varying by the <br />County's demand for gravel. Gravel trucks would traverse North Road to and from the site, along with <br />worker vehicles. Most traffic would be on North Road west of the site, passing by Fruitgrowers <br />Reservoir. <br />Impacts to Wildlife <br />Potential impacts to wildlife would vary depending on species, season, whether a species is breeding, and <br />degree of habituation of the species. The following discussion is generalized, with an attempt to identify <br />which species might be most likely affected. The following discusses potential impacts to birds of <br />Fruitgrowers Reservoir, and potential impacts to wildlife - related recreational use of the Reservoir. <br />Direct impacts could result from bird mortality or direct habitat loss. Bird mortality could result if birds <br />are attracted to the mining operation and encounter toxic materials or suffer collision with equipment. <br />However, mining is not expected to encounter ground water, and no other standing water or other features <br />expected to attract birds from Fruitgrowers Reservoir are anticipated. As a consequence, bird mortality at <br />the gravel mining site is not expected. Direct mortality could also occur from collisions with track traffic <br />along North Road. Bird collisions with vehicles near the Reservoir may occur occasionally, and <br />increased vehicle traffic may incrementally increase the collision risk. However, most birds at the <br />Reservoir stay clear of the North Road causeway and are not at risk, vehicle speeds along the causeway <br />are relatively slow, and bird - vehicle collisions near the Reservoir are not known to be a problem. Overall, <br />the risk of direct mortality of birds from the project is low, and not expected to be significant for any <br />species. <br />Habitat loss is another source of direct impacts. The current habitat at the site includes an irrigated crop <br />field in disuse, ruderal dry areas heavily disturbed from previous gravel mining, and dry slopes covered <br />with low shrubs. The crop field has occasionally been used by sandhill cranes and a few other waterbird <br />species during migration, according to nearby resident Dave Galinat. During summer 2013 the field was <br />in disuse and is now dominated by invasive weeds, and appears to provide little habitat value for <br />4 <br />